Why you should make art with friends…
I’ve written before about some of the benefits of making art (whether that’s colouring in, doodling random scribbles, painting, drawing, crochet, playing with clay - whatever you find fun). Today I’m going to pose the question - have you ever tried art making in community?
I don’t necessarily mean working on a group project - more being in the same space at the same time as others who are also engaged in something creative. Maybe you chat, maybe you’re quiet and all focussed on your own creation, but you’re in a creative space with others.
There’s something magic that tends to happen - often, the positive effects are amplified, because you’re not just doing something creative, you’re also part of something creative. As well as creating visual art or crochet or a garden or whatever else you’re creating, you’re also creating sense of connection and belonging which can be deeply grounding and healing. Not to mention fun!
So here’s your gentle encouragement to find a friend or several friends and spend some creative time with them. What could you do together? Here are a few ideas:
Colouring in - find yourself a colouring book (or print some colouring pages from the internet, there are a lot of great free ones that you can find through Google), clear some space, and see what happens.
If you knit or crochet, gather together and work on your current project.
If you’d like to try something ridiculous, blind contour drawings are a very fun activity to do with a friend. Sit across from each other with a pencil and a blank page, and then without looking at the page (keep your eyes on them), and without lifting your pencil from the page, draw their portrait. These tend to be fantastically surreal with eyes and noses and ears in strange places. Colour in the results, and go again.
Gather some things from nature - maybe some leaves, and trace around them, layering shapes, until you have an interesting design that you can colour in or fill with lines or patterns.
Cook something together - it doesn’t have to be visual art. Maybe you’d like to try other kinds of creation, like cooking a meal or cookies. And then you get to eat the results.
Got any of your own ideas? Leave a comment and tell me about them if you’d like, I’d love to hear them!
AND… drumroll please…
If you’d like a time and a place and a creative community ready-made for you to drop into, watch this space! I’m taking my own advice, and creating something with a friend and fellow art therapist.
We’ll soon be offering an online therapeutic art group, beginning in October. It’ll be a fortnightly, affordable, and fun place to come and make some art with other like minded folks. Keep an eye out for more in the coming weeks, and if you’d like to be kept in the loop, send me a message and I’ll keep you posted when there’s more info available.