So, it seems to make sense to start with something of an introduction. That said, I'm not entirely sure where to start.
I currently live in Vancouver, BC, Canada, where I'm studying to be an expressive arts therapist. I grew up near Collingwood, Ontario and in the BC Interior with my parents and my two older sisters. When I was 16 I lived in Thailand for a year as a Rotary International exchange student. My parents and I moved to Corner Brook, Newfoundland the summer before I started grade 12. I spent the next few years going back and forth between Corner Brook and St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. I was majoring in Development Studies and Anthropology and planning on going into international development work. After 3.5 years, a semester off, and major struggles with depression, I left without finishing my degree. I decided to instead go to art school, get a BFA, and then go into art therapy. While attending NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia I learned of Expressive Arts Therapy, and realized that it would be a better fit for me. It just so happened that the program I was interested in was based in Vancouver, where both of my sisters already lived. After I graduated in 2013, my partner and I moved to Vancouver, and here we've stayed.
There's probably 4 main topics that I'm likely to talk about here: my studies and future career in expressive arts therapy (EXA), my own visual art creation, my martial arts practice, and mental health issues. There's likely to be overlap - I'm in the middle of writing my thesis on using martial arts in my EXA practice, balancing that with doing a lot of painting, and I do all three because of my struggles with depression and maintaining my mental health. Other topics are likely to creep in (a bit of politics, the occasional feminist rant, etc), but those should be the main ones. I'll probably write something of an introduction to each of them in my next few posts. I'm going to try to post every week, though I make no guarantees on the length of post. We'll see what happens. Mostly, I want to get in the habit of regularly doing so writing for myself, writing that doesn't have to relate to my thesis.
In addition to the blog, I also want to use this site as a place to sell some of my artwork. After years of making hardly any art that wasn't specifically for school or therapy, I suddenly started painting this past January. Some people might say that I went a little overboard, making almost 30 paintings (small ones!) in about a month and a half. It's been great to get back to making art for its own sake though, and experimenting with new methods. They're beginning to stack up though, and I'm running low (and out of) some of my colours. Selling some would allow me to buy more paints and canvases so that I can keep on playing, so please take a few minutes to look through my gallery to see if anything catches your eye. I'd also appreciate it if you shared my site with your friends, in case they are looking for some new artwork.