Pirouettes of the Mind
Welcome everyone to the last blog post of March!
This week was quite a challenge as I tried tackling the neuroscience side of art therapy. The article I read had a lot of vocabulary I was not familiar with so it took a while to get through. I was constantly taking detours to Google definitions of words. I did learn a lot this week though, so it was definitely worth it!
One of the main topics was neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to form new connections and adapt in response to experiences). The article mentioned how some mental illnesses like depression or anxiety may reduce brain plasticity, while creative processes like art therapy can activate the parts of the brain that are more plastic. My mentor compared this to an example in dance which really helped me understand the concept better.
In dance, moves like pirouettes become muscle memory, as dancers do them the same way every day for possibly months or years. However, this results in difficulty when adjusting the movement. If a teacher suddenly wants the dancer to do their pirouettes in a different way to improve/fix their technique, the dancer may struggle at first to change before their pirouettes get better. It’s a similar concept to the reduction in neuroplasticity with depression and anxiety. Some individuals may have muscle memory with repetitive negative thoughts like, “I’m horrible” after certain situations, making it difficult for them to change their mindset. Art therapy can possibly help and adjust the mindset of these individuals, like the dance teacher trying to help the dancer improve their technique.
I was also able to make some progress on my painting this week! I switched the yellow-orange to a darker orange and the light purple to a darker purple to help the painting not look as cheerful. I made the colors all flow from one place instead of in random splotches to emphasize the flow from the seams even more. I’m really glad I made these switches, as I believe it’s a stronger representation of my idea.
The details are also starting to come along nicely! I started adding the stitches and heavier shadows on the arms, legs, and face. I’m currently adding more shadows to the hair because it looks more washed out after I added the dark background. In the pictures below, you may be able to see a difference in the bangs of the hair. One picture was before I added the details and one was after. By next week I’m hoping to be nearly done with the final details so stay tuned!
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