Interview Late Adulthood # 4

                                      Part 1of 2 Late Adulthood Interview

Mask Making with the Middle Aged Adult

                                           Interview Middle Adulthood 3

Interview #4 Late Adult Mask Making Video in conjunction with paper submission.

                             
                         Conclusion Interview #4 Late Adult

Interview 3 Middle Adulthood Videos in conjunction with paper submission.

Part 2 of 2 Conclusions Middle Adulthood

Memory Tree from Module 5

Interview # 1 Early Childhood Videos

This video is unlisted. Be considerate and think twice before sharing.

Submitted as backup for Interview

Early Childhood Growth and Development Assignment 

Interview #1 part 1 

    

Interview #1 part 2 Conclusion 

Interview #2 Childhood / Adolescence Video

Submitted as backup for Interview #2

This is an abbreviated version of the 25-minute interview.

Personal Timeline #3

Timeline final 

Nineteen years old and caring a narcotic key, what were they thinking?  This is where I pick up as I enter young adulthood. Married to a non-musical man I grew out of my music and found a paint brush. It began with night classes at the local high school. 

A deeply committed four years of marriage before we planned any children.  The children solidified us even more. We undertook a big project to build our own home custom made for three daughters. 

 My husband and I drew up the plans and were the source of labor, with the exception of the bricks, we hired a brick mason. These types of events seem to make us closer as a couple. We remained in this loving house for over thirty years as our little girls grew into young women with families of their own. Everyone on the street knew that this house was built above code with an extra dose of love. It was called Fort Magee, a place for shelter during a bad storm as many considered it their hurricane home. Last week a for sale sign was placed in the front yard of Fort Magee. Before the sun set, we had a contract on the house.  Might you think this would cause jubilation in the seller?  But not so with me, the house represented all stages of human growth and development and was an extension of me.  

During early childhood, I recall my youngest daughter was too small to reach the light switch and had to rely on a step stool. The other two girl’s roller skating on the concrete floors as we moved in before the house was completed. 

Adolescence brought the drama before the mirrors in the bathroom. God help the child that wore her sister’s clothes, but still, the house was steadfast.  It supported us all through our children’s growth into young adults. It supported us when our parents came to visit as we modified Fort Magee to accommodate the tender steps of the elderly. 

 Fort Magee was still resilient when our new baby grandchildren came to visit us.  Now we are the older generation our house of love is still strong as we see our frailties more every day.  The house that we built is like our bodies requiring nurture and care for the sake of permanence.

When comparing the self as building, the similarities are real. “The relationship between architecture and the human body delves deep into why those behaviors manifest in the first place, as it calls upon the experiential characteristics and qualities that spark when the two unite — impacting not only occupant behavior through the body, but also impacting occupants intellectually, emotionally, physiologically and even spiritually through the body as well”(Lehman, 2017).

Reference

Lehman, M. L. (2008, 2017). Examining The Relationship Between Architecture and the Human Body [Maria Lorena Lehman + sensing architecture® |]. Retrieved from http://marialorenalehman.com/post/examining-relationship-architecture-human-body

OLDER ADULTHOOD PROJECT 

May I present my end of life art project as you can see I have allowed plenty of room to work on this for the next 35-40 years.  Many older adults have a bucket list; it is my intention to include this piece as I complete my bucket list on travel interest.

The backing of this piece is composed of many triangular cuts of wood that my husband made for me from his table saw. After staining the wood, I glued the pieces together to form a circle to represent oneness, which has become a lifelong goal for my existence. This is significant as my life is composed of many fragments which eventually fused together from walking through the trails of human development. My life is one piece consisting of many pieces; some joints are glued well, and some are not. This is a representation of my structure during human development which supports me and my art project.  I continue to strive for oneness as an older adult but realize my path may not be completed until I reach the other side. In my life, this is an ongoing process.

In the meantime, my mission for this end of life art project is to fill it with mother earth’s evidence of all my remaining journeys that link me to the cosmos and my God.

Currently, this piece represents two places visited my homeland Florida and my motherland England. The rocks were found on the shores separating England from Scotland and pebbles in the walking path to my ancestor’s great creation of Stone Hedge. 

I am excited about this project, and from this point forward I will limit my mother earth souvenirs to one stone, shell or grain of sand from each location I visit until my piece is finished. At the end of my journey, the art piece will represent all my experiences as an older adult, and I plan to make every second count.

In addition to the above project, I would like to paint the locations visited. The day I viewed Stone Hedge it was cold and misty, the perfect day for a touch of environmental mysticism. My painting below is an attempt to recreate the mood.

                            There will be more to come!

HUM6375

 Arts and Human Development,

 Spring 2017

Personal Timeline #2

(Childhood/Adolescence and Young Adult )

Drama is my submission for the teenage timeline, maybe all of us can remember a little drama queen from those adolescence years.This video is just over a minute long, it evolved from planning and just having fun with my oldest granddaughter Lily. The production and location of our collaborative drama take place in my bedroom.  Lily is in the adolescence stage of human development, and she teaches me things weekly.

