Butterfly, please deliver my wish

If Frida was their muse...

If Matisse loved Frida.

 A version of Munch's The Scream

What if Frida met Hundterwasser?

le petit chateau

2 1/2 x 3 1/2 Artist Trading Card 
Not sure if I traded it or if I still have it..hmmm.

Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Present I made for Susie at Christmas.

Love to see articles that educate the public about my profession!

Creative Arts Therapy May Improve Quality Of Life For Pediatric Cancer Patients

25 Apr 2010
As health care professionals continue placing greater emphasis on the quality of life (QOL) of childhood cancer patients, researchers have found that creative arts therapy (CAT) may improve QOL in pediatric oncology patients undergoing therapy. Their findings were published in the May/June 2010 edition of Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, published by the Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses (APHON).
"By using creative expression, a child or adolescent with cancer can express feelings about the course of the disease and tumultuous treatment through dance/movement, music, and art. This outlet allows the patient to creatively and kinesthetically process the assaults of cancer and its treatment, and thus establish a stronger sense of self and improved quality of life," the authors wrote.
Jennifer R. Madden, MS, RN, CPNP, of the University of Colorado Medical School, Denver, and colleagues conducted their research in three phases - a small, randomized pilot with brain tumor patients only, a descriptive study observing all eligible hematology/oncology patients who received CAT, and qualitative interviews with medical and nursing providers.
"Little is known about the effect of CAT on QOL in children receiving chemotherapy in the outpatient venue," the authors wrote. "Because many children spend 4 to 8 hours in the infusion room, patients, parents, and staff have verbalized the need for additional stimuli such as arts and crafts or music to make the hours spent receiving treatment more tolerable. In addition, there are continuous requests for psychological support from patients and staff. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of CAT on the QOL of brain tumor patients and subsequently all patients receiving infusions in the outpatient hematology/oncology clinic at a tertiary care pediatric hospital."
"All participating patients and parents reported satisfaction with the CAT intervention and stated that they would like to see the program continue. Future research investigating biophysical measurements or specific symptoms (pain, nausea) is warranted to pro¬vide concrete evidence to the medical community of the benefit of CAT. In addition, in this era of holistic nursing, CAT is the perfect example of how a nurse can involve the whole patient using the creative arts to aid in healing from the traumatic treatment of cancer in a child," the authors concluded.
Source

Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses (APHON)

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Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/186532.php

Painting I made for my dad

My brother and sister are flying inthe sky and I am looking up at them from the grassy hill.  I made it using cut paper (collage) and acrylic paints.

This is love

Precious words drift away from their meanings and the sun melts the chill from our lives
Helping us all to remember what we came here for
This is love

Little things that will change you forever may appear from way out of the blue
Making fools of everybody who don't understand
This is love

Since our problems have been our own creation they also can be overcome
When we use the power provided free to everyone
this is love

George Harrison

Pocket-sized Sacred Spaces

Today I am going to the children's hospital to teach a 'lunchtime learning" class.  I am presenting about making altars. 

An altar or shrine is a place to keep images and relics of something special.  Usually they are religious in nature but the ones we will be making are not limited to religiosity but also or instead may comemmorate something or someone special to us.

Here is an example I made about love. 

Churning the Milk Ocean

Kumbh Mela - Pot of Nectar

Kumbha Mela is a gathering that happens 4 times every 12 years.  Millions of people attend.  I read that 70 million people have attended this year.  And never the less I have never heard of it until today!  Here is the story of the origin.


Here are some Beautiful images taken by Art Wolfe.

I love this little creation.   A floating lantern with flower petals.  So beautiful!

Images from http://www.indovacations.net/

Quatrain from Rumi

Without love,
all worship is a burden,
all dancing is a chore,
all music is mere noise.
All the rain of heaven may fall into the sea.
Without love,
not one drop could become a pearl.
 
(Thank you to Jahane Rumi for this.)

Creation and destruction

Aurora and erupting volcano. 

Oh the beauty!  This is an image taken in Iceland two years ago.  

Iceland is experiencing an eruption today.

Knowing that a volcano is erupting right now is fascinating.  The news is abuzz that airlines have had to shut down all air travel in the UK and parts of Europe due to ash in the skies. 

We all defer to nature.

Shahzia Sikander

  This female artist was in a show at the MOMA in NYC. 

Best Friends in my heart always

This is a picture of me and my cousin Jennifer.  She was my best friend from age 4 to 22.  Sadly, she died from injuries sustained in a car accident while we were both in our first years of college. 
Her death day was the first week of April.  Her birthday is May 3rd. 
I remember she would have birthday sleepovers and almost every year there would be a storm or tornado.  May 3rd is coming ...will there be a storm or tornado this year?

In wonderland....dreams come true...

Just like Alice in Wonderland, life is full of choices.  In my life I have made choices about what I want to do and be.  I have had many blessings in my life and many opportunities. 
Sometimes, when a dream you have does not come easily you have to strive to make it happen.

Over the past year I have given deep thought to this dream.  It is something big.
I am making a call today that will be the first step to make this dream come true.

Stay tuned.

Who Does She Think She Is?

On Sunday I went to see a film called Who Does She Think She Is with a fellow art therapist. 

This film had some interesting information about the experiences of women artists. 

The Guerilla Girls made this poster to create awareness about the plight of the female artist

I need a vacation Somebody take me to Seychelles....