How Making Art Affects the Brain: Creativity, Stress, and Wellbeing

Ever since the birth of my second child fourteen years ago, I've been turning to my studio during periods of overwhelm. My husband was actually the first to recognize how much I needed that time and would urge me to go paint whenever life became particularly challenging.

Over the years, I've come to recognize a remarkable transformation that takes place when I immerse myself in a painting. As I begin deciphering structures, exploring color combinations, and working through the relationships between shapes, the worries that seemed so pressing gradually lose their grip.

What strikes me most is that the change isn't purely emotional or psychological. It's physical as well. Even when I've accomplished very little on the canvas, I leave the studio feeling considerably more put together, more grounded, and more willing to accept the inevitable pivots that life throws my way.

I've experienced this hundreds of times, and I've witnessed similar transformations in my students. But what exactly happens in our brains when we make art?

What Happens to the Brain When We Make Art?

I've recently been reading Art Cure by Daisy Fancourt, whose research explores the relationship between artistic engagement, our brains, and our overall health.

One of the ideas that particularly resonates with me is that art shouldn't be treated as an optional luxury, something we indulge in only after everything else in life has been taken care of. Alongside sleep, nutrition, exercise, and time in nature, creative engagement deserves a much more prominent place in our conversations about wellbeing.

Research into artmaking has revealed fascinating connections between creative activity and our physiological and psychological responses to stress. In a 2016 study published in Art Therapy, researchers found that 45 minutes of artmaking was associated with reduced cortisol levels, a biological marker of stress, in approximately 75% of participants. Interestingly, previous artistic experience did not appear to determine who benefited. That last finding is particularly meaningful to me as an educator. So many adults arrive at their first class convinced that they aren't creative, that they lack talent, or that they somehow missed their opportunity to become artists.

Yet the benefits of making art aren't reserved for those who already know how to paint.

Why Creative Challenges Can Be So Satisfying

One of the most fascinating ideas discussed in Art Cure concerns dopamine and the anticipation of creative experiences. We tend to associate pleasure with successfully completing something, but anticipation, curiosity, and the possibility of discovery are important parts of the brain's reward processes.

And perhaps even more surprisingly, challenges can contribute to that sense of satisfaction.

Think about watching a film in which every problem resolves immediately, or reading a novel without a single unexpected development. There would be very little reason to remain engaged.

The same principle applies to painting.

When a student struggles with a composition, discovers that two colors aren't behaving as expected, or realizes that an entire section needs to be reconsidered, the immediate reaction is often frustration.

But I've watched what happens when that student stays with the challenge long enough to find a solution. The satisfaction is far greater than it would have been if everything had worked perfectly from the beginning. The mistake becomes part of the discovery.

How Artmaking Builds Confidence Over Time

I see this transformation particularly clearly in my adult art classes. During the first week of a six-week session, there's often considerable hesitation. Students question their choices, compare their work with others, and look to me for reassurance that they're doing things correctly.

As the weeks progress, something shifts.

They begin trusting their own observations, experimenting more freely, and accepting that an unexpected result doesn't necessarily mean failure. Sometimes the most interesting discoveries emerge from the very things they initially wanted to erase. By the end of the six weeks, the growth in confidence and pleasure is remarkable. And once again, the change is physical. I can see it in their posture, their expressions, and the way they carry themselves as they leave the studio.

The paintings have evolved, certainly, but so have the people making them.

This is one of the reasons I believe that learning to make art has implications far beyond the studio. We practice tolerating uncertainty, adjusting our expectations, paying attention, and discovering that we are capable of finding our way through unfamiliar situations.

These are skills we need in practically every aspect of life.

Art as an Essential Part of Wellbeing

We have become accustomed to discussing the importance of exercise, nutritious food, adequate sleep, and spending time outdoors. Yet creative engagement is still frequently relegated to the category of hobbies or extracurricular activities. I find that distinction increasingly difficult to justify.

Making art requires us to slow down and observe. It engages our senses, challenges our assumptions, and gives us an opportunity to step outside the constant demands of productivity.

It also asks us to become comfortable with something many of us spend our lives trying to avoid: not knowing exactly how things will turn out.

For me, this has always been one of painting's greatest gifts. I don't necessarily leave my studio having resolved whatever was troubling me when I arrived. The circumstances may be exactly the same. What changes is my capacity to meet them. And perhaps that's one of the most valuable things art can offer us. Not an escape from the complexities of life, but a way to become more comfortable navigating them.

Making Space for Creativity in Everyday Life

You don't need to be a professional artist, or even consider yourself particularly creative, to experience the benefits of artmaking. What matters is the willingness to engage with the process, to experiment, to make mistakes, and to discover something unexpected along the way.

At Plein-Air Art Academy in Brookline, Massachusetts, this philosophy informs everything we teach, from our youngest students exploring art history and mythology to adults discovering the pleasure of painting for the first time.

Our upcoming evening foliage painting class, beginning November 4, offers an opportunity to explore color, observation, and the changing landscape in a supportive studio environment.

Our winter semester will take younger artists into the world of King Arthur's legends through the eyes of the Pre-Raphaelites, bringing together storytelling, art history, and hands-on creative exploration.

And if you simply want to spend time surrounded by art, our gallery's Evolution exhibition will be on view throughout October and November, culminating in our First Light celebration.

Whether you come to make art, experience it, or bring a piece into your home, I hope you'll find an opportunity to make creativity a more deliberate part of your life.

Because art has never been merely an extra in mine.

Explore our classes and programs: Plein-Air Art Academy

Research reference

Kaimal, G., Ray, K., & Muniz, J. (2016). Reduction of Cortisol Levels and Participants' Responses Following Art Making. Art Therapy, 33(2), 74–80.

Further reading: Daisy Fancourt, Art Cure.