kellymaher

[kellymaher]

Coloring Books & Visual Arts Activities

Soothing Bottles & Fidget Toys

Play Therapy via card games

[kellymaher]

December Portfolio - Entry 2

Title: Grey Horse

Date created: 12/20/22

Materials: iPad, Apple Pen, Reference Images from Google, Procreate App

Description: A grey horse digitally drawn on the procreate app in an iPad.

Inspiration: I wanted to try a new application for digital art because my free trial with a different software expired recently and I want to continue experimenting with digital art. Recently I've been very interested in the idea of "power animals", which is essentially the idea of being spiritually connected to an animal and what they represent. Think like a spirit animal, however, because spirit animals relate to an indigenous closed spiritual practice, this is a sort of denominational idea representing something similar. So I thought this would be a cool exercise in playing with the software and selecting an animal that's significant to me.

What I learned: Procreate is awesome! But seriously, it was fun getting to explore and learn more about this application and get to understand it for future use. Compared to other programs I've used, I think it was very easy to work with and make something that looks really fantastic. Plus, it's an affordable program and only a one time purchase instead of a subscription like many other similar products I've seen and used (e.g., photoshop or Painter Studios or Clip Studio Paint).

How this could be used with a client: As long as the therapist has an iPad or some kind of tablet, this is a great way to expose the client to many types of mediums without needing to purchase all the mediums, and while keeping the environment clean and free of most sensory issue causing implements. This program could be used for illustrative exercises, bibliography, games like hangman or tic tac toe, and even repeat what I've done here. The counselor could challenge the child to draw an animal that they feel represents them or an aspect of themselves and explain why they relate to or feel empowered by that animal.

[kellymaher]

December Portfolio - Entry 1

Title: Snowman Pull apart Cake

Date created: 12/19/22

Materials: Vanilla Cake Mix, Eggs, Vanilla Extract, Milk, Canola Oil, Powdered Sugar, Unsalted Butter, Cupcake Wrappers, Premade Blue Fondant, Premade White Fondant, Food Coloring Markers, Food Dye, Red and Blue Fine Sugar Sprinkles, Chunky Decorative White Sprinkles, Cupcake Tins, Plastic Baggy, Scissors, Flat Icing Knife, Rolling Pin, Cutting Board, Two Mixing Bowls, Butter Knife, and a Hand Mixer

Description: A pull apart cake made by gathering cupcakes into a shape and frosting them as if they're one cake and decorating them to look like a snowman's head and top hat.

Inspiration: I've always loved watching those crazy cake decorating shows, they make me happy but they also always impress me with what they're able to do. So I found out about pull apart cakes and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to give it a try in a manageable way, but also to give everyone in class a tasty treat to celebrate our last class and a good semester.

What I learned: Murphy's Law, lol just kidding! No but unfortunately a lot of people weren't feeling well and class was cancelled so I didn't get the change to bid everyone adieu with a (hopefully) tasty, fun cupcake. Thankfully, it's not a total loss as I'm going to bring them into work tomorrow and I hope my coworkers enjoy them!

On a more serious note, I was shocked at how well it came out. I used premade fondant because I've heard it's very finicky and difficult to make but thankfully the premade was forgiving because I had to ball it up and re-roll it out several times when I kept messing up the sizing and/or trying to get it from the cutting board over to the cupcake formation. I might keep playing with fondant in the future or even (if I'm feeling brave) try to make it on my own.

How this could be used with a client: Personally, I find baking relaxing. Anecdotally, I've found most people are either cooks or bakers. Cooks like to improvise and do whatever they can, usually without a strict recipe while bakers like having a set of instructions and knowing they will achieve a certain results each time. Ironically, as much as I like spontaneity, when it comes to food, I prefer baking. I like having instructions because (especially when it comes to food) too many options makes me grind to a halt with indecision.

If a client is a baker-type, (aka maybe they have anxiety, ADHD, find patterns soothing, or need rewards to encourage them to follow instructions) then this may be a good exercise for them. There is something soothing about just following instructions, not having to think or guess about how something will turn out, so there is consistency, positive reinforcement, and there can even be an aspect of mindfulness or relaxation to adding the ingredients together and stirring them up. Also, once the cupcakes themselves are made, there can be fun to deciding on a design and getting to personalize your own cupcake, or create cupcakes for someone else -after all, when has a cupcake ever put a frown on someone's face? No matter what, it's a bonus that they wind up with a sweet treat afterwards!

