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  • Writer's picturerhianprime

Artistic Impressions - Mental Health Awareness Week



How did you get on trying to sketch, draw or paint something this week? How did you feel? Was it pleasurable or harassing experience?


I had a go with some watercolours, just making patterns and using water and colour to add definition. I must add, being totally useless at anything creative, I quite enjoyed myself and although I wouldn't share my tentative beginnings, I shall have another go at some point.


https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/artists-who-suffered-mental-illness/ - did you know any of these artists struggled with thier mental health?


In his diary in an entry headed “Nice 22 January 1892”, Munch described his inspiration for The Scream:


"One evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord—the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The color shrieked. This became The Scream."

I remember when I was in secondary school we had to paint a goldfish. My goldfish ended up on the wall, not because it was good, or reflected ability in the field, rather my goldfish was "square," yes, square, far from right, no indication of artistic potential. That put down, has stayed with me approaching fifty years on.


We all need to express ourselves. We all need to be valued for whatever contribution we make and allowed to acknowledge, that none of us is perfect. It is ok to paint a square goldfish, or act in your own way, or speak differently. It is ok to be you!


We all hold similar things in our hearts, we have been "ashes" at times, but we can all succeed in being ourselves and growing wiser because of the "ashes" in our lives and rising above it like that phoenix.


 

I must thank Liz and Dave for sending me a copy of this next song. When I listen to it, I find it a refreshing reminder to know that it's okay to have a bad day, to feel alone or worn down - it's natural, we all have days like those. It is good to acknowledge these days, to take stock of how we are feeling so that we can start a fresh the next day with a clear heart and mind. Take time to sit back and relax as you listen to it, close your eyes if you'd like, as you listen to the lyrics.






 

For relaxation and pure enjoyment see what you think of this year's virtual Chelsea Flower Show.


Treat yourself from the comfort of your own home!



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