Art & Creativity for Wellbeing

Service Description

Art and creativity can offer a different way of exploring our thoughts, feelings and life experiences, particularly when words don't quite express what we are experiencing. These individual art and creativity for wellbeing sessions use drawing, painting, image-making and creative exercises as a non-verbal means of self-exploration and reflection. You do not need to be an artist or have any previous experience with drawing or painting. The emphasis is on the process rather than on producing a finished artwork. My approach has developed through more than three decades as an artist and experienced teacher, and through my own use of creativity as a way of understanding thoughts, emotions, experiences and the patterns that can shape our lives. Creative work can sometimes allow us to approach things that are difficult to articulate verbally. Through images, colour, gesture, mark-making and other forms of creative expression, we can explore feelings, memories, relationships, personal experiences, desires and recurring ways of thinking. The process can create space to notice connections, consider different perspectives and develop a deeper understanding of ourselves. These sessions are not about artistic ability. There is no requirement to draw realistically or produce something beautiful. Instead, creative self-expression and creative self-exploration provide a space in which you can slow down, look differently at what you are experiencing and explore possibilities that may not emerge through conversation alone. I work as an artist and teacher, not as a clinician. I do not diagnose or provide clinical psychotherapy, and these sessions are not a substitute for medical or psychological treatment. My role is to provide a supportive creative environment in which art-making can be used for reflection, self-understanding, wellbeing and personal development. Sessions are available for adults and young people and take place individually at my studio in Aboyne, Deeside, Aberdeenshire, within easy reach of Aberdeen and the wider north-east of Scotland. No previous artistic experience is necessary. You simply need an openness to explore through creativity.