As my first blog post as the new Sculpture blogger, I figured I would introduce myself and my background as an artist. So hello!

My name is Emma Brooks I am a first semester graduate student in the Masters of Art in Art Therapy program at Marywood University and I am super excited to be the new Sculpture blogger.

I was elated to get the offer to be the new sculpture blogger because 3D art and sculpture is a new passion of mine that I found to love in my final semesters of undergrad. Now, let me share my journey as an artist until this point.

Early Years

I was always a very creative spirit when I was younger. I loved anything that had to do with the arts whether it was dance, music or art. I was very fortunate to have a family that supported the arts and let me express myself in this way. In fact, I was enrolled in dance at the age of three and then started taking art classes at the local college from ages five until middle school. I am even lucky enough to have a dad that has his undergrad in Art Administration and is an amazing artist as well.

Other then taking some art classes here and there, my love for art faded and my love for dance and creating art using my body took the foreground. I was a competitive dancer for 12 years and that is how I expressed my creativity. It wasn’t until my junior year of high school when I had a free period in my schedule that I was able to take an art class for the first time in awhile. This class made me fall in love with art again.

The class landed at the beginning of my day, every other day, and I noticed that on the mornings that did not start with art I was more anxious during the day. This was the first time that I noticed that art and art making had such a strong positive impact on my emotions. Although this class was mainly 2D art, it grew my love for art again which made me eager to take a jewelry class the following year. I was able to take half of year of jewelry class and loved how detailed oriented it was, as well as using my hands and the art being super tactile. Unfortunately due to Covid, the year was cut short and the idea of using art as a passion and career disappeared.

Finding My Career in the Arts!

Finding my career in art therapy and finding my passion for art once again has been a long journey. I started my education as an Education major at my parents’ alma mater because it seemed to be the easiest path for me. I was still drawn to art and did it constantly, but I never had the confidence to explore and take the risk to make it my career. I was second-guessing myself and my career choices, and moved back home to begin majoring in Human Services at my local community college. It was during my time there, that I was able to take some basic drawing classes as well as complete an internship doing art with adults with special needs, and I finally felt like my true self was coming to life. It was one of my professors at community college that told my about art therapy and the benefits that it can bring to clients, and she recommended that it was a field that I look into achieving, so I am forever grateful for her guidance.

My Time at Marywood!

My journey to Marywood University was very unconventional. I actually learned about Marywood through my brother because the school was looking at him to play baseball but on the brochure it mentioned art therapy so I immediately toured the campus and fell in love, and then applied, and got accepted. The whole processes was a whirlwind.

I am grateful for the Art professors at Marywood and how welcoming they were into the art therapy program as well as showing me all the studio spaces. The art therapy program at Marywood has allowed me to find my growing passion for art as well as meeting one of my best friends and previous sculpture blogger, Madison Kelly!

When entering the program, I had not taken many art classes, therefore Marywood was where most of my art education came from. I was able to take many art classes and many different mediums including drawing, painting, ceramics, and mixed media but ultimately fell in love with sculpture. I took my first sculpture class my senior year of college which is crazy to think how fast I fell in love with it. I love using my hands and working with tactical materials to bring my visions to life in a larger physical form.

Now, after taking mixed media and sculpture classes, I have also learned the materials I love to work in and the ones I hate to work in. For example, I LOVE working with wood. The idea of structure and stability is something that I thrive off of and it is clear in my work. I also really enjoy working with glass and the use of sandblasting. I have learned from experience that I dislike working in clay as well as wire because for me, these types of materials are hard for me to have control over.

Through finding my strengths and weaknesses in art I was able to find my personal art style which appears to be very minimalistic on the outside but the work holds much more than it appears. I really focus on the process of the art making and use that as my creative expression. I tend to find that my work speaks for itself when it is fully completed.

As the semester begins I am really excited to see how I can explore using new materials and creating more work that means something to me. Thanks for reading. ~Emma