Art and Meditation

I like to say that I make art because it is cheaper than therapy.  And while this may or may not be true (I'm not sure my husband would agree about the "cheaper" part), art has proven to have therapeutic benefits and can be used quite succesfully to promote meditative states.

I'd like to share two creative techniques that can work to ease stress and calm your mind. The trick to these techniques is that there is no way to get them wrong.  They are not about making something look a certain way, or getting it right.  In fact, they are repetitive and meditative because they are about process not product. In other words, what is most important about them is how they help you think and feel, not what you make, or how good your final piece is.

Usually, when people talk about making art as relaxing, I cringe.  When I am making art that I am passionate about it can be exciting, envigorating, challenging, infuriating, frustrating, and wonderful, but certainly not relaxing.  However, the techniques that I am sharing today are the opposite of all of that. They are about slowing down, meditating, and being calm. They may or may not end with the creation of an amazing piece of art, but that is not the point.  the point is that in engaging in creative activity, you free your mind, become more in touch with your feelings, and give yourself space just to be.

Here are two techniques that work great for creative meditation.



Zentangle
Zentangling is a fun and interesting technique that can promote creative meditation.  There are lots of ways to do a zentangle, and you really can't mess it up.  Zentangling is intuitive and relaxing.  You can bring it with you anywhere you go, and youi don't need any special technology or materials.  Sharpie markers and paper work really well for this technique.
Essentially what you do is start with a line that you think of like a string.  Start by drawing your string and curving it all over your paper. Once you start don't pick up your marker until you have a string drawn all over your paper, with overlapping sections.  like this:

Once you have your sections drawn out, a beginning zentangle is about filling in your sections with intentional patterns and shapes.  Fill in each section with a repeating pattern.  Advanced zentanglers can get really detailed here, but for beginners, just focus on simple lines, swirls, circles, and shapes. Add shading, shapes within shapes, thin or thick lines, or whatever you want to make your zentangle work for you. What you think about while you zentangle is up to you!    I find that the very act of intentional doodling (thats really what it is!) frees my mind and helps calm me.

Watercolor Blend Painting
Watercolor paint is an interesting thing.  I happen to think it is one of the most difficult media to work with. If you are not careful it blends when you don't want it to, sharp lines disappear, you can't really fix a mistake, Once a mark is put down you can't really change it.  That being said, if you can let go of any preconceived notions of what you want your final work to look like, if you can focus on the process over the product, watercolor can be an extremely satisfying medium.  For this process you will need watercolor or mixed media paper and watercolor paint, as well as a paintbrush and cup for water.
Wet your paper before you begin, by getting your brush wet and spreading it over the page. Then load your brush with color. drip, draw, pat  or splat your brush on the paper and see what happens.  Rinse your brush and reload with another color and see how the colors blend together.  Experiment and see what kind of happy accidents happen when you just let the colors roam free!  The paints blend best when wet, and keeping your paper wet faciliates this process.  To do that you can just get your paintbrush wet and brush it over your paper before adding color.

Here's a quick color blending tip:  This is a color wheel:

When blending paints, choose colors within two or three sections in any direction on the color wheel (for example: yellow, orange and red blend nicely together, as do blue, and green and turquoise). If you try to blend colors further apart than that (like if you try to blend yellow, red and purple), you will get muddy or brown results . Colors opposite from each other on the color wheel, like red and green or orange and blue, or yellow and purple will not mix well and you will get muddy brown colors.  

What I love about these techniques is that they are so simple, require very few supplies, and yet they can have profound effects on your well being.   Art has long been recognized as a way to help ease your mind, calm your spirit, and access your deepest emotions. If you try either of these art based meditative techniques, please let me know and share pictures in the comments.  And let me know if you have other creative ways to manage anxiety or access your emotions.  I'd love to hear from you!

In the Studio...

Its been a busy few weeks (months) getting ready for my solo show at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art.  The studio is really crowded at this point and while I'm finishing up a few pieces, I'm also spending time laying it all out to see how each of the 45 pieces works together (or, possibly they don't--but its a bit too late for that!)  If you are local:  The show opens January 22, and there is a "Wicked Wednesday" Reception on Wednesday March 16th from 6:00 to 8:00.  I'd love to see you there!

Here's a look inside my ridiculously crowded studio this week:

And this piece is the center of the show--4'x6' its called "Inspiration and Tradition"

Freaking Out!!!