 Lily is the producer, I'm the director, and we are both actresses in this video. Lily is very interested in electronics and determined the placement of the camera and music which in my opinion shows significant creativity. 

Teen Time Here She Comes

 My Story Continues 

Fifth-grade memories are quite remarkable, I had a blind teacher in the public elementary school system. She followed along with us in her braille text. It was an amazing experience for me on a field trip we visited St. Augustine school for the deaf and blind. My first time in St. Augustine and what an impression. There was an unyielding emphasis in music this year, Miss. McCallough had a voice like an angel, and we had music every day to start our morning. Drama was also introduced to us, 

Our class was chosen to present a play for the PTA. Up to now, I have only shared that I was shy and withdrawn, under the surface was an extreme lack of esteem and confidence in self.  Each student was required to audition for parts in this play. To my amazement, I received the part of the medieval princess who wore a long dress and a pointed hat with a veil. Remembering rationalizing this audition by saying to myself, I got the part because she could not see my face. Despite my insecurities, the show must go on, and it did. One step up.

 We moved the next year to another part of town, and we had a weekly music teacher in the auditorium.  During group practice, he isolated me with two other females to stand by his piano and sing a verse. He listened carefully then said “IT’s YOU” pointing to me. He told me you have a very mature voice for a 6^th grader. That comment in a new environment causes this withdrawn little girl to start becoming a work of art. It was only a crack in a real damaged piece of marble, but it was another step up. 

My arts involvement in Junior High was Chorus for three years. Junior High School I took a 6 weeks’ art class and made a C, it destroyed my desire for visual art. Confidence declined one step down. 

Janice Culbert was an adult woman in my community, I will never forget her support and encouragement. She wanted someone from our neighborhood to succeed, and she became my cheerleader. Selling donuts, magazines, or washing cars it didn’t matter, she fortified my efforts. 

 High School I started to bloom as Miss Paxon 1970, 1^st runner-up. My talent involved singing and drawing, yes even though art set me back in Junior High I tried it again. I was dressed like an artist wearing an artist smock, beret and knee high boots. The song Abraham, Martin and John by Dion was my selection. Large charcoal sketches of each man Lincoln, King, and Kennedy were pre-prepared and displayed on three separate easels as I sung their tribute song. While singing, I drew in charcoal the trio going over the hill into a peace sign sunset. This staging was purposeful, so I did not have to look at the audience. I had my back to the audience as I worked on my drawing and sang. Another step up. 

Invited to Junior Miss Contest because of my previous placement. This was sponsored by the Rotary Club and held in downtown Jacksonville. Just before my performance, one of the backstage workmen called me a communist. With tears in my teenage eyes, I went on.  Another step-down. 

I graduated high school at 17 years old and already met my life long partner. Out of Junior College at 19 years of age and caring a narcotic key as a graduate nurse. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

Reference

Siegal, D. (2014) The Teenage Brain. Retrieved February 01, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLULtUPyhog

Personal Arts Time CP-(1+2)

Creative Practice 

Birth /Early Childhood age zero -3  years and

 Childhood/Primary School ages 4-12 years 

My family was not ritualistic regarding my birth. There was no ceremonies or celebrations other than the routine baby shower. The family baby shower is when all the relatives come together with gifts and baby clothes outgrown by our cousins. The nursery was not prepared in unique colors it housed a crib, and a bassinet was used beside Mothers bed. My Mom did try to dress me cute in a frilly style when she could. I remember nothing about my infancy except those stories reported by my Mother. Like the detail of wearing cloth diapers and the day she dressed me up to take me to the doctor and was scolded by the pediatrician for having a rubber band too tight around my ankles to keep my socks up. Yes, I did survive infancy with ten toes. 

Going through all my keepsakes from the past I was unable to find evidence of art from my childhood.  Because I could not find any samples of my childhood artwork, I would like to share the art I have saved from my grandchildren.  This is Riley’s drawing at 3 years of age. The prompt I gave her was to draw a picture of her mother.

Drawing title; My Mom

 by granddaughter 

Riley at age 3

I think it looks just like her Mother, especially if you bring into consideration Carl Young's view of collective unconsciousness and archetypical symbols. 

The feminine circle is evident.

.

The fact that there are no relics doesn't mean that I was not amused with my crayons.  I recall memories of riding with other children age 5 in a station wagon to Buddy Sherwood’s kindergarten where music and crayons were plentiful. Other than church, it was my first exposure to socialization with children, my own age.  I remember it as rather painful as I was withdrawn and shy, but crayons were always available to support my bashfulness.

