The magic of colouring in

10 Jun The magic of colouring in

Why I love colouring pages

As I finished off one of my new colouring sheets the other night it got me thinking about why I love creating these colouring pages. (you can see them all over here). I have a pretty busy brain and I find it hard to switch it off sometimes and relax.

I had recently read this quote by Thomas Merton about both finding and losing yourself in art.

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.

And for me that is what is at the heart of all creativity. Even the simple act of colouring in a pattern. You lose yourself in the motions, and it sooths you too. And this is also what I mean when I talk abuot the magic of colouring in. Tha zen like state that I get from sitting quietly and colouring in a pattern. It’s why colouring books for adults have become such a popular trend worldwide.

Switching off

Generally only two things help me turn my brain off, reading and making art. But because I create and make art for work I find that I gravitate towards certain types of creativity when I am looking to unwind.

Making Patterns

In winter time I nearly always have a knitting or crochet project on the go. But all year round I always have a colouring sheet on the go. And my favourites are ones where there is repetitive patterns. So of course thats what I created when I made my own colouring sheets too.

Problem Solving

I often turn to a colouring sheet when I have a problem to work through. Especially a creative problem. The repetitive patterns in these sheets help my brain to unwind and work away on the problem in the background without getting stressed out about figuring it all out.

How do you turn your brain off?

If you dont have a creative outlet in your life then I highly recommend you explore finding one. If your child suffers from childhood anxiety or finds it hard to sit and relax for long periods of time. Creativity has been shown to help children (and adults) with anxiety, attention disorders and so much more to find a measure of peace. You may even find that you start beliveing in the magic of colouring in yourself!

You can see the full range of all my colouring sheets over on my etsy store below