The Big Idea
As so often has been the case during the course of The52Project we have learnt that something simple and relatively inexpensive has mental health and brain boosting benefits, that go way beyond what we might imagine from something so simple.
This was definitely the case with abstract painting!
Go back to being a child. How many days go by as a child when we don’t paint or draw? How often were we encouraged by the adults or careers around us to ‘play’ with paints – both by those grown ups around us getting the paraphernalia organised and then by them proudly displaying our art efforts on the fridge?
Now think about life as an adult. When did you last get some paints out and just play with them for the sheer fun of it?
You won’t be on your own if the answer is ‘hardly ever’ or ‘actually never’.
Some of us may have tried some adult colouring in recent years as a mindfulness activity, but very few of us will have done something that we probably did daily as a child – and in missing that, we have been missing an opportunity to let our brains go and grow. Painting in the carefree way that we did as children, both provides an opportunity for relaxation and for the strengthening and formation of new brain connections.
We discuss the neuroscience of painting in a moment, but just before we go there, let’s pause. What excuse would we make not to have a play with some paints? What “lies” might we tell ourselves about the effort, time or reasonableness of allowing ourselves to relive a simple pleasure we enjoyed as a child?
If we go back to those early chapters where we explain that our brains are primed to find reasonable sounding but entirely untrue reasons to avoid things that feel like an unnecessary expenditure of thinking and effort) it’s likely you might try one of those. How about:
“I don’t have any of the kit…”
“I’m too busy – it’s a child’s activity and a bit of a waste of time unless you are really good at it…”
“I can’t be doing with the mess…”
“I’m rubbish at painting…”
With Dulcie’s guilty pleasure of shopping for cheap art supplies at TheWorks exposed, we can dispense with the notion of expense and we are left with the other “lies” to examine.
For most of us, the mess is just a distraction – we would happily allow our children to create that mess and might create it ourselves when cooking a meal or doing some other “grown-up’ activity.
And here is the beautiful thing about creating “art”. It doesn’t have to appeal to anyone but yourself. Beauty is really in the eye of the beholder. Look at the variety of expensive art on display in any gallery for evidence of that.
And when you know about the hidden brain benefits of creating art, the end result becomes less relevant. By all means, paint over your first attempt or build on it – certainly with acrylic paint you can do this almost ad infintum – but perhaps don’t write it off as child’s play – certainly until you have read the fantastic science that tells us why it is positively good for us to play with paint!
Got it…What’s the Science
There is something rather fabulous about what painting, doodling or other forms of creative expression do brain-wise. They put us into what is called a theta state – a relaxed and happy frame of mind which not only releases some of those feel good chemicals – you are likely to get a little dose of serotonin for one – but is also really good for creative thinking and problem solving. Sometimes when we don’t ‘think’ we can actually free our brains up to ‘think’. It’s a strange phenomenon, but when you are not thinking about the thing you need to think about directly, and put yourself into a theta state instead, you are creating ways for your brain to see things differently.
Put simply having a little paint strengthens your ability to think about way more than the creation on the canvas.
Have you every experienced that phenomenon when you have a problem as soon as you stop thinking about it and do do something else – like have a shower – and the answer just seems to pop into your mind from nowhere?! Brain science at it’s best! If we know what is actually going on in our brains, we can use this seemingly ‘random’ occurrence – which of course is not random at all – to our advantage. This is simple to try, If you want to solve a problem, literally get some crayons, pens or paint and have a play. This should put you into a relaxed theta state and see if an answer comes more easily to you.
The same happens when we doodle. So before you scold your child for not concentrating if they are drawing pictures alongside their homework or indeed a colleague if they are drawing eyes or trees alongside their meeting notes, think again – they are likely to be subconsciously trying to preserve their concentration and thinking capacity.
But beware of another phenomenon we have also talked about on The52Project – the power of the messages and stories we tell ourselves. We heard Dulcie say on the live show – “I am not an artist”…we need to be careful about these messages. They are not “real” – what is actually the definition of an “artist” – but they can prevent us from the very things that might actually give us pleasure or bring us brain benefits.
Watch our #Tip38 on the Instagram Live Recording….
Complete with Dulcie’s abstract art as we spoke (very Tony Hart) and Dr Iain’s favourite creative, if not really abstract, shirt…
Links
5 Benefits of Drawing and Doodling – Milan Art Institute online article
The Power of the Doodle: Improve Your Focus and Memory – The Wall Street Journal article
Arts & Minds Project – website
‘It’s time to recognise the contribution arts can make to health and wellbeing’ – Guardian Article 11th Oct 2017
‘The aesthetic attitude to art’ – The Harvard Gazette article 2nd April 2019
Parting Shots
We are wedded to our Play, Pay or Pass motto – so we can’t insist you give this a go! But we do dare you!
Either go an borrow your child’s kit and have a play when they are not looking-(or maybe even better – join in when they are!)
Or when you are next in a small town, take a diversion to a little art shop. Treat yourself and get a little boost of #Tip 13 whilst you are at it by buying yourself some adult only supplies. You don’t need an easel – literally a small canvas and a starter pack of paints and a brush will more than do the job.
Stack it with Tips #8 and 11 and paint something you see in nature and in doing so, you are likely also to be giving yourself a shot of the benefits of playing with colour that we read about in #Tip17.
What do you have to lose by giving this one a go?!
Our verdict – have a play!
Tales from our Test Partners
Watch this space…
Related Top Tips
#Tip37 – Wait for it
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