Comments on: Swap Screen Time For Art Time https://mindfulartstudio.com/swap-screen-time-for-art-time/ Art journaling, watercolor tutorials, and adult art classes Thu, 17 Jul 2025 15:16:08 +0000 hourly 1 By: Amy Maricle https://mindfulartstudio.com/swap-screen-time-for-art-time/#comment-159676 Thu, 17 Jul 2025 15:16:08 +0000 https://mindfulartstudio.com/?p=75880#comment-159676 In reply to Carolanne W..

Hi Carolanne – Wow – your approach is inspiring! Interesting to hear that even with that, you sometimes get pulled in via the laptop. It’s funny b/c of course I’ve been even more aware of my bad and good habits this week, and the bad – it’s sobering! Thanks for this thoughtful comment and I appreciate being able to chew on your ideas as well! Cheers!

]]> By: Carolanne W. https://mindfulartstudio.com/swap-screen-time-for-art-time/#comment-159675 Thu, 17 Jul 2025 14:41:02 +0000 https://mindfulartstudio.com/?p=75880#comment-159675 I can’t tell you how much I love this post — especially the idea of having a portable art kit with you when you’re out and about. The points you mention here about triggers are spot on. I haven’t had a carrier connected cellphone in decades — in fact, the last cellphone I had before purchasing my first smartphone this past January wasn’t ‘smart’, it was one rung up from a flip phone. Even with my newish iPhone, it’s still not carrier connected — wifi only. I find this has kept me from cultivating a phone addiction, especially when I am away from the house. But I do find myself on social media via my laptop way more than I would like partly for work, but also when I’m tired, stressed, or anxious. It’s completely counterintuitive, right?! Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. This post is good inspiration for breaking that unhealthy habit. So thank you!

]]> By: Amy Maricle https://mindfulartstudio.com/swap-screen-time-for-art-time/#comment-159575 Tue, 15 Jul 2025 11:33:46 +0000 https://mindfulartstudio.com/?p=75880#comment-159575 In reply to Andrea Johnson.

Hi Andrea: I love hearing how you organize things and how amazing that you can knit while watching in a movie theatre! I too love to create while in lengthy meetings, it helps me to pay better attention. Thanks for sharing your ideas, and I moved your link for your Garden Path quilt to where your name and info is for your comment. It looks beautiful. Happy creating!

]]> By: Amy Maricle https://mindfulartstudio.com/swap-screen-time-for-art-time/#comment-159574 Tue, 15 Jul 2025 11:30:21 +0000 https://mindfulartstudio.com/?p=75880#comment-159574 In reply to ZANE CREAMER.

Oh that is wonderful to hear! Sometimes I page through my own journal – or scroll my own Instagram feed, and that is not a good way to stay off the phone! 😂 I’d love to see a pic of yours in the Gathering when you make it. Cheers!

]]> By: Andrea Johnson https://mindfulartstudio.com/swap-screen-time-for-art-time/#comment-159569 Mon, 14 Jul 2025 23:59:57 +0000 https://mindfulartstudio.com/?p=75880#comment-159569 My art practice is more tactile than visual; I knit, quilt, and embroider, along with five or six other textile arts. I do all of it by hand, so even a quilt project is portable (hurrah for English paper piecing!).

I have several projects close to my favorite chair, and a few of those are in one tote bag that I can just grab on my way out. Right now, the latter are a plain sock that I knit on during meetings or at the movies (because I need something to do with my hands), and my Garden Path quilt.

]]> By: ZANE CREAMER https://mindfulartstudio.com/swap-screen-time-for-art-time/#comment-159558 Mon, 14 Jul 2025 21:36:38 +0000 https://mindfulartstudio.com/?p=75880#comment-159558 In addition to the many good thoughts about avoiding the phone, the idea of making a “pattern cheat sheet” for my portable art kit is a huge Aha! for me!! I have found myself staring at a blank bit of paper a couple of times and just needed this nudge! Thanks!

]]> By: Amy Maricle https://mindfulartstudio.com/swap-screen-time-for-art-time/#comment-159557 Mon, 14 Jul 2025 21:20:21 +0000 https://mindfulartstudio.com/?p=75880#comment-159557 In reply to Jean.

HI Jean: I totally hear that. It can be overwhelming when there are a lot of unknowns and the inner critic likes to get her two cents in. I like to think about it as self-care – just for me – like going to the gym. I don’t need to be good, I just need to show up and relax and I’ll feel better for it. Over time this approach has improved my art, and that of my students, drastically. If you haven’t already, you might do some of the slow drawing when you have a few minutes. You can sign up here if you haven’t tried it: https://mindfulartstudio.com/slow-drawing-workshops/ – Cheers!

]]> By: Jean https://mindfulartstudio.com/swap-screen-time-for-art-time/#comment-159545 Mon, 14 Jul 2025 18:42:16 +0000 https://mindfulartstudio.com/?p=75880#comment-159545 My stumbling block is thinking I am not good enough at watercolor/drawing. Feeling that what I create looks like an elementary school child’s. Figuring out what to do can also make me not even try.

]]> By: Amy Maricle https://mindfulartstudio.com/swap-screen-time-for-art-time/#comment-159544 Mon, 14 Jul 2025 18:34:39 +0000 https://mindfulartstudio.com/?p=75880#comment-159544 In reply to Lois Anne.

OOh I love so many of this Lois Anne – they are just wonderful! I love the moratorium – such a good practice. I love a real book too. So good to feel and smell the pages! Thanks for sharing your wisdom here!

]]> By: Lois Anne https://mindfulartstudio.com/swap-screen-time-for-art-time/#comment-159543 Mon, 14 Jul 2025 18:31:37 +0000 https://mindfulartstudio.com/?p=75880#comment-159543 Hi Amy – Thanks for these thoughts about limiting screen/phone time. Here are a few of my suggestions –
1. I only do emails & FaceBook, watch videos, or do Zoom meetings on my computer [not on my phone], & only check FB a couple times a month.
2. I use my phone specifically for calls, texts, pedometer, clock functions, & occasionally to google research a specific item.
3. I take a day or two each week moratorium from my computer – I pile art materials on top of my laptop to hide it on those days.
4. I’m a night owl, so my phone is silenced 11pm – 8:30am.
5. I keep a 5″x3″ sketchbook & drawing pen in my purse so they’re handy wherever I may be.
6. A small tote bag with drawing supplies & a watercolour set lives in my car. I learned the hard way to not leave a bottle of drawing ink in there since it freezes during New England winters.
7. I keep a basket with drawing & collage materials on my desk so that I can draw or cut collage items while watching a video or attending a Zoom meeting – this helps me keep focused on what I’m listening/watching instead of fidgeting.
8. I mostly read books, not Kindle.

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