A Quick, Restful Art Practice For Your Week
Just in case you need an excuse to pull out your supplies
A Couple Weeks Ago I Felt Antsy Close To Bedtime…
I found myself not wanting to watch another netflix show, nor did I want to seek out some time with friends in my neighborhood to chat with over some tea. I had a pretty full calendar for the following morning and noticed that sometimes during these winter evenings I start to get a little restless.
I didn’t want the pressure of starting on any large-scale art piece, but thought it might feel nice to just mush some colors around on the page.
After plugging in a nice playlist, pulling out my art supplies, and letting myself just play with some colors, by the time I was done, not only was I feeling a lot more at ease, I also had a sense of gratitude for taking the time to nurture my playful artistic side.
Get Out Your Medium
Try not to overthink it. Gravitate towards whichever one feels; easiest, most relaxing, most familiar, most luxurious, etc., etc., etc.
The point of playing here isn’t inherently mastery—it’s comfort!
Pull out your paints, pencils, pallets, paper. Anything you’ll need to sit down and dedicate your time directly to your craft for at least an hour if you have it to spare.
As you’re setting up your space, remind yourself that you’re about to follow what feels good and prioritize that over what looks good.
Spend Some Time Just Playing With Color First
Allow yourself to close your eyes and take a deep breath before choosing anything. In fact, if it feels good, maybe take 5-10 breaths just to ground yourself into the present moment and let yourself arrive. Gently notice any recurring thought threads, any emotions, any body functions like heart rate or a bubbly stomach.
Without judgement, just allow those thoughts, feelings, and sensations to take up space.
Then, from this place, notice what colors you gravitate towards. Before communing with your page, really spend a generous amount of time getting curious about the colors. If you’re feeling mysterious or indifferent, perhaps closing your eyes and randomly choosing colors through the role of fate.
Notice if you have stories that come up around these colors while simultaneously not trying too hard to make meaning from them.
When you’ve given yourself permission to go slowly through this process, begin to let yourself place colors on the page. See what types of shapes and composition naturally arise. Try not to “think ahead” in this process.
All Good Things Take Time
If you’re painting, let it dry! If you’re using pencil, marker, charcoal, or a textile of some sort, take five minutes away from your painting to go get yourself a nice hot cup of tea. Find a bit of separation.
Once you give yourself some small separation and return to your piece with as much curiosity as you can.
Layer It Up
From here, using the same, or a different medium—allow yourself to add an extra dimension to your work. Maybe outline parts you’d prefer to stick out. Maybe darken color profiles that seem like they might want an extra layer. Maybe scribble over the top with permanent markers or glue on pieces like a collage.
There is no wrong way to do this. Allowing the colors in the background to inform what your subsequent layers might look like as they find their way to the top can sometimes be a process where something new emerges.
Continue this process until it feels “done” in your body—or you’re ready to go to bed.
Or both.
Before you set it all the way down for the night, perhaps pull out a scrap piece of paper and jot down the sentence:
“What surprised me about this process?”
Even if you don’t answer that question right away, the stirring of that question alone is bound to bring something new up in your practice.
Share Your Art Practice
As much as I love catching your personal stories around pursuing the art of rest, I equally enjoy seeing what art practices your immersed in as you navigate. Your creativity often blows me away and inspires me to continue deepening into my own practice. As you’re moving through this art prompt, I would love to see what you create!
At this point, I am almost done with my first 30-day silent retreat. While this content is pre-scheduled, I unfortunately won’t be able to respond to anyone’s creative shares right away. However, if you’re interested in having your art witnessed, I will eagerly respond as soon as I am back around!
Looking forward to connecting when I’m back. Hopefully with some little art nuggets of my own.
In the meantime,
As per usual,
Thank you for being here.
Mindfully,
Dagny Rose
This sub-section of The Art of Rest, is all about—you guessed it—The Art!
Here we explore the creative practices in our lives. Whether we are creating for the pure joy of it, finding ways to have our art help make our lives better, or intentionally honing in on our creative practices, “The Art” is going to regularly touch into our creative pulse5.
Looking For A Personalized Way to Expand Your Creative Life?
My books are now open again for the hibernation season! I am looking forward to giving winter guidance around sleep health & nervous system regulation. While on one end of nervous system work we can focus on reducing stress—on the other end of the spectrum we can also focus on expanding creativity! I offer individualized 1:1 guidance for those who want to use dreams, mindfulness and self-compassion as a way to expand their creativity and curiosity. Shoot me an email at dagnyrose@theartofrest.me to inquire about getting started.