To Doodle or Not to Doodle
The first simple way which Ursula Hulme (founder) used to stimulate the creative imagination of new members to her Conquest groups, was to ask them to close their eyes and doodle. Then open the eyes and see what could be teased out of the various lines of the doodle by letting the imagination enjoy playing with ideas created by the random lines.
Doodling seems to be very natural to most people. Who has not given idle fingers a pencil and, during a phone conversation or while listening to a talk, doodled in the corner of any piece of paper to hand?
The picture above you can see the idea exploited so beautifully by Ursula herself.
A wonderful result can be achieved, and everyone now acknowledges how therapeutic such stress-free creativity is; hence the proliferation of colouring books for adults which are to be found in so many shops.
Like most good ideas, there is now a funky version of doodling called Zentangle. This is a much more structured version, as the original pattern is repeated over and over, creating extremely detailed and carefully constructed designs. It is possible to buy simple and complex versions of Zentangle to colour in the designs.
Ursula found merit and joy in all artistic endeavours, but I can imagine her frowning over a book of Zentangle adult colouring designs because they do not have the free-flowing quality of a traditional doodle. It is much more fun and satisfying to tease out one’s own designs and then enhance them with patterns and colour.
The beauty of an old-fashioned doodle is that anyone, of any age or talent, can create in this way; whether the pen is under control or not, either left hand or right can produce a doodle. Then the real fun can begin as the imagination begins to play with the marks on the paper to create wonders, flowers and faces, forests and foliage, fawns and figures and on and on; every doodle can turn into a spectacular and unique work of art.
Why not have a go yourself? Give yourself permission to play. You may be able to send magical cards to your friends this year which you have created with love and fun.
Judy Sarssam, President
