Strategies and Practice Books
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Creative Coping Skills for Teens and Tweens
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ISBN: 9781784508883Publication Date: 2019-06-21This photocopiable activity book helps teens and tweens who are feeling voiceless, ineffective or fearful in response to events at a world, community or individual level. It incorporates exercises using art and craft, nutrition, mindfulness, yoga and other movement based activities.
Creative Coping Skills is directly geared towards teens or young adults and their caregivers, but can be helpful for readers of any age. It talks more generally about strategies for maintaining your physical, social, and emotional health. This source doesn't only focus on art but also yoga and self care. Therefore, this book could be used to expand your practice and try new activities that aren't discussed in the other sources in this guide.
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Painting Calm
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Call Number: 751.422 BISBN: 9780711281844Publication Date: 2023-06-13Find inner calm and happiness in this beautiful, meditative and earthy watercolour instruction book from nature lover, teacher and artist Inga Buivadavice.
Painting Calm is definitely the first stop for readers interested in connecting with nature and their emotions through watercolor painting. The author's instructions should be accessible even for complete beginners. She includes her own illustrations to help guide your inspiration. While working through this book, you might consider reaching out and finding your own style as well.
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Soul Color
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ISBN: 9781454943334Publication Date: 2021-05-11Soul Color is a ten-week watercolor painting course designed to cultivate mindfulness and creativity.
Soul Color could add some gentle structure to your watercolor practice with it's course format. Once again, the author (an artist with over 20 years of experience in watercolor painting) includes her own artwork for inspiration. As the book is meant to be a ten week course, you may feel that it goes too fast or too slow for you, so try to pace yourself. You may also want to check out the other sources to diversify your approach to creativity, as this book focuses exclusively on watercolor painting as an art medium.
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Pen Mind, Beginner's Mind
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Call Number: 741.092 HISBN: 9780895562791Publication Date: 2017-05-01This book is a chronological record of the growth of an artist starting from an untrained state of disbelief in himself. Drawing examples in graphite and pen and ink wash are presented with the author recalling them as they were encountered for the first time. These moments and recollections give the reader a sense of the "Beginner's Mind"--a child-like sense of wonder and exploration.
Pen Mind, Beginner's Mind serves as an introduction to drawing mindfully. The author encourages readers to set aside their preconceived notions of drawing and accept his story with the clean slate of a beginner's mind. Working with your "beginner's mind" is a practice technique inspired by Zen Buddhism. As you read, you might ask yourself if this strategy can be applied to other areas of your life that you are trying to get better at or improve.
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Drawing Your Own Path
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Call Number: 741.2 SISBN: 9781941529362Publication Date: 2016-11-01Drawing Your Own Path is an account of how multi-media artist John Simon's daily drawing discipline became a meditation practice, and how that meditation illuminated his creative source. A practical guidebook full of Simon's own art, Drawing Your Own Path offers meditators an alternative path to 'just sitting' and offers artists a way to mindfully examine and deepen the source of their creative ideas.
Drawing Your Own Path presents drawing as an alternative or supplement to "just sitting" meditation. The author's goal is to help you discover your own creativity that is already within you. The exercises in this book are simple, practical, and suitable for beginners. Simon includes his own art to help guide you: again, you may discover your own style or branch out to other sources to diversify your practice.