[kellymaher]

A. Woven Wall Hanging

Description: A woven red wall-hanging with a yellow strip, turquoise diamond pattern, two dark blue stripes, and a white stripe.

The Experience of Creating: At first I was very intimidated, I know lots of people who crochet and knit and when I was little I had attempted both but never succeeded at either so I was anticipating the same would happen with weaving. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was much easier than I thought, hence why I decided to attempt a little bit more of a complex pattern. I wish I had more different colored yarn, I would've continued the pattern. Overall it was very satisfying to look at what I created and with just cardboard and yarn! I will definitely try this some more in the future and possibly make some change purses or other little presents for my friends and family in the future.

B. An Earthy Colored Lanyard/ Friendship Bracelet

Description: A lanyard or friendship bracelet made of light blue, dark blue, green, and brown threads.

The Experience of Creating: As so many often do, I became hooked on making friendship bracelets and lanyards as a preteen when someone taught me while I was at summer camp. I used to be decent at it and I've had lots of thread laying around ever since. I've always told myself I would go back to it, and this assignment gave me the kick I needed to try making one again -and yet again, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I might give it to a friend for Christmas. 

[kellymaher]

Playlist of My Life Right Now

Lately, as with so many points in my life, I feel a lot of contradictory emotions all at once; I am satisfied but yearning, happy but agitated, tired but restlessly awake, and I think this playlist captures the sometimes incongruent thoughts and feelings I have during this journey that I find myself on.

[kellymaher]

Digital Arts Assignment

[kellymaher]

My Vision Board

My vision board is an expression of myself; it's densely packed will lots of images and symbols, text and references to various media, and as such, is a relatively good representation of how my mind works. It represents my future in some abstract and concrete ways.

Abstractly, there's symbols like the clock dissolving, an eye filled with a map and another eye filled with color and light, a woman looking into the a map of stars and reaching for them, a blindfolded woman with two swords, a hand reaching for a dangling key, pieces of a book transforming into objects and flying off the page, an imagined rendering of what it might have looked like when Vincent van Gogh painted the infamous painting, The Starry Night, and a pair of street signs that read "One way or another". Although abstract, many of the images have straightforward meaning to me, the clock dissolving is my goal to let go of the feeling of being constricted by time or that I'm always too slow or too late to accomplish my goals "when I should have". The eyes represent my desire to travel more in the future and to continue to remind myself to look on the bright side or look for the beauty in the world. The woman reaching for the map of the stars reminded me of the quote, "Reach for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." It's been widely attributed to a variety of people, so I'm not sure who said it first, but I've always loved that quote and so this image is the dreamer in me that is always striving towards my goals and hoping that one day, I'll reach either them, or something else wonderful that I couldn't have imagined that's close to them. The blindfolded woman with swords is actually an image inspired by the tarot card, the Two of Swords, and the card represents indecisiveness and being stuck between two choices. I included this image to remind myself to be more decisive and not be afraid even when making tough decisions in the future. The hand reaching for the key is symbolic of me reaching for the power to unlock my future, whatever it may be, and hopefully achieve my dreams. To me, the book pages transforming is the manifestation of a book coming to life. For nearly 14 years I've been working on a book trilogy and I am finally feeling ready to begin making moves to get it published, and therefore this image feels like it symbolizes my words coming to life and being shared with others. Next, the image of Van Gogh. I, like so many people, love his works and are inspired by his talent but also the tragic circumstances of his life and his struggles with mental health. Now, entering the mental health field and coming from an artistic background, Vincent feels like an intersection of these two paths within my life. To the uninformed, it's funny or silly to hear about him allegedly cutting off his own ear, but perspective is everything. Vincent struggled with his mental health, but he also saw so much beauty in the world, and there was a purity to the way he depicted and wrote about it in his many letters to his brother. So, this image is a reminder of the healing power of art in my life, something I want to hold onto in my future as there was a point in my life where I was so busy and stressed, I didn't pick up a pencil to draw for years even though it was always my childhood dream to be an artist and that gap made me feel very separated from myself. This image also represents hope that my art is meaningful and that somehow, like Vincent, other people will see and feel something or be helped or validated in some way when they look at my art or read my words. Last but not least, the street signs that say "One way or another", this is not so abstract, but it means to me that I have to continue to persist and use my resilience to survive the challenges that will eventually come along in my life, and I know that I've done it before and I can do it again.

