The Perfect Time to Get Into Art
Breaking News: Art Heals
Breaking News: Art Heals
When I was younger, I saw myself as a child soap opera writer. I would create expansive storylines with my toys that would last for days. No one was allowed to play with me until they had a full rundown of the current story and how I saw the day unfolding. It was very intense.
If I wasn’t creating stories, I was drawing them. I would draw new characters and tell their epic tales, scratching it onto my XL paper. I would draw immersive worlds for myself to escape into (don’t worry it was only mildly sad) and I fell in love with the idea of creation and how it affects each of us.
These acts of creation helped me understand my world and helped me get through a lot of emotions that I wasn’t sure how to handle. As dramatic as that sounds, art brings me a sense of calm and offers a way to unpack thoughts and experiences.
Why Art Heals
Art can be classified as any act that illicites imagination and creates a form of expression. It can be used as therapy for many mental disorders and diseases and is known to leave lasting impressions on people who experience it. Art has always existed, it is something humans naturally gravitate to and is a tool in understanding the world we are experiencing as well as the history of others’ experiences.
I see art as an extension of language. It is something that can be felt and understood on a different level that surface conversations don’t seem to reach. It reaches across cultures, ages and gender. You may have an emotion that you just don’t know how to speak of so you sculpt or paint or make music, or maybe you are just observing art that ignites something inside of you where you feel fully connected to the artist that created it.
There is something about art that just makes you feel seen; no matter how you choose to digest or create it.
Along with connecting as a species, art has massive effects on our health.
Creating art, in any way, for 45 minutes has shown to drastically reduce stress cortisol levels. Even the act of enjoying art, can decrease harmful chemicals in the body that may have led to heart attack or diabetes.
Not only that, art therapy is used to treat a number of mental disorders and diseases. It helps improve our memory and decreases the chance of stress-related illnesses.
Even though art is insanely beneficial for us, I can see how overwhelming it can be and how hard it is to start.
How to Get Involved
Art is everything and everywhere. I would even argue that your life experiences can be considered art, but that’s another conversation for another time.
First, I would narrow down your interests. For example, maybe you really love home improvement shows. I would then start looking at architecture shows or home designs to see if that interests you. There’s shows like Abstract that has a wonderful architecture episode, which then might lead you to discover even more art that you find fascinating.
If you like fashion, you might develop a love for weaving, who knows. What I’m saying the possibilities are endless and I encourage everyone to go down those rabbit holes.
Digest it
Like I said, Abstract is an amazing show that offers insights into different forms of art and their industries. That’s where everyone should start as baby steps into the art world. I’ll offer some other resources below:
If movies are your art form of choice, check out this list of top movies to see.
Into fashion? Try the Fenty fashion show on Amazon Prime. Or get your hands into other platforms like Refinery29 or Vogue. And let us not forget the amazing Project Runway.
Architecture has so many things. There’s Architecture Digest, the entire HGTV, Tiny House photos and multiple magazines out there.
Fine art offers virtual tours through many museums, so get on that.
If you want writing, I recommend going on Goodreads and looking through all the amazing lists out there.
If graphic design is your schtick, Dribble is an amazing platform to get lost in.
Create it
If you want to be more hands on with the experience and appreciate the benefits that come from making art, here are a few ways to get started:
Zentangles are one of the best ways to create art while also de-stressing.
If that is too intense for you, a good old coloring book achieves similar effects.
If you want to create a ritual for healing with your expression, try these prompts.
Collage your way through anxiety. It’s a great time and a way to get rid of old shit you never threw out!
If you want to get VERY organised, may I suggest starting an art journal?
Start your own 30 day challenge. Write out a bunch of prompts and pull a new one each day.
I hope these ideas peak your interest and that you find something to help you get started. If you want more ideas, just message me on Instagram.
TTFN