Art, Meditation and Healing or Mindful Mindlessness

Art, Meditation and Healing, or Mindful Mindlessness.

So where do I go in my head when I am creating? Quite honestly I have no idea and I find it very hard to remember any of my thoughts from when I am full on working. All I know is that when I am “in the zone’ I am completely focussed and oblivious to nearly everything else.

This, to me, is a form of meditation and it’s also very healing as you can’t ruminate about problems and worry about this and that when you’re so totally involved. It’s about being mindful but I find it makes me mindless!

I remember reading about a man in Canada who lost both his sons in a terrible accident. Having two sons myself I can't imagine how overwhelmingly difficult and soul destroying this would have been for this man and his family. Desperately sad and depressed he needed something extremely intense to keep him from thinking about it.  He decided on an absolutely extraordinary project!  He began the huge task of recreating the Bayeux Tapestry, a medieval textile that dates from the 11th century and depicts the Norman Conquest over England.  There is a small part of it in the picture above.

The tapestry measures an astonishing 231 feet (70m) long and 19.5 inches (49.5cm) high. It’s actually an embroidered cloth and not a tapestry per se. It’s recently been used in a Hollywood film. See the article at the bottom of this post.

I think this total absorption is what makes art so healing. Humans are built to create in all and every way.  It can be any creative activity but I find art is what does it for me and there is a lot of research saying it does it for many people.

Find the things you love, learn about them, work on them and enjoy periods of mindless/mindful time.

As many of you know I also paint and this month I am working hard to finish work for a large exhibition here in Toronto.   This finishes on February 25 so after that I will be back to printmaking and I'm eager to start some new work.