27 Jul What are the Top 5 Benefits of Painting in our Lives and at Home?
Why does painting at home make us so happy? Having seen tens of thousands of people experience We Love Art, it is clear to us that the benefits of painting at home are many and include the following:
1. Fun
Learning how to paint can be great fun and there are many canvas paintings ideas out there. According to Oscar Wilde “Art is the most intense for of individualism in the world”. With painting at home and painting courses, we can laugh, socialise, learn something new, and feel motivated to finish what we start.
2. Enhanced Creativity
Holding a paintbrush triggers your mind to start imagining. Your brain works precisely to envision vivid colours, places, people, and a lot more. Involving oneself in some creative painting quickly releases stress, and calms the temper.
According to the American writing great Kurt Vonnegut “Go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”
The challenge of creativity is something we may find daunting initially but we all need a challenge. Painting by numbers will only get you so far, but having the freedom to make mistakes is how we learn as humans and be creative.
3. Self-esteem booster
Creative art is a way of self-expression. Art lets one express feelings and thoughts in a healthy manner and gives something positive to focus on. It is an enjoyable experience that renders a sense of accomplishment and pride when we create something new. It can also boost our confidence and according to Thomas Merton “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.“
When people hang their finished masterpiece on their wall, they have many years of self-esteem boosting as they tell their friends that “Yes, I did that”.
4. Social Benefits of Painting
A healthy social life is another very important factor in determining our overall well-being. Robert L. Lynch said “During my 30 years at Americans for the Arts, I have had the great privilege to visit and learn about a different community nearly every week. While they differ vastly from one another, there is one common strength I have observed: the arts have made a profound impact on the health of each community.”
Since people tend to bond over common interests and experiences, We Love Art has created a community by sharing the Paint & Grape experience with tens of thousands of people who by day are accountants, nurses, housewives but by night become painters and have become creators in the We Love Art community without any prior painting experience.
Socialising over creative painting activities is known to promote happiness and better connectivity with the outside world. So invite people to your home, put on some Parisian café music, pour a glass of your favourite drink, and explore your painting ideas.
5. Good way to relax
Art makes us take some time out of our busy schedules and leads us to a place of utter peace and serenity. Why else does Bob Ross have millions of views on youtube? The therapeutic powers of art allow the mind to chill and paint the images at hand and nothing else. It relaxes the body and has similar effects as that of mediation. As the great man said himself ““Clouds sort of float around and have a good time” , and what could be more relaxing than that?
A study by the University of New England found that spending 30 minutes creating art was associated with reduced anxiety levels in first-year college students preparing for their final exams. Art classes also reduced stress and anxiety in people caring for ailing family members according to a study by the School of Nursing in Miami..