A moving testimonial from one of our students at Art Mania Studio. This is Your Happy Place because art is a pathway to living life with wellbeing.
“I learned the basics of charcoals early 2018.
I was in hospital at the time. My mental health was at crisis point. I was trapped in my head and it wasnโt a nice place to be trapped.
Fee took the time one Saturday to sit with me and take me through how to use the charcoal, smudging, getting light and dark tones. I was instantly swallowed up into this world of black and white, and everywhere I looked I saw potential subjects to interpret with my charcoals.
Charcoals became a filter through which I started to see the world. It sounds odd but learning how to use this medium helped me so much with beginning to interact a little more. Itโs almost like because I was looking at things to see if I could draw them, it became a less stressful to go outside and to engage with people. It was kind of like engaging not as myself – but as a curious visitor who was seeing the world for the first time.
Learning charcoals played a key part in my ongoing recovery, because itโs helped me to interact and engage again. It helped set me free from being trapped in my mind. And being in that charcoal world of black and white and the shades in between reduces the visual clutter that triggers my anxiety. Charcoals helped simplify my interpretation of the world, and encouraged me to look at smaller details rather than being overwhelmed by the bigger picture.
What I particularly like about using charcoals is that itโs so tactile. I love getting my hands dirty, and being able to manipulate the charcoals with my fingers creates more of a connection between myself and what I am drawing.
Since learning those basics with Fee, Iโve done a charcoals workshop at Art Mania, which I loved. Iโm looking forward to collecting more skills through Art Mania, because working with charcoals is something that I really want to pursue, so that it can be a resource when Iโm struggling with my mental health, and an outlet when sailing is smoother.”
This student wishes to remain anonymous, we are thankful they chose to express what participating in one of our workshops has done for them.ย
Art Mania Studio is a community hub that offers a range of art workshops, classes & block courses, plus a lot of love.
Come in & find out for yourself today what a little bit of art & love could do for your world.ย
