a heartfelt, happy new year

 Connected NYE drawing, pastels, watercolour pencils.

This image was originally created on New Years Eve 2012, so I thought it would be interesting to work back into it on NYE 2013. I have mainly filled out the background in black, and added coloured contrast to the spiral shapes. To me, it expresses connection with others. The people remind me of jelly babies. The addition of the black background and contrast intensifies the bright colours.

I also noticed a couple of symbols that keep recurring in my work. Spirals, as also seen in this Buddha head, and heart shapes, as in the pastel drawing below:

Rainbow Buddha head and avocado leaves, watercolour pencils. Hearts connect, oil pastels

 desert rose, frangipanis, both in watercolour pencils and ink

Over the past year, I have also noticed a shift towards drawing from still life, such as the desert rose and frangipanis above, and away from collage and oil pastels, which I associate more with art therapy, and emotionally expressive work.

Andy Gilroy has written about how the effect on art therapists (AT students, in fact) of being involved in art therapy groups can make them less emotionally open, and more guarded, over time.

Not sure if this is what is happening here. I think its more a case of shifting interests. I am becoming more interested in looking mindfully at things around me, and in social relationships rather than in self-examination.This is what my art is also becoming more concerned with.

 origami heart, paper  pebble art, on the ground at Woodford

Back to the heart symbol. I photographed the origami heart on NYE, before going to Woodford Folk Festival for New Years Day. It turned out the heart was a big theme for the evening fire event, see below.

 bamboo transitional structure, Woodford

This beautiful structure created a transitional space between the main festival and the fire event in the amphitheatre. A transitional space signifies a shift from 'reality' to a 'play space', according to Winnicott.

 this is the heart structure before, and during, the fire event

There was also a story about the monsters we hold fearfully in our hearts, with the suggestion that we need to get to know and accept our own monster/s. This is a message compatible with mindfulness, and it used a community arts event to dramatically convey it.

I would like to focus more on art and community in this years blog, so this is a good place to start.  To add to this, I would like to have more dialogue with readers in 2014, so please feel free to comment on this blog, and to follow it if it interests you.What do you hope for in 2014?

Also, on NYE I reached 10,002 page views, as I'd hoped, yay!

Woodford logo

more later