Before the holidays I began giving serious thought to what might be missing from my life that could help to bring about more joy, to supplant the feelings of anxiety and depression that have been depleting my happiness. Looking back I recall how creative hobbies such as jewelry making, pottery, and even cooking would force my mind to concentrate on a single task creating focus, mindfulness, and this would ultimately result in that all too allusive feeling of well-being, relaxation.
I decided to take a step back, start with baby steps, narrow my focus to learning specific techniques; building blocks. My first lesson? Learn to paint leaves.
A few weeks ago I decided to give painting a go. I had not picked up a paint brush since high school art class but have been curious to try the art medium once again. Starting from scratch, my painting education has been random consisting of YouTube video tutorials, free learn-to-paint websites, and through observation of household objects in a feeble attempt to paint shadows, textures, and highlight effects. I have churned out several “beginner” landscape paintings and in doing so I have developed a bit of a sense for basic paint mixing, colour blending, and how to hold a brush, but I have a very long way to go.
Starting anything new can result in feelings of frustration and failure, the very emotions that can negatively impact reaching the goal of the exercise. I decided to take a step back, start with baby steps, narrow my focus to learning specific techniques; building blocks. My first lesson? Learn to paint leaves. Through this simple exercise I was able to adjust my hand posture and timing of when to apply pressure to my brush to create shape, tips for mixing paint for creating shading, highlight, and when to incorporate negative space to create form, and how to use single brush strokes for more realistic texture and tone. In a single afternoon I was able to gain a sense of accomplishment which left me feeling more optimistic about by abilities as an amateur painter. And this optimism felt good.
I believe there is a connection between creativity and mindfulness because I have experienced this for myself, at times. I have been enjoying the hours I have spent playing with watercolour therefore I intend to invest time developing a few fundamental skills to see where this hobby takes me. Formal training may not be everyone’s cup of tea but in the past I have found that an instructor-led, interactive group setting supports how I learn most effectively. A seven week watercolour painting series is being offered in my community beginning next month and I am registered. I’m all in!
