How painting boosts mental health

Still life with apples

Mental health and creativity

Mental health is as important as physical fitness, but having flexible, fast acting and flawlessly performing brain is more important than anything else. Drawing and painting are some of the best things we can do in order to increase the brain activity, improve our memory and become more confident, self-aware and efficient with making decisions. It is needless to say that drawing and painting are calming, relaxing and rewarding.

Boosting brain performance and creating more

Every line and brushstroke we put down on paper or canvas comes from the brain impulses and activity of neurons in certain parts of the brain. Your hand doesn’t move on its own, it’s guided by your perception and the ability to transform visually and sensually perceived information into individualized personal experience. This experience is reflected on paper or canvas as you draw or paint. It is a very complex process, and we tend to think there are mysterious powers involved. I sort of want to remove the magic aspect from creativity, just to keep things simple. Inspiration will add the magic, but we have to start from the basics.

Seeing and being able to recreate what you see

Most people do not see the surrounding world as an artist does. So, the first task is learning to recognize all the multiple aspects of transforming a simple visual image into art that exhibits the artistically applicable features of this image. How do we do that? What do we need to see and notice in order to paint and draw?

Echo of image in the brain

Anything we draw or paint must find some echo in the storage space of our imagination. Such space of stored images is present within any memory and it is based on associative knowledge and acquired knowledge. Anything we create always relates to our fundamental knowledge of this world. Yet, the drawing or painting we are doing has specific subject, specific theme and atmosphere. It is a scene like no other because it always presents individual features. No two apples are exactly the same, no flower copies the other one exactly line by line, not to mention faces, landscapes or complex views.

Personal experience and personal decisions

Since most people, who learn painting or drawing, believe that getting all information from the outside and simply following somebody without making their own decision will do the job, the first artworks usually do not come out that great. While we are sketching or blocking in the basic shapes or lines, we should already try to decide why everything is where it is, and why composition evolves as it does. The reason we place the objects on our paper or canvas as we do, should be based on a decision. We should also decide early and plan for effects which we create later.

Decision making is as important as application of art tools

Adding paint or other elements is always based on decision-making. We decide about values, shapes, edges, washes, and we need to apply color if it is a color painting. Our brain has to make these decisions fast. Most mediums require using relevant timing. If we hesitate too much with watercolor layering, it simply will be too late to achieve flow of watercolor that makes such painting outstanding. If we are too slow, the acrylic layer we worked on, will be already dry or tacky and we will have to return to it later.

What is blocking our ability to paint?

There are two main things which are blocking our ability to proceed with painting or drawing when somebody attends or watches a class. We believe that instructor has made all decisions for us and our task is to blindly follow and to repeat what we see; and we are trying to do everything without any knowledge of why. There is no reasoning, no decisions which arise in our own brain.

Do you know what you do?

For instance, when I ask what a particular student is doing with some particular part of the painting, a very frequent answer is: “I don’t know”. How come? You have to know why you want one part dark and how to achieve that. You have to decide whether your subject is small or large, whether it has lost edges or sharp edges. Basically, we have to decide what exactly and why exactly we want to do.

No brushstroke without goal

The biggest issue is aimless brushing around, moving paint all over the canvas or paper until any distinction is lost and everything has become the same color. That is the result of not making a decision. When we decide that clouds are large and grey, we use paint to achieve this and so on. It’s obvious that only acting based on decision can contribute to implementation of our intentions.

Art instructor is not a magician

The art instructor or art teacher isn’t a magician; they cannot affect directly and immediately the way your brain works. They hope you pay attention to what they say and demonstrate and you will make your own decisions based on this advice. However, if you do not know the answer to why, what, when and how, the progress is noticeably delayed. Therefore, I also advice doing value sketches. This does not slow down, but helps tremendously with planning and deciding on what, where and how we paint.

