Learning Art Is Like Learning To Ride A Bike
Can you remember the first time you tried to ride a bike? you wobbled and fell off, wobbled and fell off ….and how uncertain you were about riding near others?
Remember how good it felt when you were able to defy gravity and stay upright? You do remember? Good! Because learning art is much like that, and just as rewarding once you have mastered the basics, you just have to keep trying.
Unfortunately many people don’t see art as anything like riding a bike and because of that they miss out!
Comments such as “I can’t draw to save my life”, or “I haven’t got an artistic bone in my body” are equivalent to saying “I’m no good at riding a bike” – when you haven’t tried to master the basics.
Art has many benefits
So what are the benefits of being creative and doing something artistic? How about greater self-esteem, reduced stress, improved mental health and it can be fun – are they worth giving art a try?
What’s the best way to start?
Start with the help of a good tutor.
I was one of the lucky ones where my family loved nothing better than cutting and sticking, collaging old magazines and making things out of recycled bits and bobs. That was longer than I care to remember lol.
But I went on to do art at degree level and then onto teaching in many areas of well-being. Soo I can see the benefits and hear all of the excuses as mentioned but the analogy of ‘easy as learning to ride a bike’ is true. everyone can find a nique in a creative way! sewing, knitting, painting etc…..
I saw batik painting on my travels and was intriqued to find out how it was done, so there a seed of intrique was planted and I learnt the techniques …as easy as riding a bike :-).
How do I start? Well you could splash out on all the tools and a teach-yourself book, but from my experience a better way is to find a class. There you can borrow the tools you need, get guidance, learn the techniques and be inspired and encouraged to grow your skills. In other words, you can learn the hard way on your own, or the stress free way along with an expert teacher.
Follow this kind of introduction to art and you get to make something beautiful. At the very least it will be a fun day out. Actively doing art will also bring the health benefits, we touched on earlier.
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To see the courses that are available in a variety of creative art techniques please look here.
Barbara 🙂
