Things have been busy from all angles just recently, so I’ve turned to some mixed media mindfulness art to cultivate some calm amongst the chaos. The idea is to tap into some creative energies without worrying too much about the end result. It’s just about expressing something in the moment. Sometimes you end up with an arty mess, and sometimes you get (in the words of Bob Ross) a “happy accident”. I’ve shared some of my May creations below, but see also my blog from last summer for more mindfulness art from the same sketchbook.
Birds and My Spring Garden
There has been much birdy activity in the garden, what with all the nest-building – so seems like it’s been a busy time for everybody! Seeing the baby birds emerge, all scruffy and confused, has been very cute. And in fact, someone is being very small and squeaky outside my window as I type this – I think it’s a baby blackbird.
I have been fortunate to witness a range of birds over the last few weeks. Just off the top, I’ve seen: blackbirds, wood pigeons, collared dove pigeons, sparrows, robins, wrens, starlings, wagtails, seagulls, crows, goldfinches and I think I even saw a greenfinch very fleetingly.
I love the variety of visitors, and I’m always excited to see someone new. Still holding out for a blue tit or a great tit this year. And a hoopoe would be nice… I’ve left lots of birdy treats out for them.
It’s also made me happy to see the transformation of flowers from their initial, tentative spring growth to being fully settled, many in full bloom and with more to come.
The colours and garden life having been very uplifting, and a great source of inspiration for my mixed media mindfulness art. I find myself very much torn between painting and gardening at the moment.
Here are some pansies:
The Mixed Media Mindfulness Art Process
When time is short but I still want to create art, I tend to stick to ‘easy’ mediums. By that I mean pens, pencils and watercolour paints. Nothing too messy – acrylic paints, glues, and textured materials can be very fun but require more set up time and commitment. So by relying on a sketchbook and a few pens, it means I can have them to hand as soon as time permits for some artistic creation.
I keep this small sketchbook out and ‘top it up’ with a background layer of Brusho whenever I find a few minutes to spare. All that means is I’m sprinkling some randomly chosen Brusho powders on the pages, spraying it with a water bottle to activate it and then letting it dry.
Perfect for when you’re not feeling inspired but still want to do something creative – you know you’ll have lots of backgrounds ready to go next time you’re on with your mixed media mindfulness art. And creating the backgrounds can be mindful anyway – it’s grounding to apply the paint powder, spray the water, and then watch the colours move and change as they dry on the page.
You can also apply Brusho over the top of existing drawings, I’ve done that before too.
Pens, pencils and watercolours
If you want to try it, it’s a really simple process. You don’t need expensive, professional grade art materials. I’ve used a combination of black pen, pencils, crayons, gel pens, marker pens, ink pens and watercolours to create my art this month.
Just grab any pen or a pencil and draw something that comes to mind (in my case garden birds and flowers are at the forefront). Or just doodle some shapes, dots, lines. Scribble around with the pen. Change the pen. Scribble some more. Grab the watercolours, fill in some shapes – keeping it free. I found blending colours with my pencil crayons to be particularly soothing actually. And these are pencil crayons that I’ve had since school (new coloured pencil crayons were the best thing about “back to school”!), so it doesn’t matter what you use.
Even better if you can find a quiet moment for this. For example, dusk is a magical time in spring, I’ve realised. It was raining the other evening, and I sat and listened to a blackbird sing for ages, it was gone 9.30pm. It was so pretty against the rainy soundscape, so calming. That would have been a nice time to create some art.
p.s. I really like this one of some snapdragons.
Bird Art
I would like you to meet my favourite wood pigeon from the garden:
He’s unique because his right wing is a bit floppy, and it drags on the floor when he walks. He arrived sometime in March looking very poorly and sorry for himself, spending much of his day sitting on my fence. I was worried. But over time he has become more animated, starting to fly around a lot more – his wing didn’t seem to be holding him back. Except maybe for when it came to attracting a mate. I watched, day after day, his attempts to impress the lady pigeons to no avail.
Until one day mid-May…
I saw him on the fence with a girlfriend! And now I see the two of them hanging out, having breakfast together, and doing normal boyfriend and girlfriend stuff. I’m so happy for him.
It’s all very cute.
Speaking of cute, I seem to have an endless stream of blackbird babies in the garden. They keep appearing, then growing up, and then a new one appears:
The blackbirds are particularly fond of a coconut feeder that I’ve put in my hedge:
Art progress
I hope you enjoyed my scribbly paintings this month. It’s fun to see how my painting and drawing is evolving over time. I’m still happy just experimenting with my art and learning new things. Spring is a season for growth and new energies so no time like the present for that.
Not sure what summer will bring, but hopefully some sun!
Take care and look after each other.