Decision making for other areas of life

Eventually, the decision making we learn in the classroom allows us becoming more efficient with decisions in other areas of life. Everything we do should be based on decision, not impulse and lack of thinking. We should not have to admit: I don’t know why I am doing this. Unfortunately, nobody can provide you with a dose of understanding perspective, values, shapes, contrasts, layouts and other elements as a capsule or tablet to simply swallow and apply.

Fall still life based on drawing: Fall still life

More about drawing: Magic attraction of drawing

Snow paintings for Christmas delight

Snow paintings, village and countryside

Bright snow paintings for Christmas

Shadows in my tea-cup, darkness behind the window and soft warmth from the small outdoor lights. That is the calming scene which surrounds me at the moment. The scent of a live fir-tree is absent, but I can certainly imagine that, too.  As the year is fast approaching its end, my hopes and expectations get smaller and smaller until they will fade away completely. I paint bright snow paintings to lift my mood.

Feeling better after cold

What a terrible thing that is to get sick straight before Christmas! I did exactly that, I worked very hard for about a month and then my body told: that’s it, I need to shut down for a while and get some rest. Well, I missed all the potential sales opportunities since I couldn’t even move my arm, not to mention do show preparations, final touches on art or crafts, and I did not post any ads. I even did not turn on the “Open” sign.  It’s the first day now when I am a bit better. I can see the computer screen at least. What a relief!

Large snow landscape painting in acrylic, 24 x 30 inches or 61 x 76 cm

Why not spend something on art?

When I hear the big numbers about what people are spending during Christmas and holidays, I get even sicker. Is that even possible? Most likely it is. I wish some of that would come my way, too. I think, this is the right time to buy art, and it doesn’t have to be even winter art since prices are set to sell. I know many people, who would really love receiving artistic gifts. I usually give something free with every purchase. as a sign of appreciation. It can be a box of watercolor paints or a framed sketch.

Winter creek, 24 x 18 inches or 61 x 46 cm, snow art at its best

Taking art photos, adding light

I took some pictures of the recent works with my phone. It’s so dark, that trying to take a picture with my camera is out of question. Oh, and like all people who are born under the Leo sign, I love warmth, sun and light. I have actually painted so much art which brings more light into any space. The current weather isn’t good news for me so far. My potential sales aren’t either because nobody even knows I worked a lot to make this pre-holiday sale happen, but broke down straight before the finishing line.

Winter creek sunset, 20 x 16 inches or 51 x 41 cm

Christmas traditions

I don’t put up a Christmas tree or decorations in November. I do not do the Christmas shopping until the last-minute also. Therefore, I am only catching up when others are way ahead of me. My Christmas means to put up the tree in the morning, decorate it around lunch time, and then cook a nice meal to have it at night. That’s how it always was since I can remember. My dad and I went even to the forest to get a tree early on the Christmas morning sometimes. If I have everything ready month before this day, I am losing all the Christmas spirit. Songs, flavors, candle lights and sparkles on the Christmas tree is all I need.

Fir cones under guarding snow, 20 x 20 in or 51 x 51 cm

Hopes, hopes, hopes

Since there is still a full week until Christmas, I hope that my bank account will miraculously turn from red into black. That might be also the only occasion when black is a nice color. I could supply myself completely with all the medications before the pharmacy’s shut-down period. I sincerely hope there might be a person who wishes to see some of my original paintings on their wall or believes my art is the right thing to be presented as a gift. Despite the poor odds, I won’t panic just yet. Everything goes on with or without fireworks.

Village sunset painting, acrylic 24 x 20 in or 61 51 cm

Art  class was painting this winter scene along with me. We are doing some winter painting every December. Snow paintings allow creating stunning paintings with using all shades of white. That might be not always easy in acrylic, but if you use artist grade paint, it will be less problematic. Good luck!

