Healthy(ish): Can We Please Discuss Getting Arty?

Aside from being an editor /mum/ wife/ cleaning lady to my kids/ wellbeing lover, I am also very arty. At school I was the ‘arty one’ in my year. I would paint on everything from my friends’ jeans to my homework and bedroom walls. With a degree from St Martins School of Art I went into magazines because it meant I could write and be creative but still today, it’s the painting and drawing where I totally lose myself. When I have a paintbrush or pencil in my hand (see @thesuperdraw) the mental chatter, the to-do lists, the playlist of life ceases. For great expanses of time, I am transported by a creative pause to where time and stress don’t exist. This is what the experts would call ‘Creative Flow’ - it’s mindfulness at its best.

There have been times in my life where I haven’t picked up a paint brush in 10 years, but as I get older it calls to me more and more, and in these turbulent times I have once again felt particularly creative. The reason for this says life coach Jacqueline Hurst is that boredom sparks creativity, 'If we can’t find something, our mind will create something,' she says. Far from being bored (I’m crazy busy juggling work, home-schooling, a teen and a toddler), she says 'It’s also when you have more head space or when you are devoid of other distractions, or in a peaceful place, on a spiritual level, your soul knows what to do.' And it looks like the A-listers are in on it too with Demi Moore, Lena Dunham and Alexa Chung recently showcasing their artistic talents on social media (read more here).

Obviously I’m not about to say that everyone needs to paint an Egon Schiele during lockdown, but if last year’s BBC Arts British Creativity survey is anything to go by it may well be a wonderful antidote to stress or anxiety during this time. The survey of 50,000 people revealed that creativity can have many emotional benefits from freeing up mind space to improving self-development. Zena El Farra who runs Masterpeace.studio, a creative painting workshop in London’s Victoria says that painting is a form of meditation 'Meditation is amazing but it is so hard and it’s the antithesis of how we live our busy lives. If you’re not someone who can suddenly sit in silent meditation, then an active form of mindfulness – like painting – will have a similar effect. It will draw your attention away from ruminating thoughts.’ Master Peace are currently rushed off their feet during lockdown with online art classes as well as their At-Home Kits, £25, which come with a canvas, paints, brushes, a palette and an online lesson thrown in.

So many people say to me ‘I wish I could paint, I’m just not creative.' This, says Zena, is not true, 'Everyone is creative’ she says, ‘But there’s so much pressure to be good at it straight away. It should be much less about the outcome and more about the experience.' And for those who feel they have a suppressed creativity they don’t use? Jacqueline Hurst says ‘Come off your i-phone and lean into this time.’ She quotes personal development coach Dr. Wayne Dyer, “Never die with the music still inside you.” There’s no time like the present.

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