Concretely, there's a lot of words which are phrases I like or things that I try to keep in mind when I need them. There's also several images that are very literal, like the hand holding photo negatives, the paints, and the North Star Films logo, which was the logo and production company name I came up with for my undergraduate senior film. Basically these are all literal (analogical) representations of my continuing desire to incorporate art (film, photography, and painting) into my life and pursue it in the future alongside or in tandem with my career as an LPC.

In the readings, it was discussed how CT sometimes emphasizes the use of guided imagery as a therapeutic technique and CBT expands by adding in the (B) for the behavioral modification element. Guided imagery sounds to me like it would be very helpful in reprocessing emotions with clients as I think I unknowingly did this with myself in the past and have felt the benefits firsthand. I think the use of vision boards could help the client plan future goals for their career or even just help them consider how they would like to feel in the future (e.g., filling the board with images or symbols that give them joy). Helping them visualize their goals in a visually analogical way could help them better meditate on the obstacles between them and this goal and also prepare them for what they will need to surpass their obstacles. 

** I DO NOT OWN THE IMAGES PRESENTED IN THIS VISION BOARD, ALL RIGHTS GO TO THE ARTISTS OF ORIGIN, I ONLY CREATED THE ARRANGEMENT SEEN ABOVE**

[kellymaher]

Playlist Inspired Collage

So this collage was a comedy of errors that turned out well and I wound up pretty satisfied with in the end. I happened to lose the little bag of doodads we collected for our collages in class so I had to cobble together things I had lying around. When I thought to include the picture of my eyes, something went wrong with my printer and gave the shadows this bright red/pink color. From there I wanted to do the melted crayon effect with a hairdryer but I couldn't get it to look right so I covered it with more crayon and markers before adding some stickers and rediscovering my little K stamp that I haven't used in 10+ years. That said, all's well that ends well and I'm very happy with how it turned out!

The bursts of color sort of mimic how inspiration can come in these vibrant bursts that just want to explode out of you. Besides loving the art-style of the bee that I cut from a business card, I felt like it was a fun little nod to how I feel like a 'busy bee'. The yarn getting tied up in foreign coins is kind of how my mind tends to get tied up thinking about money and travel, and the yarn unraveling off the page is also sort of how my mind always is a bit everywhere at once. The "one day at a time" and the "breath in & breath out" stickers are both sort of reminders that I need especially when I get too busy and feel scattered. And last but not least, the key is hanging at one end of the string in front of my eyes, almost like the metaphorical key or solution to my problems is always in sight if I can just look for it.

[kellymaher]

November Portfolio - Entry 2

Thoughts racing,

Conversations with myself

Arguments in my own head

I can't

I can't

I can't

STOP

I can't stop?

No.

Stop.

Stop talking the blame,

Stop feeling ashamed,

for what?

What does the Shame do?

Does it help?

No.

So why?

Why buy into it?

Stop lying to yourself

You deserve more than that,

Better.

Do I have to do it? Doesn't it ever just-

Stop?

On its own?

Never.

It comes on like an avalanche,

Like a flood

Like a fall

Oh.

But through it all

You are there

Are Special

Are Loved

Are You.

Are you?

Ready?

Yeah,

But so are you.

I am?

There's a secret, you know

You've known it all along

But?

Somewhere along the way, you forgot

Life doesn't get easier

But we get stronger.

Title: Thoughts Racing Conversations

Date created: 11/29/22

Materials: Pen, Paper, Computer

Description: A poem narrating an internal dialogue.

Inspiration: I've wanted to do some kind of writing for my portfolio beyond the blackout poetry piece we did for homework and when this idea occurred to me, it just felt right. This was part of an internal conversation I was having with myself in the shower when I noticed I was spiraling about something silly.

What I learned: I had to let go of my preconceived notion that poetry is only poetry when it rhymes and follows a flowery and very specific pattern. I also learned that it is very validating and cathartic to externalize automatic and irrational thoughts by writing them down and confronting them directly by playing a devil's advocate against yourself.