The Life school blog talks about memories which are beautiful, but can be painful, as well:  http://inesepogalifeschool.com/2015/12/18/christmas-memories-that-can-make-us-cry/

For art prints and other art products, please, go to:

Art collections by Inese Poga

Ode to perseverance and how to overcome I cannot

Art project

In order to improve oneself, perseverance is important. Life is always full of something, and we are mostly busy, sometimes with the most beautiful things and events, sometimes with terrible issues. We simply deal with that, but not everybody has the courage to take a special time for themselves or to spend it as they wish. There are billions of excuses, and behind “I cannot” is quite often hiding: I don’t seriously want it. I am not willing to make a commitment. I am not sure if I want anything at all. It is so much easier to do nothing. It is less complicated to let everything flow by and to go with the stream. The power of doing nothing is huge.

Who doesn’t know moments of emptiness, moments of weakness, and moments of a complete exhaustion: mental and physical? That is life, and, unfortunately, nothing and nobody can prevent such moments from happening. I know this so well: it can be abnormally tough at times to resist the tiredness and pain. Well, we have two choices: feel sorry and cry or stand up and get going. Here I would like to mention perseverance again. We stick to decisions and goals no matter what.

I am for these, who make everything happen. I am with these, who fight their own moods, pain and helplessness. We have a fantastic tool to make our life better: it is self-improvement. Step by step, one move at a time.

Therefore, I feel extremely blessed that my art and painting classes have brought me together with such sincere, honest and creative people. It is very simple to take a brush and swipe it over canvas. Play is attractive. How about when we want something more? Not only spots and splashes, but something way exceeding basics?

Creativity and self-improvement are both: rewarding and demanding. Rewarding all the way through the discoveries and confusion, giving back things which we never even expected; and demanding because we cannot give up our efforts by facing the first difficulties. Self-improvement requires perseverance, a strong spinal cord and ability to go against the wind. I suppose, life is generous mostly to those, who dare. Dare to overcome at least their own resistance and remove the internal brakes.

I would not call the participants of the Wednesday group students anymore. Some of them have become established artists after attending my classes. I am really proud of that because I care how my students are doing and they try to do their best. I am sometimes telling them: you don’t even need any classes any longer. They answer: we love the group and the atmosphere, and we still appreciate the advice.

The Wednesday class takes a break now. We are meeting closer to the fall again. However, the question that surprises me most is: how do these really busy people always find the time not to skip any single class? Well, the secret is most likely  unsophisticated: we can always find time for things we love. I would like to thank all my long-term creative friends and participants of my painting classes. Keep your brushes wet!

To praise the divine, to overcome the dullness of routine

Roses, watercolor paintings by Inese Poga

Stagnation and routine, and divine inspiration

Routine and stagnation go hand in hand. I also believe that talk solves nothing. I am deeply convinced that too many “everything is fine” statements can actually cause harm. When our intentions remain only as to-do-lists, there is no result. There is huge gap between the real action and intent. Therefore, we need the divine inspiration to interrupt our routine.

Life is fair, humans – not always

We often hear that life is not fair. Well, life as such is fair and fine. It is us, humans, who make things unfair and unfavorable for others. We should know: if we win, somebody else loses. When we are at loss, somebody has won the big prize. Therefore, I wish there was much less pretending that everything is fine and much more doing in order it was like that. While total equality isn’t possible for very many reasons, we can at least try to measure up to the ones at the top.

Rose for my mom
The dearest rose of all, the rose for my mom

What is the divine in our daily life?

For me, praising the divine does not mean unstoppably talking about it. That means bringing the beauty to people and making them understand how little, in fact, we need to experience the most valuable things on this Earth. There would be much less suffering if one day we had opened our eyes and started calling things their correct names. Becoming realistic is not a bad start. making regular things divine is something we all can do.

Floral art by Inese Poga
Colors and shapes of flowers will blow you away

Losing time due to routine

The daily routine is absorbing plenty of time and taking away lots of energy. People who are not rich have to deal with chores whether they are happy with that or not.  Even though, I could do so many useful and exciting things instead of cleaning up and washing dishes or cooking, that is not going to change. I am efficient, and I have prevention system in place: to avoid general cleaning, I do not allow any dirt or messes to accumulate. I spend 12 hours or more a day quite often on medical writing. That is the job I make my living with. but I hope earning my living with art at some point.

