Art and Mental Health

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Since being a young girl, I have always found comfort in drawing positive quotes and mantras. Ask anybody who knows me and they will tell you I have always had a bedroom filled with quotes and things that spark joy inside of me. When I was 12, I was diagnosed with an eating disorder and became very secluded from myself and society. When admitted into a specialist unit, I spent all of my time making paintings adorned with quotes to cover the grotty walls. This helped me in many ways as they were the first thing I saw as I woke up, and the last thing I saw

Me and my wall in my bedroom in the unit.

as I fell to sleep. Rather than staring at the long neglected walls of the mental health unit. This became a trend and I even started to make some and help my fellow patients make their own for their bedroom walls.

I am now 23, and still spend the majority of my spare time painting quotes onto things. Some people find it cliché and cringe worthy. I am a firm believer that doing this has made me who I am today. I have a brain filled with quotes for all kinds of things. Recently, I created some colouring in pages for the mental health charity, Mind. They used these at their local fetes and events in Doncaster to hand out to people and encourage people to take a moment to sit and relax with colouring in these quotes.

It has long been a dream of mine to create a book filled with these quotes, including colour in pages and posters. As a young girl, I would have dreamed for one to cut

An old drawing of mine from 2013 when in the unit.

things out of and to stick on my walls. Now, I don’t know if there is anybody out there who would also like this – but I would like to try! It has been a long running work in progress inside of my head.

I believe that creative things can really help everybody with their mental health. Even though not every body can paint, or sew – there is always some kind of mindless activity you can do when those thoughts in your brain get a little much in order to quieten them down. Simple but repetitive things such as cross stitch or colouring in can just help your mind to escape temporarily. Or who knows, maybe you have a hidden talent inside for something creative. You will never know until you try.

Throughout my life so far, I have spent so much of it trying out new hobbies and interests. From gardening, to latch

hooking. I will leave no stone unturned. I

My colour in sheets I made for Mind.

just believe there is no better feeling than creating something. That is what will help your mind. Or at least, it helps mine. On the days where my mind isn’t feeling itself, it usually only takes half an hour of crochet, or drawing to make me feel a little more like me. Or sometimes all you can do is lie in front of the telly and binge watch Netflix. But that is okay too. Maybe you are a film critic in disguise.

If you are reading this and maybe aren’t feeling quite yourself at the moment, please try and pick up an old hobby. Or learn something new. There are so many ways at the moment to learn things, from YouTube to learning from a grandparent. There might just be some potential inside you that you haven’t quite found yet. I also believe there is a hobby out there for everyone. Maybe you are a budding stamp collector, graffiti artist or even a matchstick sculptor.

If you just fancy something mindless that requires zero thought, there are a few downloadable colouring in pages below for you to print out at home. Please share your finished masterpieces with me at @littlesunflxwer. Or, if you are feeling creative – take your favourite quote and turn it into a drawing, or painting or even embroidery. The world is your oyster!

And just in case you forgot and needed a reminder...

Little Sunflxwer Colouring Sheet 1

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Download • 1.06MB

Little Sunflxwer Colouring Sheet 2

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Download • 1.16MB

Little Sunflxwer Colouring Sheet 3

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Download • 935KB

Littlw Sunflxwer colouring Sheet 4

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Download • 1.52MB

Little Sunflxwer Colouring Sheet 5

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Download • 575KB