Since lockdown I find myself having a lot more time on my hands for my passions; one of those passions is art, specifically acrylic painting on stretched canvas. It provides a depth of colour and the ability to easily clean materials after use because of its water based properties. 

I began by taking photographs of my garden and any animals that had visited during the early morning. We have a bird feeder centred in the middle of the garden and often robins, crows, pigeons and other city birds visit to stock up on food and water. I have always been interested in how they move and try as best as possible to emulate their personalities in my work. The bird in the middle of my painting echos the voice of the bird warning others away from his stash.

Once I have collected a number of pictures that I think will create a good painting, I then begin to sketch the outline of the different areas…the row of hedges, the brick wall, the fence and all the hidden animals I will incorporate later in the painting process. This is where it gets interesting. 

Creativity and mental health is a common association, but one that is often not spoken about or understood in the wider context of society. It’s easy to write a process or person off as ‘not correct’ if it doesn’t fit within the common methods accepted by society. Of course creative people understand there are many different and exciting avenues to explore when creating something, but what if I told you there was an even broader experience, felt by the creative individuals who live with different mental health illnesses. 

For me, this creates an interesting process, one that incorporates many unique styles: realism, abstract art, impressionism, fantasy…the styles are endless. I find myself adopting different techniques depending on how I feel at the time of creating a certain section. 

In my landscape above, ‘A room with a view’, I have included three different styles to create one landscape. These three different styles are realism, pointillism and fantasy. The style of realism can be seen in the painting of the hand as I have tried to capture the likeness of the skin texture, the nail, the chipped nail varnish and the way the light and shadows dance on the skin. Pointillism can be seen in the greenery as I have layered each point to create the effect of leaves, grass and any highlights needed. Finally, fantasy, to create the personality of the animals and the swirling red sky that can be related to the uncertainty of the times. 

I think it’s very difficult to understand emotion with absolute certainty especially when your emotions change. With mental health issues, one moment you can feel happy, one moment you can feel sad, one moment angry and they change so rapidly that it is hard to keep up. One thing I know for certain is that it creates an interesting effect on my art and that is a positive thing.