 Music and vocals were a significant influence on both sides of my family Mom and Dad’s.  Mom presented me with shape note spiritual group singing and Dad’s family was active in bluegrass music. I was somewhere in the middle but enjoyed participating in both styles. Rudolf reports that genetic endowment for music is unlikely that nurture plays the greater role, (Rudolf, 2003). Sergeant and Thatcher sees a correlation between musical ability and intelligence.

Here is another drawing of Mom at the same age which is a bit more sophisticated. The sensitivity of the internal structure develops between ages 4 to 8 according to (Chipman and Mendelson, 1975).  When I ask Riley to tell me about her picture she pointed out the following things in her tadpole human.  She pointed to the two blue vertical lines and called them eyes. The horizontal lines crossing the extremities are bracelets.  This shows more aesthetic properties in Riley's work with greater detail than the previous one. However, the previous one was drawn most recently. (Brooks, Gleen, and Crozier,1988) noted that preschoolers favored drawings at their own level rather than complex human forms. (Golomg, 2004) claims the first representational art that children draw is the human figure.

                   1                                                                                      2 

Here are some more examples from early childhood art I found in my cedar chest belonging to my grandchildren. The first is one dimensional using only a crayon to decorate her snowman at age 5.  The second snowman is three-dimensional using a white cotton ball, red felt, and black beads. Requiring some assembly this seems too complicated for a 4-year-old child without some adult supervision.

At age five I knew without a doubt that I wanted to be an artist and nurse. I wanted to be a healer. Why is that year significant for me? My 7-year-old sister died from radiation poison from the treatment of a Whelms tumor. 

There was also drama on stage in my childhood as I recall dressing up in my costume, a plain brown robe, sandals and a cover for my head. I took part with my family in the annual Easter pageant on the property of the Boy's Home. It was all open-air theater, and  I felt significant as one of the many casts as the multitude. This period represents the second level of (Bronfenbrenner,1989) mesosystem involving the community, culture, family and individual. Religious groups and peer relationships were formed here.  

  

Pencil drawings by my seven-year-old grandson, he is close to my heart, you can see the love note he wrote to me. There is a progression toward realism that is guided by the developing understanding of space (Piaget 1956). He titled this "A Made Up Dinosaur because he improvised some of the features which according to (Rudolf, 2003) improvisation is an indicator of intelligence.  

I remember a positive influence toward the visual arts from my 3rd-grade school teacher. She taught me how to shade an object and make it look three dimensional.  She was a bit frightening at 400 pounds and a steel leg brace which squeaked as she walked down the corridor. She also drilled us in long division, I will never forget her. 

Fifth-grade memories are quite remarkable, I had a blind teacher in the public elementary school system. She followed along with us in her braille text. It was an amazing experience for me on a field trip we visited St. Augustine school for the deaf and blind. My first time in St. Augustine and what an impression. There was a strong emphasis on music this year, Miss. McCullough had a voice like an angel, and we had music every day to start our morning. Drama class was also introduced to us,  our class was chosen to present a play for the PTA. Up to now, I have only shared that I was shy and withdrawn, under the surface was the extreme lack of esteem and confidence in self.  Each student was required to audition for parts in this play. To my utter amazement, I received the part of the medieval princess who wore a long dress and a pointed hat with a veil. Remembering rationalizing this audition by saying to myself, I got the part because she could not see my face. Despite my insecurities, the show must go on, and it did. A step up for me.

(Gardner,1994), postulates that a child fluent in symbol use may already be thought of as an artist. The number three has always been important to me and choosing objects to represent real life occurrences is a common practice for me. Maybe it started with a charm bracelet, with a distinct charm representing a symbol for a special occasion or milestone.

Age 12, I moved with my family to another part of town, and we had a weekly music teacher in the auditorium.  During group practice, he isolated me with two other females to stand by his piano and sing a verse of the song we were practicing. He listened carefully then said “IT’s YOU” pointing to me. He told me you have a very mature voice for a 6^th grader. That comment in a new environment causes this withdrawn little girl to start becoming a work of art. It was only a crack in a very damaged piece of marble, but it was another step up for me.  

References

Alkire, S., Dimension of Human Development.pp.181-205

Bronfenbrenner, (1989)Ecological Models of Human Development (Links to an external site.), taken from Readings in the Development of Children,  pp 37-43

Gardner,H .(1996) .The Arts and Human Development.. New York, New York. Basic Books,.

Huitt, W. (2012). A systems approach to the study of human behavior. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/materials/sysmdlo.html

Huitt; A Systems Approach to the Study of Human Behavior (Links to an external site.),

Rudolf, E. et all, (2003). Psychological Foundations of Musical Behavior, Charles C. Thomas Publisher, Springfield, Ill.

 Psychology, Retrieved from Development in the Arts: Drawing and Music pp. 859-895.

 Radocy,(2003). Musical Ability and Learning, taken from Psychological Foundations of Musical
 Behavior, Radocy & Boyle, pp 384-424

Winner, E. Development in the Arts: Drawing and Music, Handbook of Child Psychology. pp 859-895.