The Hub March 2016 | Page 9

Eva Antonel So what's with the colouring books for adults? To believe the enthusiasts, you'd think we discovered the fountain of youth, the cure for cancer and source of all happiness all rolled into one. Not that there's anything wrong with colouring books per se. There's no harm done in shading pretty pastels between lines depicting nature, landscapes, cute animals or abstract forms. But why? Having attained the age of reason, the large majority of adults are aware of a multitude of ways to indulge or awaken their creative child within. So why colouring books, and why now, when children have been playing with them for decades? I don't know about you, but life seems so much more complicated than it was even a generation ago. The advent of the home computer, mobile phone, apps, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat and whatever else is out there keeping our fingers dancing over key boards, has occupied so much of our disposable time and focus that very little is left for anything else. Not only do all those easily-accessed distractions take away from our creative time, they scatter our attention with the huge volume of images and pseudo information, overwhelming us in the process. Am I the only one who's seen articles about puppy mills, the repercussions of legalizing marijuana and the bottoming out of Canadian currency values as well as pictures of cats, robots, Italian frescoes and a multitude of inspirational quotes dancing across my Facebook feed? And that's just in the last half hour. Do I know any more about any of the just-mentioned subjects than I did this morning? Not really, only that someone Coloring outside the lines is a fine art. ~Kim Nance said something about that and that I should look further into it before I come across something else that'll make me forget what it was that I so wanted to know more about. In the interest of being totally transparent, I have to admit that I've checked Facebook twice and peeked at Instagram once since beginning this piece, ten minutes ago. Chances are, I'm not that different from the majority of people who use a computer to work and have a phone with a data plan. This is where colouring books come in. In the same vein as mindful meditation, they focus your attention to the simple act of applying colour between two lines. By putting pencil to paper and transforming the white space into a rainbow, we quiet the whirling mind and pay attention only to what is right in front of us. But that's where the magic ends. The same result can be had by taking a walk, listening to or playing a piece of music, reading, writing, drawing, knitting or cooking a meal. The secret lies in eing present in the moment and engaging the hands and mind in the process of creating. Contrary to what your Kindergarten teacher insisted, staying within the lines is completely unnecessary. How do you support local artists? Tweet us @TheHubWE #artmatters March 2016 - The HUB 9