New Video! Art Studio ASMR
I started a monthly therapeutic art group last year. Establishing groups is kinda what I do by now: I found people who were interested, got a Saturday scheduled, prepped a project, and emailed my people. Did I know what I was doing? Kind of. Ish. Did it matter? No time to worry about that, because the wheels were already turning.
I packed up the paints, the paper, the tablecloth, paper towels, and everything else I could possibly need, and hauled it all over to my church, which had generously lent me a key so I could use one of their classrooms. It was a bulky process, but that didn’t matter. I enjoyed making it a little better each month.
I let my friends know along the way: I am not an art therapist; I am simply looking into that direction for my work. I do not have the education to support this process; I’m simply enjoying feeling it out. It’s been all trial and error and these dear guinea pigs have been so nice about it.
We’ve made fun art, we’ve had interesting conversations, and, shockingly, people continue to come. I must be doing something right.
Behind the Scenes ASMR
Over the summer, I took a break. My husband redid our flooring, I moved loads of furniture in and out of rooms, and—what else did we do? Oh yeah, we traveled more than we ever have. Four weeks overseas. Recovering from our trip took quite a while. I fumbled to get back into daily rhythms. I felt rusty. I carried different insecurities than I did a few months ago. But it was time to get back into therapeutic art.
I scheduled a September art session and pulled out my paints. This time around, I hooked my phone up to the tripod in my art lab and documented the behind the scenes process. I forgot to document the actual session, but that’s actually for the best. No one wants cameras around when they’re just trying to enjoy a bit of watercolor. I cleaned up all the messes I made along the way, and then—
I did nothing.
Instead of making anything with my documentation, I sat on the video files for a week. I tried to figure out how I felt about the session. Rusty. It reminded me just how inarticulate I can be sometimes. How limited I am. How much more education and practice I’ll need if I want to do well. I sat long enough to realize that the nagging feeling in the back of my mind wouldn’t go away until just started working. So I shrugged and pulled the video files into an editing app.
I edited 60 minutes of footage down to 9 minutes of reflective, relaxing, ASMR video. As I edited, my inner critic felt less harsh. Trimming paper-scuffing soundbites soothed all the rough edges of my insecurity. When I finished, my imperfections didn’t feel fatal. Now, wrapped up in the video, they were just part of the process.
Making “Relaxing Art Studio ASMR: Prep a Therapeutic Art Sesh with Me” was so peaceful for me. I hope it’s peaceful for you, too. Please watch, like, and of course subscribe to the youtube channel.
Thank you!
Thank you so much to all of you who came to my September therapeutic art session! And thank you to everyone who keeps reminding me that these sessions are valuable for them. Even if you’ve read this far, thank you.
Want to keep up with my work? Here are a few ways to get involved: