How to stop worrying and start living - finding freedom through sketching

What do you do for yourself when you are feeling things you don’t want to feel or your mind is swirling in circles?

Drawing without looking at the page has been my lifesaver. I try to do it most days. It gives my hands something to do and stops my brain from focusing on all the things that can go wrong. I have to look, really look, if I want to be able to capture any essence of the true shapes of what I am looking at.

This is the train version: instead of mindlessly scrolling my phone, I have a sketchbook and pen in hand. Each time the train stops, I choose a part of the vegetation I can see out the window and I sketch it fast, without looking at the page. When the train moves again, I keep close my eyes and keep sketching it from memory as best I can. Then I stop and wait for the next stop to do it all over again. I draw all the snippets on top of each other and they become a collage of scenery.

What used to be a frustrating journey has now become one of my favourite parts of my day to day life, a holiday from the noise of my brain and social media notifications.

Maybe this is something you could try? Let me know if you do! I would love to hear how you go! A sketchbook is nice but the back of a receipt and a biro also does the trick!

You can also book to come on a drawing date with me, where I will share my process and my art materials, and we will draw side by side. Info and bookings here.

Strawberry Woof: an exhibition of collaborative art made by 2 artists who have never met

“Strawberry Woof” is an exhibition of vibrant collaborative art made together by two strangers over the course of a year from opposite sides of the world (Rose Wintergreen from Melbourne, Australia, and Riley Theodore from Minneapolis, USA). It is also a celebration of the artists meeting for the very first time.

These strangers connected on Instagram and agreed in an Instagram Direct Message to collaborate by post without knowing anything about each other. They mailed each other unfinished drawings and paintings inviting each other to play with them however they pleased.

Exchanging scraps of private messages and progress photos of their art on Instagram over a period of 12 months, they discovered they both happened to be musicians living a transient lifestyle dogsitting, living with sometimes debilitating anxiety, and using art as a place to play and to “just be a kid building a fort out of blankets and pillows and making castles”, a joyous escape from the stress of transience and the longing to belong.

“Strawberry Woof” showcases their collaborative mixed media abstract expressionist works on paper, a joyous cacophony of play, lightness, and absurdity, featuring the unavoidably heartwarming motif of dogs.

Show dates

17 Oct – 5 Nov, during cafe opening hours:

• 7.30am-10pm Monday to Friday

• 8.30am-4.30pm Saturday and Sunday

Location

Tinpot Café, 248-250 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North

Meet the artists in person

Both artists will be present for you to meet (and make collaborative art with them, if you like!) at these times:

• Thurs 17 Oct, 10am-12pm

• Sat 26 Oct, 2.30pm-4.30pm

• Wed 30 Oct, 4pm-6pm

• Mon 4 Nov, 10am-12pm

Sales and press inquiries: rosewintergreen@gmail.com

Instagram hashtag: #StrawberryWoof

Artist Bios

Riley Theodore

Riley Theodore is a self-taught painter, photographer, and musician, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Riley's work is based on chance occurrences and serendipity.

Riley held a séance for Tiny Tim in May of 2015. He communed with Tiny Tim's spirit, and later that summer found a lost dog while hitch hiking across the country.

Riley is open to spiritualism and magic, following his intuition while creating his mixed media paintings. Colours are chosen like tarot cards, form is discovered in the process of scratching at the surface with crayons and oil pastels, adding layers of collage scraps and paint. The end result seeks naive and playful, transcendent beauty.

Find Riley on Instagram at: http://instagram.com/riley_theodore_

Rose Wintergreen

Rose Wintergreen is an Australian abstract artist and musician creating a brighter world, based in Melbourne, Australia. Her art is held in private collections in Australia and internationally.

Rose is captivated by the idea of building a relationship of trust with the unknown, in the belief that the creative process will lead to the right outcome if she holds it lightly enough. Coming from a background of perfectionism and overachievement, she embraces play to create loose, open, intuitive works inspiring freedom, flow and optimism.

Wintergreen’s approach to art-making celebrates movement and patterns, building layers of rhythm and texture in ways that cannot be fully controlled.

This includes drawing a subject without looking at the page, and combining mediums so they interact in unpredictable ways, like drawing over paint when it is still wet. As well as her solo work, Rose regularly makes collaborative experimental art with strangers who believe they can’t draw (her “Drawing With Strangers” series).

Find Rose on Instagram at: http://instagram.com/rosewintergreen

"You" - a new painting of the song by Anna Cordell

Anna Cordell released the most exquisite new song into the world today. When I heard she was going to release new music soon, I contacted her and asked if I could attempt to paint it.

This is my painting “You”, completed whilst listening to her new song by that same title repeatedly. The song is delicate but strong, warm and full. Some bits are earthy and others are like skipping sunlight.

You can hear the song here. And when you decide you love it as much as I do, make sure you follow her on Spotify so you hear the rest of the album as soon as it drops.

Does it look like the song to you?