Its been about 8 months since I got the call from the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art that they wanted me to do a solo exhibition with 45 original pieces.  This is a really big deal for me, both in terms of venue and in terms of quantity of pieces and exposure.  I was really excited, and nervous, and of course I said yes.
After that call, in July, I had the director of the museum visit my studio and help me determine which pieces would work for the show.  We determined the theme: Tradition and Inspiration, we picked out 43 existing pieces, and we agreed on two large scale pieces based on concept alone.
This means that I have been working for 8 months on getting ready. I have been framing, fixing up and formatting, as well as creating the two new pieces, and finishing up three others.

And here we are---the work is due in ten days, and NOW I'm panicking.  You know that feeling when you've been looking at something for so long that it no longer makes any sense? Thats how I feel about my work right now.
I sort of hate it.  but I love it.  but I hate it.  And I'm wondering if any of it is good enough to be in a museum.  And I want to start completely over, because the work in my head is SO much better than the work that I actually see in front of me.  And whatever I'm working on in the present is always the BEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE and everything else that I have ever done is total CRAP.  and also, give it a week, because that is about how long it takes for the best thing I have ever done to become total crap too.
oy vey---I think I'm a little nervous.

What Does Your Living Space Say About You?

This is a question that has intrigued me for a long time.  I remember a writing assignment from high school in which we had to write a poem describing a room that was really telling a story about its inhabitants. The idea has stuck with me since that time.  I have always loved the idea that I could tell a story through artifacts--Indeed, that you could learn significant, important information about a person, simply by looking closely at the spaces they inhabit.  Perhaps it is the artist in me, the creator of physical objects that exist separate from me, attempting to tell as story, that resonates so strongly with this.

In the past twenty years I have lived in eleven living spaces, six of those in the past ten years.  Each time I set up a home (from dormrooms to apartments to town house to my current family home) my process has been similiar--setting up of bookcases and wall units, putting art on the walls, focusing on the aesthetic over the practical (this should probably be my mantra or something), and trying to make the practical, useful stuff as interesting as the art and book stuff.  In any case, I have spent a lot of time designing functional and artistic living spaces.

It turns out, this impulse to make my mark on my physical space, and to use it to tell a story is not all that unique.  Dr. Sam Gosling, author of Snoop, writes that “Essentially, what your home does is distil a very long history of behaviours and choices,” 

“If you meet someone for a short period of time you only have a very short sample of their behavior. But the items in their home reflect persistent and repeated behaviours and choices (whether deliberately or subconsciously), carried out time and time again. This makes them a very reliable way to gather information about that household.”

In his book, Snoop, Professor Gosling explores how when it comes to the most essential components of our personality—from friendliness and flexibility to openness and originality—the things we own and the way we arrange them can say more about who we are than even our most intimate conversations. “One way to think about it is that there are lots of ways we betray our personality in day-to-day life, both deliberately and inadvertently.”

The deliberate setting up of my living space has always been tied to my vision of who I wanted to be, a way to share my values, my interests, what made me unique, for anyone who cared to pay attention. When I moved into my dormroom in college, and my first apartments after that, the first thing I always set up were my bookshelves.  After that the art on the walls.  In the early years, with no money and surrounded by crappy furniture in small dismal apartments, I would create art for the walls of any new place I lived.  I still have the painting of flowers I made for the walls of my first college apartment, and the oil pastel drawings I created for my temporary summer home my first year in New York City.  The art and the books gave me comfort, but they also reminded me of who I wanted to be. This best version of myself was one who read poetry and classic literature, surrounded by art and with something to say in the world. 

 I remember even in those early days of young adult independant living, I loved having people over.  Before anyone would visit, I would take stock of the art I wanted to share on my walls (this was before facebook and social media, so my walls were actual walls), the flow of my living space, even the pillows and blankets on the couch said something about who I was and what I wanted to share. 

 As my Jewish identity took hold, that part of my life became as important to me as the artistic part and the bookish part.

Today I am an artist and educator, a mother and a wife.  I share my home with two crazy wonderful children and a sports loving Rabbi husband.  As I look around, there is no doubt about who lives in our home today.  

From the mezuzah on our doors, to the menorahs that double as art in our wall unit, to the kiddush cups and challah boards, to the books in the bookshelves to the kippahs on the children, to the double everything in the kitchen (for meat and dairy, a kosher kitchen) this is a Jewish house. 

The colors of our home are warm---burgundy/plum and golden brown, with a blue couch and bright pillows, and warm wood floors.  

Along with the books, family photographs and small souvenirs from trips line our bookshelves and wall unit. On the extended shelf in the kitchen, hidden by a wall, you'll find baskets and bulletin boards filled with pens, paper, library books,school projects, calendars, sports schedules and birthday invitations.

My walls are lined with art and our furniture is bright and comfortable. My dining room light fixture is made out of collanders and kitchen utensils. Our bookshelves are full as well as our toyboxes.

