What is Art Happy?

It is the kind of happiness you experience when you give yourself permission to do something just for you. Not to please someone else, not because you need to do it, or because you know you’ll have something amazing to show for it, but just because you want to. Art Happy is happiness we encounter when we are present, when we pay attention to the beauty that surrounds us, and we engage all of our senses. It is happiness found in the simple pleasures. It could be the earthy scent that follows a summer rainstorm. Or the way we feel when we hear our favorite song. The iridescent glow of sunlight shimmering through the trees. The warmth and softness of a favorite blanket. The sweetness of a ripe strawberry.

For me, art happy is the peace and tranquility I find in my art studio. It is listening to music from my favorite station, while sipping from a mug of warm tea, and smelling the intoxicating scent of warm wax and resin, watching as the wax on my piece melts and solidifies slowly obscuring and revealing the images and colors below.

Life can feel overwhelming at times. There are bills to pay, kids to cart around, laundry to do. It’s easy to get caught up in the “have tos” and forget about what’s really important, until something bad happens. Until we get run down, or find ourselves snapping at the ones we love the most, or just lose our sense of who we really are. Sometimes the answer is as simple as taking a few minutes each day to breathe, unplug, and do something that is just for you.