Art and Wellness: Print Making Workshop

Late last year, a small group of our student ambassadors got the chance to create their own unique design at a one-day Carve & Print workshop with Te Kowhai Print Trust at the Quarry Arts Centre in Whangārei.

Tutor and artist, Hamish Oakley-Browne helped develop the student’s designs, demonstrated lino cutting and printing techniques, and helped the students to create 4 x A5 paper prints featuring their own unique designs to take away with them.

“You don’t have to be arty to do this workshop! It’s a chance to relax and unwind as well as to discover your creative side.”

Ruth’s Experience with Print Making

“My experience with the print-making workshop felt like finding a secret treasure by accident or luck. I didn’t know what to expect going into it, and initially, I was slightly intimidated. But this was a truly wonderful experience, the carving is so satisfying and you could spend hours doing it. Even more satisfying is the reveal of your design once you’ve inked it. Seeing the joy on everybody’s faces when they see their design for the first time was remarkable. There is room to make changes by carving out more on your design even after you’ve inked it, which truly makes this experience even more rewarding. This experience brings out your creativity in ways that could surprise you. I’d definitely recommend this experience if you want to get your mind off things and immerse yourself in an activity. It helps being in an authentic art studio and feeling like an artist Thoroughly enjoyed it!! “ – Ruth

Sajith’s Experience with Print Making

“It was a wonderful experience for me to participate in the workshop. I learned to carve and get my print on my T-Shirt and on paper. This helped me to explore new skills and abilities such as drawing, tracing, carving, inking, and printing. I was really interested in the old-fashioned presses which were used before digital technology to print newspapers and magazines. The atmosphere, the instructor Hamish and experience was fantastic in every way. “ – Sajith

Brain Research Shows the Arts Promote Mental Health

With recent advances in biological, cognitive and neurological science, there are new forms of evidence on the arts and the brain. For example, cognitive neuroscientists found that creating art reduces cortisol levels (markers for stress) and that through art people can induce positive mental states. These studies are part of a new field of research, called neuroesthetics: the scientific study of the neurobiological basis of the arts.

Neuroesthetics uses brain imaging, brain wave technology and biofeedback to gather scientific evidence of how we respond to the arts. Through this, there is physical, scientific evidence that the arts engage the mind in novel ways, tap into our emotions in healthy ways and make us feel good.