Now that the days are shorter and colder, the life we had in the summer has changed significantly. It is a time when longing and depression attempt to fill the void of bike rides and blue pools. For an art therapist, it’s a great time to initiate a memory collage.

A child I work with misses the turtles from the pond he visited daily over the summer. This is a subject matter we’ve been using frequently because it allows him to spend time thinking about his turtles in a pro-active way, and through art he is able to show care and attention. This brings back the sense of purpose he felt.

I’ve always thought clothing magazines (Land’s End, LL Bean, etc.) were a great source for collage work, and his piece validates this. Clothing has blocks of textured color and gradation that helps define a 3-D shape. For his turtle he found the perfect green, puffy vest to use as the turtle shell. Visually the vest depicts the segmentation of a turtle shell. But from a tactile perspective, we all know a quilted vest is the opposite of a hard shell. Could it be that he takes comfort in stroking the shell as if it were something to be cuddled? Or is it more of a metaphor? The shell is a turtles protection from the elements as is a warm, down vest for a human.

He was so proud of his collage. The process and result were satisfying and comforting.