Watercolor painting, divine inspiration
Poppies, simple and divine

Love to divine within simple things

I have inherited love to the nature and all Gods creations from my great grandparents, grandparents and my parents. I strongly believe that family either makes one creative and resourceful or completely ignores this necessity by not appreciating the great experiences and benefits creativity has to offer, although, this does not always mean any financial benefits. I am genuinely thankful I have all skills and knowledge to dress myself,  design my clothes and outfits, to grow my own garden plants , flowers and vegetables, to cook fantastic meals with little efforts, to decorate my living space and create all necessary items for that and so on and so forth.

Watercolor paintings by Inese Poga
Butterflies and apple blossoms, just the right things for sunny mood

Necessity to be active

This is all because of my family. Somebody might call me workaholic, but I hate simply sitting around and doing nothing. I cannot recall any single episode of my childhood or earlier years when I had to admit I was bored. I was always busy. Trying to make something from nothing. That is a great way to, a great way to live since I am seeing some opportunity just about everywhere.

Floral art by Inese Poga
Rose and apple blossoms, spring is here

Flowers: the divine aspect in daily life

I am sending flowers to my mom every time whenever there is some important day or some celebration because I know she appreciates and loves them. We are far away, the Ocean is between us, but we can talk on Skype. My husband gives me flowers on every occasion, not only when there’s a celebration or birthday, but just for pleasure, as well. I have always fresh flowers around me, many are potted. I believe he does this because he knows how I am talking to plants and how much I enjoy them. They respond with adorable blooms and never-ending beauty.

Apple blossoms, watercolor by Inese Poga
Apple blossoms for spring

Teaching is a duty

I feel that my duty is to teach other people to enjoy things which are not that costly, but rather a true source of happiness, pleasure and satisfaction. It would be tough going through life without art and beauty. The importance of brain fitness is completely ignored, but I am trying to make everybody aware how this can be achieved with simple sketching and drawing on a daily basis. If one can escape the age related dementia and loss of brain functionality just doing some visual art exercises, why don’t they do that? That’s a good question because physical body is always put first and mental and spiritual well-being is supposed to occur automatically which is absolutely and totally wrong.

New greeting card images

I hope I’m doing my part and creating art you enjoy. To me, this means praising the divine every single moment not only in words, but with doing.

Art collections by Inese Poga

Enjoy and possibly purchase!

My rainy day sketches and paintings sparkle with light, and we have finally summer weather

Sketching in watercolor what is the advantage

Sketches sparkle with light probably because the weather has been no fun. The Latvian weather has been very unpredictable. Since I am always drawing and painting mostly from life and using real objects, that was quite upsetting. I did not get all depressed, but moved on as much as I could.

For time saving purposes, I am sometimes outlining and drawing with black pen. I do not have to use glasses that way which is great because glasses can destroy proportions and distort the visual perception.

I love cheerful colors!

We were doing parrots in the Exotic birds drawing workshop. Everybody loved them!

I was very happy also that I finally obtained the St. Petersburg watercolor set. I wanted these paints ever since I was a small kid when I saw one artist painting with them. I got them now at the age of 55, actually my birthday is just some weeks away, so it’s a nice birthday gift for myself. These paints are said to be the best in the world just because they are made of the purest and best really natural ingredients. I love these watercolor paints: they have excellent transparency,  brightness and they are very pure.

The sun is beating down today, so we are having some Mexico weather this week. Isn’t that crazy how I was freezing in my leather coat just a week ago, and it is advisable to wear nothing more than a swimming suit at the moment? Too bad, no swimming pool anywhere here, but I suppose, I can survive that, too!

I am a child of the sun, my horoscope sign is leo, and this immediately changes my inner settings. I don’t care how hot it gets, whenever it is sunny, I am happy.

I would love to express the hugest THANK YOU to all those fellow bloggers, friends and students who did not stop encouraging me during the bad weather period and are still following my trip to Europe, Latvia.