Why do we doodle?
Do you sometimes feel it’s all just too much? I do! The pace of life here is fast, the weather is now crazy hot! The summer is looming and people are making plans as to how to spend work and leisure time here in our lovely HK home. In response to parents' demands I have recently created some Summer Art workshop mornings for children.
I have also been asked about Summer Art workshops for adults ! and yes there are some offerings on the Wild at Art Calendar and some are being added each week. Take a quick peek!
Welcome to your new Creative Self Care Opportunities at Wild at Art!
Katie’s Contemplations
When I opened the Wild at Art studio over 2 years ago now, I wanted to provide a creative sanctuary in the city where people could come and connect with themselves through a range of artmaining opportunities. I offer evening classes, Feel Good Saturday workshops and short courses. I began the Destress Doodling group in the very first month and this has remained a weekly staple in many people’s self care diaries.
Some people come weekly, some drop in when they can, over summer some folk go away and others join (especially teachers!)
It’s a gentle one and a half hour time capsule here in the tranquility of Wild at Art. People like to go home with a piece of art which they have made. Some like to go home and carry on and then share in our Doodle WhatsApp group. This has become a mini platform for support, cups of tea and a stress outlet for us all.
Doodling is a word often associated with distraction, time wasting and lack of focus when in fact it is exactly the opposite! Much research is now available on the topic of how doodling impacts our thinking, our creativity and how it can affect how we feel.
“We like to make sense of our lives by making up coherent stories, but sometimes there are gaps that cannot be filled, no matter how hard we try. Doodles fill these gaps, possibly by activating the brain’s “time travel machine,” allowing it to find lost puzzle pieces of memories, bringing them to the present, and making the picture of our lives more whole again. With this greater sense of self and meaning, we may be able to feel more relaxed and concentrate more.” Sourced from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-thinking-benefits-of-doodling-2016121510844
I have always used my doodling as my place of peace and escape, I doodle in coffee shops, or whilst watching tv, when I travel, sometimes during meetings or talks, or doodling intentionally with my friends in a group. To me, doodling is a joyous and purposeful action. Having doodled with hundreds of people in art making sessions over the years, I witness this:
1) It very quickly brings people back to the centre, sometimes the room goes quiet straight away.
2) It is self soothing and helps people to self regulate
3) They lose track of time, enter the flow state and commonly don’t want to stop!
4) There’s a sense of joy and accomplishment in having created something
5) It wakes up how people notice pattern and design in the world around them
Keep calm and Doodle on! See you soon at the Wild At Art Studio
