Being in the artistic present
How relaxing that was!
If you don’t know what I am talking about, I am referring to the Art and Mindfulness Workshop held on Wednesday, 3 April at the VSV office in Thornbury. The purpose of the workshop was to learn about being in the present, being mindful of other people, making art and having fun! Around twelve eager arty students got involved, ready to bring out their creative side and learn about mindfulness through art.
VSV Year 7 and 8 Art teacher, Belinda Jennings, organised the event. Assisting Belinda was Tania from Zart Art – an art shop in Box Hill North. Tania brought along a wide range of different art supplies from glass stones to water colour paper, and tiny tassels and wooden beads.
To begin the workshop, Tania read us an inspiring book about being in the present and what it means to be mindful. I learnt that being mindful through art means focusing on what you are working on now; concentrating on the textures, colours and sounds when making your creations, which can help you forget any worry or stress that is going on in your mind.
Afterwards, we made beautiful feather mobiles out of clear plastic. We traced out the feather shapes, coloured them with markers and cut the feathers out. We added beads and cute tassels onto the base to finish the mobile off.
Next, we made my favourite thing: mindfulness stones! These are stones that help you feel mindful and relaxed, allowing you to concentrate on the smoothness and pretty patterns on the rock. To make these, we started by drawing or painting a little picture on watercolour paper using watercolour pens, pencils and paints. After this, we glued the pictures underneath the stones, creating a mindfulness stone. I enjoyed this activity so much, I made six of them!
A big thank you to Belinda for making it all happen, and helping out all of the students when needed. I can’t wait to do another Art and Mindfulness workshop and make more mindfulness art.
Tahlia W, Year 7
