"I took a knockin' but I keep on rockin'." So said John Cameron Swayse in the old Timex commercials on TV. That is basically my life as an artist, a therapist, and as a going human concern. This whole journey I've been on is simply an odyssey towards the authentic Chris. I have always known that ...more

"I took a knockin' but I keep on rockin'." So said John Cameron Swayse in the old Timex commercials on TV. That is basically my life as an artist, a therapist, and as a going human concern. This whole journey I've been on is simply an odyssey towards the authentic Chris. I have always known that I am here to create, to dream, to cast illusion through metaphor and symbol. I am the possessor of mental illness myself. I've had many diagnoses and several hospitalizations and with over a quarter century of therapies to boot. Art was joyous to me until my innocence was ripped away at 4 years of age. Then it became a place to hide. So I made art, went to art school, then made art as my sole living as a studio potter. When my life began to crumble under the weight of addictions and maladaptive thoughts and actions, I either had to seek help or die. Rather than hide from others with art I saw that I needed to come closer to others with art. A family counselor suggested that I check out Art Therapy. It was a no-brainer for me. I saw that therapy is an ART, not a science. Gotta have that evidence-based research, though. . . I've worked in this field for 27 years now and have seen the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in the mental health field. I'm not perfect, but parts of me are excellent. I've created all of my art therapy jobs. And I have created novel ways in which art can be used to it's maximum power with folks. And more ideas about art and humanity keep bubbling up. I hope that I can bring my fantasies into reality and do some real stigma busting inside and outside of this crazy mess we call "mental health". My cynicism is tempered with hope though and I can feel the clean wind of innocent joy today. I am able to dance in the darkness that most humans run away from. But boy, do I have to work for that! So that is me. I am a human who cares for other humans - that is the key to any kind of therapy. Mental illness can be fun. . .less