How this could be used with a client: This is similar to the automatic writing project that we did in class for one of the group presentation's art project. I think this could easily be applied to almost any client because it could be made personal and unique, without limiting any culture except perhaps young children or those who can not read or write. It could be a poem, but it could also just be a free-writing exercise where a client takes a few minutes to write down any racing, distracting, or frustrating thoughts they are having. It could be a small or large problem, or it could be long or short term problems that they write about. If it would help, they could tear it up or burn the paper afterwards and physically enact a release/ destruction of those unhelpful thoughts.

[kellymaher]

November Portfolio - Entry 1

Title: Glass Bumblebee

Date created: 11/30/22

Materials: Pre-Cut Glass, Copper Tape, Flux, Brush, Solder, Soldering Iron, Chain, Press Board

Description: This was an attempt to make a hanging stain glass bumblebee from a kit. Each glass pieces must be wrapped in copper tape, all of the tape smoothed with a little press board, coat the copper with flux, rearrange the pieces into the correct order, solder the tape on the top, bottom, and sides of the piece, and last but not least, attaching the chain to the top.

Inspiration: My aunt recently took up colored glass design making and it sounding interesting and challenging, plus I initially considered using this as the companion piece for my blowing glass project, given the similarities of using glass, metal, and heat to fuse the pieces.

What I learned: Just because something is in a kit, doesn't make it simple! I was actually shocked by how much more intense the process was than I had anticipated. It took more steps, a lot of close attention, a steady hand, and very careful movements to do. Unfortunately, I also didn't anticipate that the kit would not come with enough solder to finish the piece (or, at least, not for a sloppy first timer like myself). Because of this and my poor timing, I could not complete the piece for my portfolio, but I will complete it in the future. This was also significantly more difficult than I thought it would be to create and trace free-handed lines with the solder and the iron. Like with the glass blowing, I'm also proud of myself for doing it despite being very nervous about using the soldering iron. Sometimes I can be a bit of a klutz, so there was a part of me that was sure I would manage to burn myself while working on the piece, but thankfully I was wrong, and I'm glad that I chose to challenge myself. That said, I also found it a bit frustrating that I am currently unable to complete it and that it does not look neat or polished in the way that I'd like for it to, but that perfectionism is something I'm trying to confront in myself and let go of a bit.

How this could be used with a client: Just for the safety concerns I don't know that I could use this exact activity with a client, however, I think it could be adapted to a bead ironing activity, or some other craft kit. A less dangerous alternative could work with a variety of populations as it could be a simple practice in following instructions/ paying attention to details for children or those with ADHD, the activity being simple and coming with all the pieces could allow anyone to complete the activity even if they don't consider themselves to be creative, and the encouragement of completing the activity and walking away with a cute piece or trinket may boost self esteem/ self efficacy. Last but not least, the activity could help clients with anxiety, OCD, or a need for control or perfection a chance to practice letting that control go, just like I had to with this incomplete and kind of sloppy stained glass piece.

[kellymaher]

My Experience: For my experience I chose blowing glass. I've been very interested in it since I first saw Blown Away, which is a Netflix reality tv competition show between glassblowers. I thought it was fascinating but I was also intimidated thinking that I am so clumsily I could easily see myself burning my hand or otherwise, and shatter the piece. I didn't get to handle the piece on my own in the way I imagined which made it , only helping to physically blow the glass up and then using a tool sort of like giant tweezers to open the end of the glass bubble to form the lip of what would eventually be a drinking cup. It was a really fascinating experience and I hope to go again at some point in the future.

Title: In The Inferno

Materials: Multiple Colored Papers, Glitter Glue, Clear Glue, Glue Stick, Tape, Scissors, Model Magic, Cardboard, Paper Straw, Colored Markers, Plastic Sandwich Bags, LED Light String

My Aim:

