This Art Therapy Alliance Favicard on the Go submission was received by July Fernández, an Art Therapist from Mexico living in Guadalajara. Thank you July!
July first studied Nutrition Science and worked for several years in this field. She realized that the people that came to her office needed to talk about their feelings, as these unresolved feelings affected their way of feeding themselves.
While July was working as a Nutritionist she studied art, with special interest in children’s illustration. By “accident” of the universe (jojo), July knew there was “something” called Art Therapy and she knew that would be the way to help people discover themselves and feelings through their own creativity. July then studied in Barcelona for her Masters in Art Therapy.
Currently July is working in a Children’s Rehabilitation Center called CRIT Occidente (Centro de Rehabilitación Infantil Teletón) in Guadalajara as an Art Therapist. Through art July works with children with diverse physical disabilities. She designs activities to improve their artistic capabilities and self-esteem while working on their medical objectives. This includes working with the child’s emotions, disability acceptance, grief, the self’s acceptance of death, parent deattachment, frustration, as well as discovering the child’s artistic capabilities to cope with physical disabilities through hand, feet and mouth painting.
“It’s a job (well, I do not consider its a “job”) that I love: I love how creativity emerges in each child and how they interpret the colors, how they discover their creative abilities and their joy at the end of each of the works they perform. I like to discover the child’s thoughts and feelings as we paint…we can laugh and cry.”
Regarding July’s photo, she took it on November 2nd in Guadalajara’s downtown. On November 2nd the Day of the Dead (Día de muertos) is celebrated in Mexico.
“It’s my favorite Mexican holiday: Lots of color, food, altars honoring the deceased, flowers and something special called Catrina. The Catrina is the image that depicts a female skeleton dressed only in a hat befitting the upper class outfit of a European of her time. The skeleton is adorned with large and elegant dresses.”
“This year I made a Catrina with a disability (a leg prosthesis) representing the Children’s Rehabilitation Center where I work and was placed in the hometown of my city. I created it with paper, glue, paint and fabric. I thoroughly enjoyed making it and chose this figure to photograph my Favicard. In the background you can see the cathedral, the Plaza de Armas and the Government Palace.”
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