Reflection & Five Easy Creative Activities to Activate Flow
Wow, what a difference a year makes.
This time last year, Amy and I were teaching a crowded class in person at The Royal Botanic Gardens here in Sydney. Wine was being poured, social distancing wasn’t part of our vocabulary yet and music that anyone could sing along to filled the air. Our class was called ‘Wine & Canvas’ and each student left with their very own painting that they created of a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo to hang on their wall.
As one year of the pandemic affecting global life approaches, I’ve been reflecting on just how much has changed. Some for the good. Some for the worse. And some forever. I think especially about all the people who’ve lost their lives, their loved ones and all the frontline and essential workers rising to a behemoth challenge. The scar that COVID leaves will last a lifetime and span generations.
This time last year I was also looking forward to a trip home to New York to see my family in April 2020, with a stop in L.A. to see friends. I’ll visit the first available opportunity I get once everyone is vaccinated, myself included. I’m sure I’ll set some kind of world record for ‘most bagels consumed in a single day’ when I do go, but in the meantime, Amy and I have been working hard to expand our business.
We took our in-person Wine & Canvas class and turned it into Takeaway DIY Art Kits. They come with everything you need to make your own masterpiece at home with premium eco-friendly materials, including paint made locally right here in Marrickville. Painting itself is an act of self-love connecting you to the present moment in a way that freezes time and empties your mind. It allows you, for the time being, to suspend your reality and channel whatever you’re feeling, known or unknown to you through the paint. It is a liberation. Plus you get to hang a masterpiece painting that you made yourself in your own home to enjoy forever.
With that spirit of self-love and liberation in mind, I wanted to share my favorite creative projects to help get you into flow:
Do a blind contour image of yourself, your partner, friends of family. Use any surface, any material. A blind contour is when you put the pencil to paper, look up at your subject and never look down again. You leave the pencil on the paper, not lifting it and draw the person, pretending that your eyes on their face are the pencil on the paper. It is the most fun you can have and Amy and I have a lot of fun doing this.
Do blind contours of your plants! Or your house! Or a favorite object!
Collect a natural object on a walk outside and bring it home to draw. My favorite things to draw at home are seed pods or seashells. Even just 20 minutes of drawing will liberate your mind. Just don’t focus on the outcome so much, try to enjoy the process.
Intuitively paint. Get some paint, any paint and a surface. Put some music on and just follow where your instinct says to go. No focus on outcome, just playing with the paint like you would play with sand at a beach knowing it’s not permanent.
Get out the box of crayons and have a blast! Play with the colours and experiment shading, going from dark to light and light to dark. Try grouping warm colours like yellows and oranges and cool colours like blues and purples together.
Now, this is important: I haven’t included any picture examples of the above because there is no right or wrong way to do them. The most important part is to enjoy the process and not put any pressure on the outcome. Decide ahead of time you will destroy each thing you create, making it less precious. Then just enjoy the act of creating. Of playing with lines, colour and surface.
I recommend setting aside half an hour once your area is set-up for each item. You can set a timer so you can relax and put your phone on do not disturb. I like to listen to happy music while I work and recently I’ve been listening to a lot of Grateful Dead while I paint. Music that’s not too jarring helps get you into flow as well. Once in flow, you are a world away from screens, a world away from the past or future, existing only in the present. It’s like an active meditation and a good trick to know if you’re in flow or not is if the time feels like it’s passed suddenly, or if you lose track of it.
I hope you have fun and please let me know if you do any of the creative projects above!
Cheers,
Stephanie