“We Bid You Peace and Art Therapy”
I met a bunch of exceptionally awesome art therapists while at the art therapy conference, including a few I knew only in pixelated form until the last few days. Erin Brumleve, someone I “met” on Twitter, and an art therapist in Denver who works with children and families dealing with divorce issues was one of those.
Last night, I went to the final soiree of the conference. There was a cover band, a dance floor, fruit and cheese and dessert spreads, a cash bar that was charging frikking $4 for a soda (robbery, isn’t it?) so I had to stick to hot tea since that and coffee were free. I wandered around for a bit, sensing my BG was teetering on the low side, searching for a table with a familiar face at which to sit so I could eat the selections from the fruit and cheese table I had grabbed, and feeling awkward and anxious that a familiar face wasn’t appearing. Then I heard my name. It was Erin, sitting with a couple of other art therapists who I hadn’t yet met. She invited me to sit with them, so I took a seat.
As soon as I sat down, she said they were about to play a game, the name of which escapes me now. You’ve probably seen something akin to it before though. You have the head of one creature, the body of another, and the legs of yet another. We folded the paper, drew a head, folded it so the next person couldn’t see our creation, passed it, drew the body, flipped it over, and passed it again so the last person could create legs. Then the head we had drawn came back to us. Call me a dork, but I thought it was spectacularly fun. Three parts of three creature = three creature = threature! Nothing quite like a party full of art therapists!
Hello! I just found you via Twitter, and I really like what I see here. Your blog (and outlook on life) seem so balanced and healthy and grounded. Thank you! You can bet that I’ll be following you on Twitter from now on!
Comment by Betherann — November 22, 2009 @ 9:49 am
Love the artwork! I enjoy reading what bloggers are passionate about. Glad you found a dinner date, can’t wait to see how you did on your exam.
Comment by Cherise — November 22, 2009 @ 12:09 pm
Thanks for this lovely post Lee Ann! I had so much fun meeting you “in real life” too and was glad you were a good sport to play the drawing game. I call it the “Surrealist Creature” game, as it was a game the French Surrealist artists played (Dali, Margarite, etc.). I think this is one of the best batch of Creature game drawings I have ever seen! Keep all of the great work on your blog and in your art therapy practice. Hope to see you at the American Art Therapy Association Conference next year!
Comment by Erin Brumleve — November 22, 2009 @ 9:10 pm
Hi Lea Ann. I have talked to you before on twitter too. I am glad you were able to hitch up with Erin at the conference. I had a couple of my fellow MA Saint Mary-of-the-Woods students who went but I was unable to find the funds. Just like last year. It might not be until I am done with school, but I will get to one of the conferences, it always sounds so fun and this game is just “hilarious”! Glad you enjoyed yourself.
Comment by Diane M. McKnight — November 22, 2009 @ 9:55 pm