These are all the artifacts that I have collected that make up my home. The mix is artistic yet playful, curated yet lived in.  I personally like the story they tell.  But Dr. Gosling says the story doesn't end there.  He writes that in addition to these choices we make consciously, there are subconscious ways that we affect our space:

"Like Sherlock Holmes looking for evidence of criminal behaviours, someone’s home shows evidence of normal everyday behaviour, which can tell me something about who they are. I call this ‘Behavioural Residue’.

“It might be the way that books are arranged, a ticket from the theatre, a postcard, travel book or memento. Or it could be a reflection of personality: all the cutlery isn’t properly organised in the tray, all the DVDs are alphabetised in their cases, or perhaps there are plenty of spare toilet rolls in the bathroom cabinet. It all reflects things that have, been done to the space and choices that have been made.” 

"For example, if you go into a kitchen and someone has a calendar, it tells you that they’re trying to be organised. It tells you that they aspire to plan ahead, but the most important thing is to look as to whether it’s used.

“There are plenty of people who want to be really organised and they go out and buy a certain calendar or organise their books or DVDs in a certain way, but they never get round to continuing the behaviour. It’s more of an aspiration. And it tells you they’re not a naturally organised person but aspire to be.”

I have been in many homes (haven't we all?), and I think that to a certain degree,  we all want our homes to reflect our best selves.  We want them to say something about us, to convey our uniqueness.  Some homes are clean, pristine, others are messy and lived in.  Some are clearly taken over by the children and their toys. For a long time our tiny space required our living room to double as a play room and art studio. Even now in our larger home we are messy--there is no denying that. Though we clean up well, I think you could definitely look at certain spaces in our home and say---Aha! This is a person who hides the mess (or, thinks she is hiding the mess, but really--look at that desk!)

I don't know what the mess says about us, but like it or not, it is as much a part of our house as the artwork, the books, the toys, the Judaica and the throw pillows. I personally like the saying that a good mom has sticky floors, a messy kitchen and happy children, but that is just me.  

I'm curious---what do you think your house says about you?  

Setting Yourself Up For Creative Practice in the New Year

The creative process is as nourishing to me as the air I breathe or the water I drink.  The more I create, the more complete I feel.  However, even for me creativity does not come without its challenges.
Recently I decided that I would make a new committment to creative practice--to being in my studio EVERY day.  I made no further plans, trusting that allowing for creative time would be enough to make something interesting happen. Indeed, it has been true that just setting the time aside to create has been incredibly empowering. However, I have found that in my intention to enact a daily creative practice, I need a little more than just  time.

I know a lot of people make committments (dare I say resolutions?) for the new year. Of these, I think that developing a creative practice could be one of the most positive, even life altering resolutions one can make.  To this end, I'd like to demystify a bit of what it takes to start and maintain a daily creative practice.

Four Simple Things You Need In Order to Set Up and Maintain a Creative Practice:

1. Inspiration: I'm starting with the big one, because I know some people think that this is a big magical thing that certain people have and others don't.  I'm not sure that's true, though I do know a few people who seem to have been born without that creative gene.  However, YOU are reading this post, and so YOU are not that person! You may not know exactly what your inspiration is just yet, but if you have the interest I really truly believe that is all you need to start with.  If you have the interest, and you set up the time and the space (see below), the inspiration will come.  And if it doesn't? Well, that's why God invented Pinterest.  I will be devoting another post soon to inspiration prompts, but you really don't even need me for that.  There is pinterest, there are a million artist and art teacher posts and blogs, and creative ideas are a dime a dozen on that thing called the internet.  For that reason, I'm bowing out of this one, and asking you to trust me on this.  Set up the next three pieces, and you will be well primed when inspiration comes calling.  And if it doesn 't come calling?  Go look for it.  Its out there. Google it. I promise.

2. Time: Probably the biggest barrier to maintaining a creative practice is finding the time to do so. Making time is really about shifting priorities.  If you think you have no time, there is really nothing I can say that will shift that perception.  But if you, like me, want to make time (or need to make the time), the best suggestion that I can make is to plan it in advance and set it up like an appointment. Figuring out the best time for your creative work is very personal, and it also takes a bit of introspection.  I know that my best time for innovative work (large painting, writing, developing new ideas) is the morning, in my studio, but my best time for maintenance work--lower key work that requires less creativity but more technique like sewing or small scale drawing, or developing my website is at night, in front of the tv. This is different for everyone, but I do think it is essential for whatever you do to figure out when you are at your best, and set that time aside for your work. If you are just starting out, or strapped for time, you might also identify where in your schedule you can fit in a small amount of time for creativity.   It could be at night after the kids go to bed, or very early in the morning.  I think  30  minutes a day is a reasonable amount of time to set aside, but if that sounds crazy to you, even sketching on a piece of scrap paper for a few minutes a day can be satisfying.  You may find that if you make this a regular practice, you can get a lot done in a few minutes--and you may eventually start adding more time without even really thinking about it.

