Mindful Art: Mindful Collages

“Art is a natural way to practice mindfulness. The colors, textures and sounds of creating pull us into the moment. You don’t need any previous training to meditate through art, just a willingness to draw like a child, with freedom and a sense of curiosity.” — Amy Maricle, an artist, art therapist and founder of Mindful Art Studio

Before I began to look up what mindful art was, I was practicing it through collage. One of my first dealings with it was back as a single mom in 2013. My children were 8 and 4 at the time and it gave us all something to do. Plus I had heard that vision boarding was quite effective. I took out 3 composition notebooks, glue sticks, crayons, magazines and scissors and we all went to work on putting anything in the notebooks that we wanted, desired and liked. I have no idea where that notebook is today so I cannot tell you if what I had in the notebook ever came true. I was curious about the idea, but I wasn't yet convinced it was actually something that worked. What I did notice is that it was like therapy to all of us. Our little family had been through two years of hard transition on our own and that was our 3rd home over the past 3 years. What I will say is that the practice of sitting still, getting creative on paper and sharing our pictures was therapeutic, relaxing and fun. 

Fast forward to 2015, I put together a photo album of places I'd like to visit (not pictured in this post), healthier foods to represent healthier lifestyle, I even had an animated photo of a lady working from home with a pet in her lap and by 2018 a few of those ideas I had did happen. I spent more time looking through the pages of that album, but there was this voice of hesitation about some of my ideas, especially travelling that felt so far away and almost impossible. At least, I was beginning to be more open to my own ideas. 

I took this a step further in 2018 by allowing myself to imagine without judgement and use what I now understand as mindful art to help me be in the moment, relax and stir up creativity. 

This year 2020, I took it a step further with my own Vision Board and currently coaching myself through my vision and ideas, yet with the sudden change in our lives this year, our long days have increased with it long spans of time where the mind can run too free and sometimes in the wrong direction. I quickly went back to mindful collaging to help me stay clear, stress free and hopeful. I believe this has also helped me to problem solve and adjust more efficiently. 

According to Very Well Mind, there are benefits to mindful art, which can also be known as art therapy. Some of the benefits include improved quality of life, improved attention span, lowered distress levels and ability to communicate abstract feelings.

I have put together a short easy list and instruction on how you can start practicing mindful collaging and keep me posted on your results!

Get your supplies together- 

• All you need for collaging is 1 or 2 poster boards. I like to cut them into 4 parts to give me less space to fill up and more collages to create. 
• Collect as many magazines as you can. I "coincidently" ran into a "random" post on Facebook where a lady was Spring cleaning and need to get rid of high quality popular magazines for FREE. She simply wanted them off her hands. We met up and now I have a box full of magazines. My neighbor also gives hers to me now!
• Get some glue sticks! I find that glue sticks are much easier to work with and quick drying.
• Optional- other tools like special pens, colored pencils, stencils or texture, anything else you think you might want. Use whatever makes you feel good!
  

Create a mood

• Find a place where you can spread out! Kitchen table, floor, desk. 
• Add music if you'd like or watch or play a movie you like in the background.
• If you prefer silence, do it in silence. 
• Experiment! No day of collaging will be the exact same just as your collages won't be!
  

Start cutting!

• Go through the magazines and cut out anything that stands out; words, phrases, pictures, signs, anything that catches your eye.
• Try not to think about what's right or wrong. This is not a test and no one is judging this work, not even you!
• Let yourself flow through the pages one by one. If you see something you like, cut it out. If you are second guessing something MOVE ON. 
  
  

Start pasting!

• An option is to paste down your images first. Try not to think too hard about where, just go for it.
• Another option is to add your words and phrasing after your images are pasted down to fill in any spaces.
• Take note of the words you use but don't feel you have to make them make sense! 
• If there are spaces you want to fill in, go back and do so but if you don't want to then DON'T!

Keep your collaging supplies together in a box or tote so that you can come back to it as often as you need to! You do not have to share this work but look through them often and see what ideas, feelings pop up. Our subconscious holds lots of thoughts and feelings. Mindful art helps us uncover them. This is just one way of doing mindful art. Here are some other ways and ideas you could also try from Pinterest!