Reflection Of An Expressive Arts In Education Class

Over the years, I always thought that art was just for artists, that on every art class I took growing up I was not artistic or creative enough. This semester I decided to take an Expressive Arts in Education class and it changed my life. In this class, I found out a new version of myself and my ability to do something and be creative. It was not just “an art class”, I am sure that not only me but my classmates walked out that class with so many new things that as a student I was never expecting. I clearly developed my creative art connection, how to combat the fear of the unknown and fear of judgment, and how to open myself not only in an art classroom but in my everyday life. Although, learning these things about myself was a process that …show more content…
Personally, I was going through a hard time because of a death of someone I was super closed in my family. I felt lost, insecure, empty and heartbroken and this class was the only class where, surprisingly, I felt comfortable. A representation of those first weeks of class is shown in the first image above (image 1). I noticed about the work that even though I never open myself to anything and nobody, I was able to draw it. The heart represents how everything was inside of me, I used the color black to symbolize sadness and emptiness. Then, the cloud and those bright colors that I used such as light blue and yellow, represents how I projected myself to others to believe I was doing totally fine. At first, I was not truly aware of what I was making, I tried to not think about anything besides letting my insights lead my hands to create that piece of art. After I finished the artwork, I shared what I drew with one classmate and it was complicated to explain it because I have always been scared to express my feelings. I remember I was trying to say something about what my work means without crying, therefore, I force myself to explain it without covering anything. The partner I have was super open-minded and even though it was a hard time for me, I learned that the best thing for me was to talk about my feelings and no keep them inside of …show more content…
I engage my mind to see another perspective of art and discover the impact that it can make in anyone’s life. Art cannot only help me to express myself, I can help me find solutions to any problem, to express a feeling, find out a deeper connection with my inner self. However, developing these qualities in the class has also helped me to incorporate them into people around me, especially my family and friends. One of the things I learned in class was the Twelve-Step program which is a program of creative art connection with emotions, situations, and feelings. I started putting that program in practice mostly during the triads in class. I was a process for me to be a listener because I heard someone’s situation without being able to give an advice or recommendation about anything. On that exercise, I learned how to be empathetic and authentic because I understood that as individuals most of the time we need someone to listen to us and our problems and understand us instead of trying to solve it. Furthermore, I was also difficult to me to be the speaker during the triads since I had so much to say but for a moment I felt insecure about what to say and what not to say. I figured that it was best for me to explain it utilizing art materials and create a visualization of my situation, and later I felt better, relaxed after because I talked about what was