I was fascinated and intimidated by the heat radiating out of the Furnace and the molten glass. It kept the whole kind of cavernous store almost uncomfortable hot even though it flurried outside an hour later. I wanted to do something to capture the glow, and the way the glass looked so beautiful, enticing, almost like candy or something that makes you immediately want to reach out and touch, but you have to remember you can't. At first I thought it was just going to be some kind of torn paper art piece, but as I was working on it, it dawned on me that I had model magic and sandwich bags could maybe capture the light, the glow, the reflectiveness, and the layers of the glass. So from there I decided to make the furnace out of the paper instead and as I kept assembling, it dawned on me I had plenty of clear glue and that too could add to the effect. Last but not least, I thought of adding some LED light inside the 3D paper furnace I'd made to mimic the look in an art piece. It's very literal, but it was fun doing something completely outside of my comfort zone (the diorama and paper art aspect) and just roll with it and truly play around, not ruling anything out even if I thought it looked a little juvenile or sloppy. Just like with the glass, I had to just try and trust the process and see how it turned out as long as I was enjoying the process

[kellymaher]

Blackout Poem Assignment

Transcription of the poem:

--> Creativity

What Inspiration and Invention?

Don't be too awed -wonder, transform, invent

The shape -its whorls and lines

Materialize a sonnet or a symphony

Look at the source of such inspiration

We're all born creative

Able to summon up insight from the ether, music from the void

100 billion neurons form the lines of artistry or invention

Summon up a deeper understanding

Learning to trace the insight back to -->

                              [Begin reading the the poem again]

By: Kelly Maher

[kellymaher]

October Portfolio - Entry 2.1 & 2.2

Title: Paper Flashlight

Date created: 10/27/22

Materials: x2 Gallon Ziplock Plastic Baggies, Black Construction Paper, Regular White Paper, Colored Sharpies, and Scissors.

Description: Plastic baggies decorated with various designs, with a black piece of construction paper inside, a white piece of paper cut and colored to look like a flashlight and its beam of "light".

**I don't own the music, I just added it for fun so there's something to listen to while watching the video. The song is Counting Stars by OneRepublic**

Inspiration: I don't recall where I saw this craft floating around -Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube, but it looked really cool and I wanted to try it with my younger nieces. I had thought about doing something fun with song lyrics so I decided to incorporate them into one of the plastic bags. Like with the soothing bottle, I loved this idea because it was easy and something that any client could make at home with minimal supplies and effort.

What I learned: Again, very simple and easy to make. This was fun to create and there's something very satisfying about the illusion of illuminating the lyrics/ figures/ other decorations you put on the plastic bag.

How this could be used with a client: This could be just a simple activity for grounding or for young children. Or, like with using the song lyrics for myself, I feel like it could be used as a fun way to let the therapist and client see something "inside of themselves".

I think we could develop an exercise to let the client explore or reveal something inside themselves -whether this is illustrating or identifying their own strengths through words or symbols or expressing something that weighs on their mind or in their heart. (e.g., they could say they are brave and kind or draw a medal and a heart OR they could write about/ draw something that makes them sad like being alone, getting a bad grade, etc.).

[kellymaher]

October Portfolio - Entry 1

Title: Soothing Swirl Bottle

Date created: 10/30/22

Materials: Empty Voss Water Bottle, Boiling Water, Elmer's clear glue, Elmer's Pink Glitter Glue, Elmer's Glow in the Dark Blue Glitter Glue, Elmer's Metallic Blue Glue, Glitter, Blue Food Coloring, Coffee Stirrer, Pot, Electric Kettle.

Description: A soothing bottle filled with glitter, water, and different types of glue to create a swirling effect.

**I don't own the music, I just added it for fun so there's something to listen to while watching the video. The song is Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! by Vengaboys**

Inspiration: This year I was diagnosed with ADHD and it explained a lot about my life and childhood, but because of that, I'm relatively new to various coping strategies and devices ADHDers use to increase focus or soothe agitation from restlessness. About two months ago, I heard about soothing bottles via the Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVQSE82-c3Q

After seeing some of the ideas of my classmates's September portfolio pieces and how accessible they were, it inspired me to try to pick a portfolio piece that is not traditionally artistic as I would ordinarily think of it. That, plus this is a relatively simple creation that doesn't require much in the way of purchases or ingredients (I went overboard with choosing several types of glue instead of just one).

What I learned: That despite being relatively straightforward, I would still need to practice/ make an adjustment to my formula next time. I wound up with more chunks of glue that didn't dissolve in the hot water so I had to pour it out and put it in a pot with more hot water to stir it and try to break down the glue bonds some more. However, overall, despite that difficulty it was pretty easy and I was happy with the pretty and satisfying results.

