Diamond painting is a form of mosaic art in which the artist applies shiny resins onto a pre-glued canvas to complete the painting. The final result of several hours of labor is a beautiful piece of art, that is all your own making.
It is very quickly becoming the rage right now. And it is no surprise why. Very much like adult colouring books and puzzles, diamond painting as a hobby has many mental, emotional and intellectual health benefits. Diamond painting is a stress free activity that relaxes the amygdala — the fear center of the brain — and allows your mind to get the rest it needs. But diamond painting has other indirect benefits, as well.
1. It Reduces Stress and Anxiety
It's a busy go go world...family, work, (or lack of work), school, it can be overwhelming, putting ridiculous demands on our lives and well being. Diamond painting allows us to sit back and just breathe. We can do it alone or with a small group and feel the stress disappear.
Just like meditation, diamond painting also allows us to switch off our brains from other thoughts and focus only on the moment, helping to alleviate free-floating anxiety. It can be particularly effective for people who aren't comfortable with more creatively expressive forms of art. People who are more guarded find a lot of tranquility in diamond painting. It feels safer and it creates containment around their process.
2. Trains Your Brain To Focus
Diamond painting help to engage the brain in being able to develop and follow patterns, so there is a logic involved. It's a self-induced state of focusing.
The action of diamond painting involves both logic and creativity. We use logic when reading the pattern by picking a symbol and finding the colour associated with it from the chart. This activates the analytical part of the brain. On the other hand, when we lay the tiles onto the canvas to make the pattern, we activate the creative side of the brain. This helps incorporate both areas of the cerebral cortex which control vision and help with coordination and fine motor skills.
3. Helps Your Fine Motor Skills
Focusing on a task for a long period of time has been shown to improve concentration levels and hand-to-eye coordination. As the tiles are only 2.5mm, a lot of hand-eye coordination is required and developed in picking up the tiles with the tool to place on the canvas.
4. Increases Your Social Circles
Community is something we all need and from what has been gathered, it is important to many of us in the diamond painting world. The internet has helped with that greatly. There are diamond painting groups everywhere-Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr to name a few. These online groups are especially important to those who are homebound due to various issues. It is an amazing feeling of oneness for someone to tell you, "Hey, I get it, I love doing that too." It makes us realise how connected we really are.