Ambience…

According to Saito (2007) ambience is a multi sensory experience that also explores the aesthetic appreciation for an object or place. Ambience can be made up of the time of day an activity is done and the conversations made while doing it, the feel of different textures and the smells that come from the doing.  

From my understanding ambience is to me the atmosphere of a place or environment it is best described as the ‘feel’ , character, tone, mood, impression and ‘vibe’ that is going on within. A place can vary between positive and negative ambience and this can be said for how the end product turns out of my activity.

I have not had the motivation to do anything with paper this week…. Perhaps it has something to do with the rain?? Yes that’s what it must be, but that’s ok because it is cold and I don’t like the cold, it doesn’t make a good time to do craft. The conditions need to be right, I don’t think I would want to make something when the mood wasn’t right otherwise I don’t thing that I would enjoy it..….

Reference:

Saito, Y.(2007). Everyday Aesthetics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Blogs I have posted on.....

Fatuma - Affordances part 2

Patrina - Affordances 

Heather - Affordances

Anna Maree - Spirituality and Connections

References I have used:

Butler, M. (2011). Participation in Occupation II. Unpublished, cited with the permission of the author. Otago Polytechnic School of Occupational Therapy, Dunedin.

Caulton, R. & Dickson, R.  (2007).  What’s going on? Finding an explanation for what we do.  In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.), Contemporary issues in occupational therapy (pp. 87-114).  Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Christensen, C.H., and Townsend, E.A. (2010). Introduction to occupation: the art and science of living. (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson

Crepeau, E.B.(2007). Analysing occupation and activity: a way of thinking about occupational performance. In E.B. Crepeau, S.E. Cohn & B.A.B. Schell (Eds.), Willard & Spackman’s occupational therapy (10e.d., pp. 189-1980). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkin.

Hagedorn, R., (2000). Tools for practice in occupational therapy: a structured approach to core skills and processes. United Kingdom: Churchill Livingstone.

Smith, T. (2005). A taste of paste: Paper sniffer. Mayfield: Bluegrass publishing

Saito, Y.(2007). Everyday Aesthetics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Craft is Work...

The trick to getting this right is measuring the amount of tissue paper you need.  A sharp pair of scissors are good to have around as a blunt pair tends to get snagged on the paper and rip the edges. So my hunt is on to find these mythical sharp scissors. I can never find any scissors at my house so I wonder if mum has any at her house?  I have ended up with mum’s expensive and very sharp dressmaking scissors. I hope she doesn’t walk in while I am using them!!! I need to quickly cut what I need and safely stash the scissors away before I am caught.

As humans we spend a lot of time occupying ourselves with activities that provide meaning to us. Our occupations are goal orientated activities that occupy our time, space and place (Christiansen & Townsend, 2010).  Leisure activities or work are second to labour, as it is not required for survival, but we spend the majority of our time participating in it. The on-going learning opportunities that leisure activities or work offer as we mature, enable us to still enjoy the self-motivating and pleasurable experiences (Christiansen & Townsend, 2010).

So as I sit here with my mother’s expensive dressmaking scissors, I remind myself that I am doing this because I need to do it, I enjoy it, it provides me with something to relax with, it inspires me to create something new, I get enjoyment from it, I find it interesting, it can be aesthetically pleasing if I choose the right colours, I am easily distracted by what I am doing and can forget if I have put dinner on and of course it evokes childhood memories for me. If I couldn’t do paper craft anymore, I would feel a loss of connection, it wouldn’t evoke those childhood memories that I have of doing what I enjoy.

Christensen, C.H., and Townsend, E.A. (2010). Introduction to occupation: the art and science of living. (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson