No time to paint?
Today, I wasn’t in a particularly happy mood. I felt a bit stressed and trapped in thoughts. I wanted to write a blog, but felt blocked.
I always preach the joy of daily painting, and how it can have such a tremendous effect on your wellbeing. But because I have been so busy working on my online course ‘The Art of Now’ (that is just released and that you can buy ;-)), I haven’t found a lot of time for my beloved daily painting practice.Â
Paradox
What a paradox: no time to paint, because I’m making an online course about being in the Now through painting! Isn’t that crazy?
I felt restliness in my body, that hindered me from slowing down. But then I thought: let the so-called ‘important things’ wait for a second and do some painting!Â
So I sat down
I put out a few bottles of paint, and painted for ten minutes or so. Because I used so few colors, it didn’t cost me a lot of time (I had this blog to write, remember ;-)?).
Immediately, I relaxed. There is something magic about painting. It gets you out of your head immediately. It seems that I can’t paint and worry at the same time. The painting process draws me into the Now. Okay, the painting took me some time, but after that, the inspiration for this newsletter flowed out of me!Â
This is the painting that I made(on postcard size):
I can see that it isn’t the painting of paintings. It is not as worked-through as I like, because of the so-called ‘time pressure’. But who cares? I had so much fun playing with the six visual elements: marks and lines, colors, shapes and images, value, texture and depth.
So: if you feel blocked in any way: get out your paints, and play around a bit!Â
You don’t need a lot of paint (I only used three colors, plus black and white). You don’t need to have experience or be a ‘real artist’ (what is that anyway?). You are free to start painting, right Now!
And you will notice an immediate effect on your mood. Your body will relax, your thoughts will subside. Find out for yourself!
With love,
Simone
PS: if this speaks to your heart – consider buying the online course: ‘The Art of Now’. It helps you to kickstart this painting process, by teaching you about the six visual elements that I just talked about (marks and lines, color, value, shapes and images, texture and depth). And it provides you with six creative ‘games’ that you can play to help you get out of your head and over the hump.
Do you want to get a taste of it first? Read more about it here, or sign up for the free video series!
LOL that I am sitting in a remote cabin with no paints as I read your post. HOWEVER, I have with me a collection of many of the handpainted postcards I sent to my dad over the past few years, and I am turning my attention to their marks and lines, color, value, shapes and images, texture and depth : )
Lovely to watch your old postcards again! Memories!