"At least one third of GP appointments are, in part, due to isolation. Through social prescribing and community resilience programmes, creative arts can have a significant impact on reducing isolation and enabling wellbeing in communities." - Dr Jane Povey GP, Director, Creative Inspiration Shropshire Community Interest Company; All-Party Parliamentary on Arts, Health and Wellbeing Inquiry … Continue reading The Art of Growing Strong
Art and Health
Healing Mandalas
Some wonderful mandalas made in the workshop at Cardiff central library today for Refugee Week. I gave participants a choice of A4 or A3 circle templates to create their mandala within. Working with paint, pens, collage or stamps, visitors created individual healing images to take home with them.
Refugee Week
I'II be running a Mindful Art session for Refugee Week on 23rd June in Cardiff Central Library. We will be creating healing mandalas. Free for all.
Art for Wellbeing
I'm facilitating a new 11 week course for adults at Llanover Hall. This week, participants explored shapes and colour, beginning with the three primary colours, mixing to create new hues and tones and jotting down how each one made them feel. We spoke about the psychology of colour and its power to effect mood, and … Continue reading Art for Wellbeing
Photo Poems
More photo poems for the Arts Council of Wales/NHS Creative Cwtsh commission. I haven't been strict about the 5,7,5 syllable structure with these, but they are inspired by the Haiku form. Also, having fun with cut-up collaging of letters:
New Commission: Photo Poems for NHS Staff
I have been commissioned by Arts Council Wales to create a short video of a creative activity for NHS staff, to be uploaded to their Creative Cwtsh website. I am particularly pleased to be able to do this, having trained as a nurse back in the 90's, and also having accessed healthcare during lockdown. I … Continue reading New Commission: Photo Poems for NHS Staff
Celebrating Breathing Space
Online launch of the wonderful work produced over lockdown by participants of Breathing Space, a group that Katja Stiller and I have been facilitating for the past two years. Transferring onto Zoom during the pandemic, the weekly sessions consist of mindfulness, creative writing and art for people with mild to medium mental health issues. Taking … Continue reading Celebrating Breathing Space
Creative Insights Exhibition
For the past year, Katja Stiller and I have been facilitating sessions for the Creative Insights project, funded with assistance from Cardiff and Vale Health Lottery and Tanio Arts. We have been working with a group of people with lived experience of eating disorders, to develop creative content for the Cardiff and Vale Adult Eating … Continue reading Creative Insights Exhibition
Structure for a Poem
One participant of the Friday Creative Wellbeing group is a wonderful surrealist poet in the style of Gisèle Prassinos. From one of her poems, 'Reasoning Remains a Wealth', everyone has chosen a line that resonates with them, and created their own print or artwork, taking inspiration from the words of the poem. We are always discovering … Continue reading Structure for a Poem
Breathing Space
I'm really looking forward to facilitating a new Creativity and Wellbeing course with Katja Stiller from Valley and Vale Arts. We will be delivering person-centred creative sessions that will combine mindfulness exercises for relaxation with a range of art forms. For people who are in the process of recovery from mental health challenges such as anxiety … Continue reading Breathing Space
Sarah J Featherstone 