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Creativity & Wellbeing
Creativity and Wellbeing Week 2021 (17-23 May 2021) is an annual celebration of the ground-breaking work happening around the UK in culture, creativity, health and wellbeing. It is run by London Arts in Health and the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance. The festival started as a small event based in London in 2012 , to coincide with the Olympics.
Thirsty Painter was born from the desperate need to free our mind from the constant chaos of daily stresses. We didn’t want it to be another mandatory thing to do as a tick box exercise. We wanted an activity that’s liberating and enjoyable. We found that painting was therapeutic for us and had a positive impact on our mental well being. This led us to our strapline of ‘Creatively Supporting Your Wellbeing’.
Living in a fast-paced world with constant things to do and information overload, we often never truly switch off. This became apparent to us in our 9-5 jobs. We were constantly busy, stressed and eventually burned out. Although there’s always a sense of urgency in what needed to be done, looking back we could have taken more practical steps to look after our mental wellbeing. We now realise that creativity is what helps us close the tabs in our mind that usually just remain open subconsciously. We let our creativity take the back seat when we started our corporate jobs, but we found that small acts of creativity such as colouring and doodling is just as effective in reducing stress.
Why do we host painting events and not art classes?
Our aim is to create an inclusive environment for all to try painting without pressure and judgement. So, no artistic experience or background is required for our painting events. We want to be part of everyone’s artistic journey and collectively learn to embrace the beauty of perfect imperfections in all masterpieces. Our event is a social experience that creates a space for the extrovert to be themselves, and the introvert to be in the same space and not have the social pressure to say a word. We encourage freedom of expression in our events and feel like an art class will limit creativity and focus on getting traditional painting techniques right. Since art is subjective, we believe the process should be an experiment of what feels right to the individual. However, we also understand that no sense of direction can be a stress factor for some, so we provide step by step guidance throughout our events. All our upcoming events details can be found here.
So how does creativity actually support our wellbeing?
1. Increases happiness - repetitive activities like drawing, knitting and painting can help to flood your brain with dopamine, the feel-good chemical that helps to motivate us. Painting is a meditative act – it takes you out of yourself, freeing yourself from your physical limitations.
2. Improves mood and mental health - creative activities can also really help people deal with different kinds of trauma and negative feelings, by having a calming effect on the brain and body. By learning to better express yourself, through the medium of art, painting can be an act of self-care that supports your emotional wellbeing.
3. Increases brain function - painting stimulates both the right and left side of the brain. Painting is an all-brain exercise, strengthening the mind and triggering dopamine activity in the brain. So spending time indulging your creative spirit is basically aerobics for your brain!
With lockdown easing, we're excited to host face to face events. If you would like to book a private or team event, please don't hesitate to contact us at info@thirstypainter.com