Self Representation

This is an old one I did sometime between now and Christmas. I was playing with my new color pencils that my husband gave me (along with many other art supplies I got from him as gifts) and I did this free hand piece that can be considered cousin to a "Soul Painting". The reason I make the comparison is because its about "feeling" the piece instead of planning it. Each item has significance, just like sequences in a dream. They each mean something and so it is a drawing with "meaning" instead of just being esthetically pleasing. I think you get the idea.I can't really say what all of it means now, but after I drew it, I showed it to my husband and we discussed what the different colors and images meant. Its a fun activity that anyone, even non-artistic folks, can enjoy.

If you want to try a simple one, here is one of the first activities I did that was like this. It works best when there are several people who want to do it. Everyone has paper and color pencils and first everyone talks about themselves a little... something simple or maybe what they want to accomplish this month or in their life-just to introduce the energy and get everyone centered. Then set a timer for ten min or so and everyone is to draw a tree- and encourage everyone to add whatever pops into their head no matter what it is (like those pink bubbles around the fox's head-don't ask me what those are for! I don't know) This isn't supposed to be a masterpiece, just draw it! And no excuses like "I'm no artist" or "its a dumb looking tree" because when you are finished this tree is supposed to be "You" or where you are in life right now. So if you say things like that- its like saying you are not good enough for your own life, so avoid talking negative about your picture. Now, take a moment for each person to introduce their picture and talk about how they feel about it. For feedback, everyone else is supposed to point out things they notice about the images, colors and feelings they get when they look at the tree. Does it have leaves, flowers or fruit? Are there symbolic colors or shapes? Does it take up most of the page or is it small? What kind of tree is it? Are there animals, people or other significant things nearby? What about the branches or roots? All these things can be somehow tied back to your life and its a great way to discover some things about yourself for your own introspective thoughts. My tree had red bark, and lots of purple fruits but no roots (which means no foundation) however, you can see that in this later drawing my tree has changed into an intricate foundation system and a beautiful pink and gold butterfly and crown at the top. Notice the black arrows pointing in? And the fruit is much smaller, and my animal guardian... the eagle... is far in the distance among the mountains. I should do a new tree now to see how its changed again because I know so much has changed in my life and I am a new person since then. See how interesting this ongoing project can be? Try it sometime! Its like a visual journal... less about "what's happening" these days and more about "who am I" and how do I feel about life. I should do 4 every year and keep them in a journal together = )