The End of an Era

Today was my final day at university! - I can't believe I've actually finished my course. Well, in a way its not quite finished, as there are some optional days throughout the summer and my placement continues till the end of July, but in terms of what's required of me academically and what is to be taught, its done. To mark the occasion we were all asked to bring a piece of our artwork in to form an exhibition. Since I hadn't made anything I would call 'art' in the two years I had a little panic wondering what I could take. I decided to have a think about what I could possibly do in my little flat that didn't involve slapping paint about and found I could use oil pastels in a similar way to paint, scratching it off and reapplying it. As you may have worked out, the first two pics are my dining table studio and the finished thing. Since art thearpists aren't necessarily the best artists I wasn't expecting too much from the exhibition and was a bit disappointed that no one had really made much effort to sort out the studios - people had just clagged their stuff on the scruffy walls when I arrived. The whole thing was supposed to be very informal but could have been a bit better in my opinion. Anyway, I had lot of nice comments about my work - so I was happy, which of course is what matters!! (I'm not sure why but I was actually quite worried about showing my work today.  Its kinda odd that I felt like this cos we've all spent two years making, looking at and talking about our 'therapeutic' art, which is usually much more personal, raw and revealing than more sophisticated stuff).

After the 'exhibition' we all drove to the peak district to a little church hall where we had a shared lunch followed by a sharing session.  Everyone was sposed to bring an object/piece of art to represent what the course has meant/been like for each of us. Again I fet quite nervous and several people got a bit emotional when they spoke, but having prayed like crazy, I suddenly became quite peaceful and when it was my turn, spoke calmly and fairly sensibly. I took a tube of paint and an image of a  Norman Rockwell painting 'Girl with Mirror' (i think its called). I talked about how the painting shows a girl looking at herself in a mirror, and could be seen as her contemplating or realising that she is at a point of leaving childhood and becoming an adult. I said that again and again throughout the course I've felt that I was at this point of recognising something and having the choice of this growing up or maturing. I also said I'd brought the tube of paint because you have to squeeze it to get the paint out and make a painting, and I had often felt squeezed which was often unpleasant but maybe necessary. After this we all went to a very posh pub and sat about for a bit. It was a nice end, as far as ends go. Like I said its all a bit odd and unreal. In a month's time I should qualify and get the title of art psychotherapist - which will be even stranger. I'm intrigued, scared and excited to see how God's going to use this and discover what will happen next! In the mean time I'm feeling very positive about my new art technique and looking forward to churning out a few more piccies.