Toma Gabor.

Toma Gabor is a profound clay and architecture artist from Romania, although his works feature world wide. Gabor is a photography entusiast aswell, but really enjoys exploring art as a whole. He held a session in Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre in the summer of 2005 with the intention to promote art therapy for the first time in that theatre. This intention included bringing in any art enthusiatast, art therapy seeker, or artist alike to instill their emotions onto one huge canvas. "The session aims to dig deep in the immediate and long-term memories of the subconscious mind to specify the genuine irritating situations that the art therapy seekers have gone through, leaving an unpleasant impact on their subconscious mind." Said Gabor. He wanted to get to the underlying core of each individuals mind, and surface it; knowledgeable of the fact it could be a negative upbringing, and hoping it would.

Art vs. Autism: The Rewards Program.

I work as an in home care and habilitation service staff worker for a school that educates only the mentally ill. My client is my youngest sibling, a 15 year old boy with a lot of energy. Yesterday I asked my little brother to rinse off his dish after having used it for a hotdog he just finished which had been smothered in ketchup. He was having an awful day, not cooperaing, neglecting tasks, not reaching communication goals. This fask I had provided had resorted to him throwing a crying fit.

Knowledgeable of the fact it was my responsibility to protect him and myself from any frustrated violent action that he may conduct I had to act quickly. Rather restraining him (which is a commonly used physical control system of guarding yourself and others by holding down specific limbs from flailing about), I looked into his eyes and said (For confidentiality purposes we'll say his name is Kevin.) "Kevin, I need you to calm down. I want to draw with you today, but I can't in till you calm down." His crying fit became more of a sob and he looked around as if searching for the right answer; unaware of what we were intending on drawing with considering he didn't have any supply. Kevin can't talk, but Kevin is smart. He can tell when he's being lied to, and he can tell when he is not. Luckily, he trusted my words even without the visual proof of this activity. If he hadn't had faith in my telling the truth, this could have become a very dangerous situation.

I kept the art supply closely in my purse. It was quite the treat; a 54 count of crayola crayons with the sharpener on the back of the box. Without showing him this, I directed him again "Kevin, if you rinse off your plate, you and I will draw pictures." This showed to be a better approach than the original order of just "Okay, now rinse off your plate," because he actually did it this time. Once he finished the rinse I showed him the crayola as if it were a drug, slipping the box half way out my purse saying "Now are you going to continue to be good?" Kevin signed the 'good' sign of sign language, and I pulled the box out completely. He and I had drawn for at least a good hour, with my help he managed to draw a boat on an ocean with a sun behind it.

This mechanism is used commonly and is called the reward program. The general concept of this program is to give your client a specific task or goal with a reward offering after completion. The repetition of this program familiarizes clients with their everyday tasks, making it easier for them to complete these tasks independently in the near future. It is clearly very effective, because after Kevin and I had completed our drawings we framed his and hung it on the wall. He seemed please for the rest of the afternoon, with about an 80% decrease in violent related activity.

Art

Art is something people consider to be something you have to be good at to do. This is a misconception generally occurring amongst those who have never really attempted to make art. In order to be an artist you need only one thing: A heart.Art can be a channel to your emotional distress or enlightenment. If you learn how to express the scatter of your thoughts or the hurt in your heart via paint brush you are more likely to find reassurance in who you are, reflecting who you might become. You don’t have to try to make art, because you already are an artist. Art has no boundaries; it is in everything you see. The engineering of your thoughts, even when you're just thinking of your hunger in the night, is art. The magazine you read when you're sitting on the toilet is art. The lack of food in your refrigerator is art. The cluttered arrangement of books in your local library is art. The unclear inarticulate parts of life are undeniably: Art. All you have to do is look around, open your eyes and mind and teach yourself how to feel, and then put it on paper. Don’t be a dull person, untie the seams of your life and fill the space with color. Pick up a piece of charcoal, hell pick up a crayon. You are art, you are an artist, and you can make art.