How this could be used with a client: The great thing about this bottle -besides how easy it would be for a client to create one either guided by the therapist or create on their own- is how many different clients it could be beneficial to. The bottle can be used for a soothing or calming effect with a neurotypical person, to help those with anxiety, ADHD, autism, kids who need a device to help them emotionally regulate, or adults who want a simple fidget toy or even a meditation aid. It's a simple creation but it has plenty of practical uses.

[kellymaher]

September Portfolio - Entry 2

Title: Sunlit Orange

Date created: 09/29/22

Materials: Watercolor Paints

Description: A orange in a few forms: a whole orange, a thin vertical slice, and a supreme.

Inspiration: I wasn't satisfied with the watercolor image of the woman that I attempted, and I thought maybe I would try going back to basics. In art classes, still life (of fruit) is a common first step in learning a new medium. And since I've never done watercolor extensively before, and haven't tried it in years, I wanted to give it a go. I specifically wanted to capture the dimension of light shining through the orange slice.

What I learned: What I learned was how much patience and focus watercolor takes. I struggled with waiting for each layer to dry, and it was a little bit of a challenge to have to work backwards in order to keep the colors at the value I wanted them. What I mean is that with other mediums, you can build color and put a lighter color on top of a darker color (like building layers with acrylic paint). However, with watercolor, anything that you want to keep white or lightly colored has to be carefully preserved from the beginning. If you put too much pigment down, there is only so much you can do to remove the saturated color and it will likely not look the same (hence why my supreme of orange looks a little more like a peach).

How this could be used with a client: I think you could replace the orange with any kind of fruit and allow the client to decide how to represent it (e.g., in pieces, whole, etc.). This exercise could be used to help the client use focus and patience, and that watercolor as a medium could be helpful in patience or helping a client let go of control. Watercolor is tricky and doesn't always behave the way you expect it to.

[kellymaher]

September Portfolio - Entry 1.5 ?

Title: Star Fall

Date created: 09/28/22

Materials: Watercolor Paints

Description: A girl cradles a star in her hands, standing against an abstract sky background with stars falling around her.

Inspiration: I love the movie Howl's Moving Castle and I was inspired by images from the movie and a particular scene where stars are falling, and a character catches a star in his hands. There was something very magical and ethereal about this concept and I wanted to try to capture that feeling/ essence.

What I learned: I'm submitting this because I did complete it for the portfolio, so I wanted that to be known and counted, but between this and Sunlit Orange, I would rather Sunlit Orange be considered my second piece for my September Portfolio.

Unfortunately, I'm really unhappy with it. It doesn't look at all the way I wanted and I think I was too impatient/ kept adding color in a way that doesn't work well with watercolor.

Because I wasn't happy with it and I don't think I was using the materials in the best way I could, I decided to do another piece with watercolor instead. When I started this piece I also did not consider an application for how a client could use this project.

[kellymaher]

September Portfolio - Entry 1

Title: Falling In The Reach

Date created: 09/27/22

Materials: Colored Pencils, Olive Oil, Q-tips

Description: A woman in a bright red dress descending into deep, dark water, reaching for the light at the surface.

Inspiration: I keep a folder of images for inspiration and there were some images of women in dresses underwater and I loved how ethereal they looked and I also found an image that demonstrated this pose underwater, so I combined the two and added one of her hands still reaching for the light. I also had recently seen a trick on TikTok for using olive oil to blend colored pencils, and I've never been able to understand how some artists got their colored pencils to look so smooth/ have less texture, so I thought this was a great opportunity to try it!

What I learned: I'm still stunned that the olive oil worked in blending the colors so nicely, so I learned that as a valuable little trick I can use more in the future. I'm also pleased that I finally did some artwork using the woman underwater image as it's been in my inspiration folder for a long time, but I've never gotten around to doing it so I feel very satisfied/ felt like it was cathartic to finally express this image.

How this could be used with a client: To use this with a client, maybe I would ask them to depict someone of their gender identity using colored pencils -in whatever environment or way they'd like. I might encourage them to use an image or environment that has stuck with them in their mind (like the underwater images with me) -take a little bit of a Jungian or Adlerian element in uncovering something unconscious.