Everyone has 5 minutes a day to take a break. Even the busiest of people. A little time to find some stillness. Quiet the mind. A little time to relax. To calm your mind and body. And to help you with that, Plumb and House Of Hipsters think everyone should take five minutes a day for an #artbreak. Just 5 minutes, you, a pencil and some paper. Can you handle it?
See, I’m a high-strung, high-anxiety type of person. My mind is constantly going a mile a minute, and it rarely slows down. At one point, I got so stressed, I went to the doctor complaining of headaches, tooth pain, sinus issues. After my exam, I was told I was fine and to see a dentist. Maybe I had a cavity or needed a root canal. After x-rays, I was told besides grinding my teeth and constantly clenching, I was fine. I headed back to the doc. Dude! What is wrong with me? The stress, he said. I was told to chillax. I started seeing an acupuncturist who taught me the ways of meditation and deep breathing.
Why am I telling you all of this shtuff? And what does it have to do with notebooks Kyla? Did you know taking an artbreak provides many of the same benefits as meditation? It boosts your immune system, reduces anxiety and stress, aids healing, and gets those creative juices flowing. When I started to take my daily artbreak, it was almost like my stressy right brain shut down, and my chill left brain was like, “Hey man, what’s up. Haven’t seen you in a while.” I’d stop doodling and realize I wasn’t thinking about anything except, “This bird is kinda funny looking.” And that was a really good feeling.
When Plumb contacted me not too long ago, we started chatting about the concept of artbreak, and I got so excited. What a great and simple idea! As some of you know, my job lies in the realm of graphic design. I’m the Creative Director for a small advertising firm. Art is my life. But in a weird way, I’ve lost a little imagination in my career. Or maybe I should phrase it as freedom of imagination. I focus on brand standards, get sucked into Helvetica, forced to use specific colors…I am boxed into a brand.
#artbreak inspires the mind. Forces you to use your imagination. Freedom. You don’t have to know how to draw. Just draw something. Anything. Doodle. Just start writing. It’s fun! Did you see the picture up there? I’m no Rembrandt. Yes, that’s a balloon with a heart on it…a very chill, stress-free balloon with a heart on it.
I mean don’t get me wrong, when the notebooks from Plumb arrived, I just kinda sat there and stared at them for a few days. It’s a good thing they are really pretty to look at. Beautiful covers. But hmmm, now what. Looking at a blank canvas can be intimidating, but after a few stars, a couple of doodles, I couldn’t put them down. I have them by my bed, in my office, one in my bag. They are scattered around the house.
Then I started to do something I haven’t done in ages. Collage drawings. I collect vintage photographs, and The Boy knows I could spend hours thumbing through picture after picture, box after box at the flea market. When I was a kid, I use to take old catalogs and cut out the models and headlines to create my own stories. I was having some fun with a few old photographs below. My 5 minutes turned to 15-20 minutes when I had the opportunity.
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