Contacting Practitioners

Due to faffing around worrying about my topic, I haven't actually contacted anyone yet which is worrying me more!

I have written out a draft email send to a list of professionals within the art therapy industry, that Sharon Heleine provided for me a few months back (that I still haven't used, sorry Sharon!) 
In my defence this was because from my first feedback I got the impression that art therapy was too much of a far fetched topic to explore, however I believe that asking a few questions may help me on my way to start researching specific areas of social responsibility.

This took me so long to write out, its scary having to try and sound professional when you are a student.

So I hope that sounds substantial/not too vague? I will write another post if I am lucky enough to gain any response!

Defining My Topic

I fully admit that I have been slacking on the COP front because I'm totally overwhelmed about the whole project, hence the lack of blog posts. 

Like every beginning of module, I freak out because I don't know where I am going in terms of direction. I don't trust myself enough to let go and explore, which usually results in me taking a safer and more structured option where I can lay out my perfectionist habits to make myself feel comfortable, thus resulting in an outcome that does not show my full potential.

So out comes the trusty mind map! This kind of helped me to focus down a few main areas of specific interest:

• The role and responsibility of the illustrator as educator
• How socially engaged creative practice can be used to reduce social isolation
• The use of emotion within illustration; how it challenges notions of consumerism

I sent Pete an email two weeks ago when I was in Leeds, and luckily managed to bump into him to briefly discuss my progress.

So the plan for now is to keep reading, find some more people to contact- perhaps teachers of art and illustrators who have a lot of campaign or charity work within their practice. And not to stress out of course!