Relieving Tension.

I found this little character at a thrift shop today and he found his way onto my drafting table. He is great. I found a piece of pottery as well, I love pottery. The pot is on the far left and it is a good place to throw my tiniest colored pencils. There is something very pleasurable about taking photos of my "stuff." Someone had suggested that I make a sand tray, a technique used to relieve anxiety. The figurine was purchased to use as part of the sand tray experiment. Ever since I ended up on disability anxiety has been a big problem. It creates a lot of tension and my art is one way of combatting it. My partner got very ill in April and it triggered my PTSD. Suddenly I found myself reliving trauma associated with old injuries and I found myself trying to keep my head above water.The sand tray was one technique that was suggested.  Basically, it consists of a rectangular tray filled with white sand. I am going to use a 9x13 inch baking tray. Figurines and other objects are used to work out various conflicts by acting them out in the tray  as I understand it.   I am very fortunate to have a good imagination. But it hasn't always been that way. My head injury right after it happened kept me from doing a lot of things. I read a lot of books on combatting head trauma but I could remember very little of what I read. I tried a support group of head trauma survivors but could not make the adjustment to the group setting. Art was the one thing I could do. I was fortunate in that when I experienced trauma as a child I had an aunt who used art as a way to get me to relax. Her help made art a fixture in my life when I was stressed. I was hit by a car when I was twelve. I stayed with her while I recuperated and her influence  helped me to deal with my injuries. She died of cancer when I was around fourteen and it wasn't until I was eighteen that I started using my art skills as a way to deal with the loss... If anyone knows where one finds white sand I'd appreciate a comment. My partner says that it can be found in nurseries. Any other comments or suggestions are welcome... Thanks. Dale