Hello and welcome (or welcome back ) to the PIB! It has been a *tough* few weeks since my last post, but I really wanted to take the time today to write about what art means to me.

Personally, “art” is a very vague term for anything that expresses creativity, individuality, craft and skill. It could be anything from music to paintings in a museum or even an arts and crafts project. Art can be found anywhere and everywhere when you look for it!

Over the years, I have resonated deeply with photography and how you can really embrace creativity with any type of photographical device. For those of you who have followed along for awhile, you know that I used to have an instagram account dedicated to my photography, and although it no longer exists, I did have quite a passion for it for a very long time (and I definitely still do in present day as well). I remember having the opportunity to take pictures for a new hotel awhile back for advertisement purposes, and to be given full creative control and actually shoot professionally at the age 19 was magical (some photos attached below!). On that same note, I also learned awhile back how to shoot double-exposure photos on a Polaroid camera and its so much fun! I really do wish I had more time to devote photography, but I do intend on picking it up again soon! If my old account still existed, I would’ve loved to have directed you to it but I eventually stopped posting, so I unfortunately had to let it go. I do wish to start incorporating photography more into The PIB, so stay tuned!!

During 2020, I started to experiment with painting, specifically paint pouring. I painted a lot as a kid and I was actually enrolled in many painting and art classes. As I grew older, time was harder to find as I committed to dance as my extracurricular of choice. But 2020 was a great time to revisit old passions and find new ones. If you know anything about me, you know that I don’t entirely enjoy realism in my craft. I’d like to think I’m more of an abstract artist, and that is why paint pouring was a very important phase in finding my niche. I loved experimenting with different colors and patterns in acrylic pouring, and through that exploration, I also learned how to use resin in my art to give my pieces a more “polished” feel. From 2020 to 2022 I was consistently creating new pieces when I was at home. I am lucky to have grown up in a very artistically inclined family, so we have a craft room in our house that essentially became my “third place”. I would quite literally just sit there for hours on hours pouring paint on wooden canvases and just vibe. Most of my pieces have now found a home hung on wall somewhere in my house (thanks mom), or with people who are really important to me.

In my sophomore spring I had this epiphany that I don’t know how to let go of that creative outlet while in college. Art class was my absolute favorite class in school, and once it had hit me that art was no longer a standard part of my curriculum – I had to make a change. I then impulsively declared my minor in studio art, and it has been an extensive journey since then. I remember the first class I took was centered around core art skills such as drawing, perspective, and so on. You can imagine that that particular class was so tough on me because I didn’t enjoy drawing and realism. However, it was very important to me to excel in that class because the foundations of art are integral in mastery in the field. It is also the class in which I found a newfound love for sculpture. We were assigned a final project to make a life-sized initial out of cardboard and glue. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? It was not. It was a very meticulous process that took a lot of time to design and execute. You’d be surprised how hard it is to make something structurally sound enough to step on out of cardboard and glue. I actually still have a scar on the palm of my hand from working late at night and getting too confident with the ‘high temp’ glue gun 🙂 However, that was an incredible first art class to take and I’ve been on the path to my minor since.

I started taking sculpture classes a year ago, and genuinely speaking, if I ever decide to pursue art as a career – sculpture is the way to go for me. My first sculpture class was very open ended and exploratory. We were given materials and asked to do basically anything. It was a learning curve to create 3 dimensional objects, but definitely an enjoyable one! Although wood working was interesting, the clay portion of the class ignited a passion I couldn’t have foreseen. The class I’m taking right now is all about molds/casts and installation. From a disciplinary perspective, this has been the most challenging class I’ve taken to date. However, I am incredibly proud of the work I’ve done and how much I’ve learned. From how to make molds, to learning the ethics behind installing art work – this class has opened my mind to *maybe* consider sculpture and art as a possible career path one day. I have found so much solace in this type of art, and substantial gratification in mastering my skills in sculpture. My final installation has been one of my favorite pieces of art I’ve produced so far and I am so excited to see how this journey goes from here on out.

This semester has also been a time in which I’ve found joy in sketching and freehand drawing. I specifically enjoy line art because it is so peaceful and doesn’t require a lot of thought. It has become like knitting to me – something to do as I let my mind process all sorts of different things. While I do not see sketch-booking becoming a part of my daily life, I now catch myself sketching and drawing little things on the margins of my planner, so who knows?

Art is a very important part of my life that I can thoroughly see playing a role in my line of work as a psychologist. Art-therapy is something I’m very interested in exploring further in the future and how I can apply that in my practices working with children and adolescents. I’ve seen art do wonders for my mental health and well-being and while I’ll always complain about how busy this minor keeps me, it will always be a core part of my identity.