Coming to the end of the semester, I want to reflect on the different things that were experienced and learned this semester. With having my own painting studio and participating in graduate art therapy classes while finishing my final undergraduate semester, such a variety of valuable lessons have been discovered!

Having the available space for my painting studio has enhanced my life as an artist. I have developed styles, techniques, colors, and interests throughout this entire semester that I never would have gotten the chance to explore without my studio. I was given the opportunity to dive into my ideas and create my own pieces. My studio became my safe haven throughout these past months. Along with researching and completing homework assignments based on famous artists work, painting and working with different materials in my pieces. I think that my semester would be less eventful and more boring without the chance at my own studio.

Aside from all the relaxation and fun I have in studio, I was also taking graduate level courses in art therapy. These classes were just to start off my graduate career and build a foundation of art therapy. Within several courses, I learned the developmental stages of creativity and their parts, history of past pioneers of art therapy, in depth approaches to the field, and how studio approaches can be run with different populations. That was just all from the textbook! These classes supplied my classmates and I without great essential knowledge for the field and prepared us all for our first practicum sites next semester. I am a firm believer that I will take what I learned in these classes very far through my journey of art therapy.

I plan on expanding my style and art elements more in the upcoming semesters on my own time. It may not be as easy, but I think that if I make it a priority,  it will work! I look forward to using what I learned from this past semester and utilizing it within the population I am working with next semester. There is so much more that needs to be learned, but I am happy so far!

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