For my week 2 Creative Practice Blog, I have decided to share about the Trees4Life project I hope to someday facilitate in a children’s hospital for children and their families, with serious diseases and handicaps. Here is the vision for the project.
Vision
The vision for the Trees4Life program is for each child and their family to build out of clay and mixed medium a tree that represents, symbolizes and honors their child’s life. The main structure, trunk and main branches, of the tree will be built out of clay using the coil hand building technique. The branches will have holes in them so silk branches and flowers can be set into the branches to complete the tree and small string lights can run through the tree out the base. Clay and fabric ornaments that characterize the child’s favorite things such as: color, song, book, movie, person, family and more will hang from the branches of the tree. Also words like hope, faith, or family member’s names will hang from the branches. Small lights may be wrapped around the tree branches and trunk. The silk branches/flowers, ornaments and lights will be interchangeable so the tree can change with the child as needed during the healing process. The tree will be mounted on a base that may have light and holder for an mp3 player. The mp3 player will have recorded on it an interview with the child on the things they like with music in the background and soothing healing music. So the tree will utilize art, light and music to capture the child’s character and bring healing.
I started developing the project for my school assignment in February, the arts in medicine program model, and decided to try the project in my pottery class at our healing art center. The class consists of 3 children with their mother and father, two children with their mother, 1 young child with her grandmother and one teen age girl. The class is a perfect mix to try out the Trees4Life project because it involves children and their parents to create their tree.
Week 1: I explained the Trees4Life project to the class and started them with their interviews and creating the ornaments for their trees. I created a simple list of questions asking what was their favorite color, animal, song, book, person etc. My husband Steve recorded each child’s interview and burned it onto a CD for them. I had each child make a CD cover with markers that represented the things they liked and who they are. While the interviewing process was going on the children and their parents were making clay ornaments of the things that represented them and what they liked.
Week 2: This week the children began to create their trees with the help of their parents, out of clay using coil method of hand building. The class had an amazing time building their trees together, there was such an excitement in the room and several times I heard the parents saying how this was therapy for them. It was encouraging to see how quickly they were able to construct their trees and how well it worked for the child to have their parents create with them.
Here are a few pictures of the ornaments and the beginning stages of the trees the class made.
HEALTH ISSUES BLOG - WEEK 2
C•R•C•L
UCI Center for Research on Cognition & Learning
For the initial blog/post below I have only posted the portion of the article blog I responded to.
All types of art, whether it is music or painting, have healed people’s “body, mind, and spirit,” (Lipe et al., 2012). Goldblatt, Elkis-Abuhoff, Gaydos, & Napoli (2010) had patients with Parkinson’s disease participate in art therapy with modeling clay. Patients found that working with clay helped them with their sensor motor skills and helped them “cope with their symptoms.” According to the study, patients with Parkinson’s disease tend to have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Depression, and “phobic anxiety.” Art therapy with clay showed that there was a “significant decrease” in these areas of psychological behaviors. Patients liked expressing themselves and the study concluded that the act of expression can “enhance quality of life” because now the patient is more attuned with his or her inner skills of creating beauty and is more exposed to life’s beautiful possibilities.
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Lisa Swanson says:
Thank you for your post on the effects of art therapy. I am in college studying arts in medicine and have started researching information on modeling clay and patients with Parkinson’s Disease. I have been a clay potter/sculptor for 30+ years and my father had a type of Parkinson’s Disease for the last seven years of his life. I recently became aware of how working with clay can be very beneficial to the Parkinson’s patient. My father struggled with his sensor motor skills and he was frustrated by his symptoms especially his shaking left arm and hand. He also struggled with depression and “phobic anxiety.” Working with clay can strengthen their hands and the act of expression can help with the trembling hand and help decrease depression and so much more. I am so sorry that I did not have this realization about the effects of working with clay for Parkinson’s patients when my father was still alive, I would have liked to have been able to help him.
I have been able to only read part of the article online that you sited, do you know where I can get a hold of the whole article?
Goldblatt, R., Elkis-Abuhoff, D., Gaydos, M., & Napoli, A. (2010). Understanding clinical benefits of modeling clay exploration with patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Arts & Health, 2(2), 140-148
daoav says: 
spakhdik says: - I really liked your comment. Especially the last sentence. Just thought I’d let you know that. It sort of gives the message that there is no “right” way to do art.
Nabila Mohammed says:
Elika Razmjou says: 
NICOLEMC says: 
jmerai says: - I completely agree! Nobody takes time to relax and spoil themselves anymore, which includes partaking in creative activities. I feel like that is why so many people are more stresses and anxious these days. Although I’m not an artist, I feel like everyone has an intrinsic need to draw or doodle or express themselves on some form of canvas, no matter how fleeting those moments are. And that in turn, I believe, is self-healing and mentally therapeutic.
