Don’t knock mindfulness – it helps us artists see the world as it is
Even though the word has become a marketing cliche, it is a disciplined practice with the intention of paying close attention to the present moment, argues Mary Neave
I enjoyed reading Jonathan Jones’s article (No one can draw from life like David Hockney – but more than ever are trying, 28 October). But within this celebration of a revival in life drawing were some rather disparaging comments about mindfulness and drawing, as if it involved thinking more about feeling better than the task of “recording visual truth”.
Even though the word “mindfulness” has become a cliche seen in so much marketing, it is a disciplined practice with the intention of paying close attention to the present moment – the “here and now”, the truth of it.
Iris Murdoch, in The Sovereignty of Good, wrote movingly that “it is a task to see the world as it is”. We are constantly caught up in our own preoccupations and it is not at all easy, but a life’s work. Both drawing and mindfulness involve disciplined attention to the truth of what is here and now, and there is no need to criticise the combination because it is not about “art”.
Mary Neave
Oxford
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The life-enhancing gift of life drawing
Thamesmead Life Drawing 