Creative Practice #2
I have concentrated my efforts in exploring a new creative
practice during my week vacation. The vacation is a family trip which includes
my two grandchildren ages 10 and 12 years old, my husband and daughter. The activity is coloring with colored pencils
on adult coloring pages. We have been distributing the adult coloring page to
patients, but I have not actually tried it for myself. I prefer using a plain
sheet of paper for my doodles so this will be a new experience for me. Packing
an art bag for my trip I included four clip boards, several copies of coloring
pages and a pack of colored pencils. My hope was to engage all passengers in
this process with me. I have to admit it did lessen my travel anxiety and made
the trip seem shorter to our destination.
Next day we planned another road trip shorter than the
first. The children seem more restless
and my daughter was in a parental role so tension was high. I was asked about
what I thought in regards to the situation. In an attempt to stay neutral I
reached down for my pencils and said I’m feeling a lot of negative energy in
this car and I’m going to see if these pencils will make me happy again. It
seem to be the catalyst to turn around the situation, before I knew it we were
playing a word game while coloring.
Presenting as my
creative activity I would like share several of my colored pencil renderings
using the adult coloring page format. They really did help keep me less anxious,
and the children remain calmer while traveling, however for me personally, the
coloring pages would not be my first choice for stress reduction. My plans are to return to the studio dipping my paint brush in color for a more comprehensive and complete form of self care.
