By: Aisha Green, Transitional Housing Worker, Carlton House  

Whether a maker or an appreciator, there are many benefits to doing art. And the great news is that you do not need artistic talent to experience them.   

The simple physical act of creating art can lower stress hormones like cortisol, activate the brain's reward pathways, and provide a healthy non-verbal outlet to process complex emotions.  

Being creative opens up many ways to boost your physical and mental health, including:  

• increasing overall well-being and quality of life, 
• supporting interpersonal relationships, 
• offering freedom of expression when talking about thoughts and feelings might be difficult, and 
• helping to build emotional resilience. 

And if you prefer to experience art as a viewer rather than a direct participant, the benefits still apply. Listening to music has been proven to help lower blood pressure and improve sleep quality and can even help keep you calm and relaxed during a medical procedure. And watching artistic performances like dance, plays, or poetry readings can engage your imagination and transport you to new worlds, offering respite from daily stress. 

Here’s how to bring more colour, creativity, and connection — with yourself and with others — into your life through art: 

Let yourself be free. The aim is not to create a masterpiece, it’s to participate in a process that lets you use different parts of your brain and being.  

Making art is especially good for: 

• Focus and attention 
• Building confidence 
• Mindfulness and present-moment awareness 
• Expressing and processing emotions non-verbally 

When you pick up a pencil, paper, or paint, stay in the moment with it instead of trying to perfect a design or produce a result.  

One of the great things about making art is that supplies don’t have to be expensive, and you can make art wherever you are and whenever you have time for it.

Some people like to set aside a specific time each day or each week when they will sit down at the art table and create. This gives some structure and discipline to doing art — making it, in effect, a practice. 

Others find that a set time and place is too limiting and prefer to pick up the pens or paintbrushes when the inspiration or mood strikes them. 

Find what works for you.  

One of the reasons making art can be so joyful, freeing, and relaxing is because there are (generally) no rules. Whatever is in your mind and heart can come out through your eyes and hands in a way that is more like freeform play. 

On the other hand, don’t discount more structured forms of art-making. Adult colouring books? Paint-by-numbers? A needlepoint kit? All are legitimate forms of creative expression. 

The ‘crafts’ part of the expression covers a huge area of artistic opportunities: knitting and crocheting, block printing or calligraphy, working with textiles like quilting or sewing — all can be engrossing, enjoyable, and an opportunity to try a different medium and learn something new.  

You can start small — you don’t have to knit a complicated sweater; start with a scarf. You don’t have to find a potter’s wheel or a place to fire your hand-thrown vase — get some modelling clay, roll or press it into shape, and voilà! A candy dish! A coaster! A pencil holder! You’re limited only by your imagination.  

Try something and work to deepen your knowledge and skill, or try many different things for variety and excitement.  

There are tons of resources online, in local libraries, in community centres, and even in some arts and crafts retailers which often hold low-cost learning sessions. Learning and practicing a new skill — on your own through experimentation or through more formal lessons — is another way that art offers benefits to our well-being and can be protective of our cognitive functioning, especially as we age. 

This is when the value of making art gets turbocharged. Doing arts and crafts with a group of people adds the benefit of social connection to the many other great reasons to make art on your own. 

No worries! There are many ways to experience art as an appreciator. You can listen to music, either at home on your own or at a public venue; attend art shows or galleries; or take part in street festivals and cultural events that often include many different types of artistic performance.  

In a city like Toronto, art is all around you, often at no or low cost, and available throughout the year.