I find art very therapeutic, it keeps me sane, what with mental health issues, going through numerous massive changes in my life over the past 2 years, and now living with and caring for people and pets, when I was used to having a house to myself. Art is a great stress relief, its time for me, time to devote to something I really enjoy and which gives me a massive sense of accomplishment. I first used art and craft therapeutically when I lost a dear close family friend, Renee, she was like an adopted gran, I often made gifts for her, which were appreciated with a real curiosity for how I created them, as she was a master baker and needle worker. We sadly lost her suddenly, she chose to make the amassing gift of donating her body to science, she also chose not to have a service for her passing, this resulted in me looking for alternative ways to say goodbye, so I created a special scrapbook in her memory. I also really appreciated the therapeutic benefits of art after I was made redundant, I was in quite a bad place with both my physical and mental health. I was unable to work due to being so ill, yet I knew I needed to do something to fill the time that I felt well enough to do something, to prevent my mental health form getting any worse. I found that art was the ideal thing for me, I could do as little as I was up to, or get lost for hours if I felt like it, I could do it around my health and it boosted my mental health. As I explored the various areas, mediums, and styles of art, I realised that I could also use art as a therapy for specific events and circumstances. So I have created a number of works where I have investigated areas such as; my mental health, physical health, and grief. Through the process of creating artwork with such aspects of topics in mind, I have been able to unleash and express emotions which I hadn’t been able to previously. This form of artwork will appear as I need to unleash something that is churning away in the old cogs of my mind.
