Couch Art

I have Chronic Lyme Disease, which basically means I have something in my life that demands a great deal of my attention and energy, and pulls my focus from working in my art studio (actually it pulls my focus from doing anything but managing my symptoms and resting). For me, my symptom management time could be a day or two in any given week, a few hours in any given day, and/or a few weeks in any given month.

I can get a bit angsty and frustrated when it has been a while since I’ve felt well enough to paint at my easel or desk. One day, as I was feeling a bit better, I put a familiar movie on, grabbed some pens and watercolor paper, and plopped my laptop table on my lap. I started to make neurographic art while sitting on the couch. Neurographic art is basically the practice of drawing a bunch of lines intersecting each other in various shapes. As long as you can hold a pen or pencil and sit up, you can make neurographic art. For me it is actually soothing, it creates a bit of a meditative space that helps my brain focus on placing my next line and planning my next intersection rather than entirely focusing on my pain, nausea, headaches, vertigo, fatigue, etc…

Because it is literally just putting lines on paper, you can go anywhere from there. Which I’ve kind of done over time. Next to the couch I now have a stack of watercolor paper painted with various colors, multiple sets of pens (all water based), and my laptop table. When I’m having a tough day and find myself on the couch, I can pick up any number of pieces I’m working on and just play. I find myself getting inspired to draw things I wouldn’t necessarily choose to paint on a canvas. It has really opened up my creativity and connected me to my inner child.

I now lovingly refer to the pieces I create from my couch as “Couch Art”.