2. Space: For some projects all you really need is a cleared kitchen or dining room table.  I do have a studio in my basement where I do all my really messy or larger projects, but when I just want to sketch or work on a small watercolor, I find I prefer to work on my dining room table so that I am near my family.  This way, if the kids are busy playing around me, I can actually be present and creative at the same time. I also have space set aside for supplies.  For me this is primarily in storage bins and shelving units in my studio, but I also keep some basic supplies in a cabinet in my kitchen. I pull these out whenever I find that I have a few minutes or an idea that I want to work on.  These are usually "dry" supplies--pens, markers, oil pastels and paper, but lately I've also been keeping a watercolor tray and some paintbrushes available so that when I want to create something its not such an intense process to get my space ready.

3. Supplies: This is a big one.  Depending on what you want to do, supplies can be as simple as pencils or markers and paper.  If you are serious about making this work, I suggest investing in good quality sketch or mixed media paper or an art journal and some good drawing pens. I personally almost never use pencils, especially for quick sketches and doodling--I prefer not to get caught up in trying to make something perfect and doing a lot of erasing. I draw with pens or markers,and allow for happy accidents.If I don't like the way something looks, I keep drawing and adding to it until I like it better.  Or, in some cases I throw it out (gasp!).  If that is not your style, you can substitute some good drawing pencils and a kneaded eraser for the markers. Below is a more extensive list of the types of things I always have on hand. Obviously this is based on the type of work that I do regularly, so see it more as a suggestion, and take from it what you will.

My Basic Studio Supply List:

• Computer paper or scrap paper---I don't waste my good paper on sketches or doodles, so I always have lots of cheap paper around. I also tend to turn my grocery lists, to do lists, old flyers and used envelopes into small drawings as well.  
•  Mixed Media Art paper (sizes 9x12 and 11x14)---they come in pads, and I always have some around for whatever small drawing or watercolor projects I want to do.
• Watercolor trays--for beginners I like Prang--they are inexpensive and the quality of color is actually very good.  I also use tubes of Grumbacher watercolor paint for my professional projects, but the Prang trays are good enough for quick projects.  
• Oil pastels---these are great for quick sketches, and I also use them in a lot of my mixed media work.  I add them as detail to my acrylic paintings, and I use them in watercolor resist.
• Acrylic paint-I use Liquitex. I suggest having some basic colors plus a lot of white to start (cadmium red, pthalo green, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, cadmium orange, cadmium yellow, naples yellow, dioxanne purple, burnt sienna, white).  You can mix these to create lots of other colors and shades.
• Pallette for mixing paint and cup for water
• Paint brushes---I use synthetic acrylic or watercolor brushes in three general sizes.  If you have a small, fine tip, a medium fine tip, a medium square, and a larger tip brush, you should be Ok to do most of what you want.  
• Markers--I really like the the Pitt artist brushes, especially the Big Brush black india ink pen.  They don't last as long as I would like--or maybe I am just really hard on them.  but a new one makes an amazing line that I have not been able to find in any other product.  I replace them regularly, and at around $8 a brush, it can be an investment.  But I really like the result, so it is worth it.  I also have a box of art markers that I have collected over time.  In my box I have prismacolor art markers, lots of colored sharpies, and some brush markers in different colors.  They are useful to have around, but I don't use them a whole lot.   
• Glue, painters tape, mod podge, varnish--you know, for putting things together and finishing them off. A lot of my work has collage or mixed media elements.  Mod Podge is amazing for those projects. I use cheap foam brushes or cheap painters brushes from the hardware store to apply the mod podge.  I always seal my work with a quality artists varnish that works for both acrylic and oils.  
• Sewing supplies---this may just be for me, but since I've gotten into making art dolls I find these sewing supplies invaluable--I use them for my soft sculptures, but also sometimes with my mixed media paintings:  good scissors, different colors of multi-purpose thread, lots of different fabrics, needles, polyfill stuffing.  

Ok, Ok, I know this sounds like a lot--and if you were to actually see my work space, you'd see that this isn't even half of what I surround myself with--you never know when you're going to need it!  but I saw this ecard the other day that just about sums it up perfectly for me: 

In any case, I really do believe that everyone could do with more creativity in their lives.  Adding a creative practice to your day or week is a great way to increase positivity  and its cheaper than therapy!  Do you have a creative practice?  What helps you make it happen?