Hello...
I wish you a very warm welcome to my
Art and Mental Health blog...
I currently live on the Isle of Wight with my husband and two children. We moved here in the Summer of 2014 after falling in love with the slower pace of life and the beautiful beaches the Island has to offer.
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Due to mental ill health I have not worked for 5 years. In 2013 my GP prescribed antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications to help me cope with
social anxiety, generalised anxiety and low mood (which progressed to depression in 2014) as these were clearly affecting my life on a day-to-day basis and making working and parenting incredibly difficult.
After being on a waiting list for several years I was eventually seen by a psychiatrist in 2016 who diagnosed me with
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
with some aspects of Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder.
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I was then offered 40 sessions of psychotherapy over a 12 month period.
After a year of therapy I was considered fit to continue my recovery on my own.
Having thrown myself into various volunteering positions and community support groups, I felt ready to begin a return to work.
During 2017/18 I signed up to several courses and training programmes in order to continue developing myself as a person and as a potential employee. As yet I have had no luck in securing a job but have instead rediscovered a love of Art which has helped hugely in my recovery.
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In February (2019), as my 40th birthday drew ever closer, I began wondering how I could turn my life around. I simply couldn't face another year of searching unsuccessfully for jobs. Having realised that volunteering doesn't always lead to future employment and noticing the lack of suitable jobs for me to apply for,
I decided to take matters into my own hands! The result?
...and she was an ARTist the blog and The Forty@40 Project
I hope that the Blog Posts and Art that you find here brighten up your day!
Thanks for stopping by...
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The Colours Within (2017)
...about the ARTist
...my blog
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The idea to write a blog came to me when I was considering what I could do to distract myself from the fact that I was turning 40 and was living a life that was apparently going nowhere. I was sick of feeling stuck. So I decided to set myself a challenge; to complete 40 pieces of Art in my 40th year
(The Forty@40 Project)
and to commit to displaying the work in an exhibition at the end of the year. I felt it would be helpful to keep a log of how the project progressed, hence the birth of a blog to run alongside it. This gave me the opportunity to comment both on my Art and the mental health challenges I face in my daily life. It also allows me to combine two of my favourite things:
Art and Writing.
What better distraction could there be?
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Untitled (2016)
...my art
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As a child I loved colouring and drawing and was always encouraged to be creative; there was never a shortage of pens, pencils, paints and paper.
But it wasn't until Secondary School that my artistic side seemed to flourish. I had a brilliant art teacher at GCSE, Mrs Perry and she was always encouraging and pushing me on to try new things and explore my own creative ideas. I remember having some quite unusual visions; my friends and classmates certainly struggled to see where I was coming from and I remember them laughing at some of my work.
It was worth taking the 'stick' though because
I gained an A* in my GCSE Art and Design exam!!
Despite this fantastic result I decided to pursue my love of writing at 'A' Level, studying English Language, Media Studies and Psychology with a view to pursuing a career in Journalism.
Looking back now, I wish I had been brave enough to continue my Art beyond GCSE.
In 2017/2018, I completed an 'Introduction to Art'' course through
Isle of Wight Community Learning and
Magpie Arts (Progression Through Art)
This gave me a fresh enjoyment of painting and creating and helped my social anxiety as well; this was a small group of people, all experiencing similar problems to those of my own.
As a result it was a safe space to be vulnerable, open and brave, both with art and with my emotions.
This course helped me to regain my confidence and I began to see light at the end of the tunnel.
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...my journey
Despite the mental health challenges I have faced I am immensely proud of myself for earning an
Upper Second-Class Degree; BSc (Hons) Psychology (2:1)
from The University of Plymouth (2001).
I went on to gain two professional qualifications:
NVQ Level 3: Early Years Care and Education (2003)
PGCE: Primary Teaching (2004)
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I absolutely love my subject, Psychology, and my Degree is by far my biggest achievement in life (after my two wonderful children!) My passion for the subject lives on and I one day hope to return to University to study at Masters level.
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Most recently I completed an 'Introduction to Counselling' course at the Isle of Wight College (2018) and a distance learning course in 'Level 2 Counselling' (2019).
I am not able to say that I have achieved any level of success professionally yet but I am learning to accept that I have had enormous hurdles to overcome and I am still a work in progress!
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...and she was also...
The ...and she was an ARTist name is really rather apt considering everything else
I've done in my life. In case you are interested, here I am in a nutshell!
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Saturday Girl/Cash Office Junior - Woolworths
Cash Office/Admin Assistant - Safeway
Junior Accountant : (
Sales Assistant with various retailers including NEXT and Clinton Cards
Play-worker/Group Leader - Summer Play-schemes/Day Camps
Nursery Nurse/Childcare Practitioner/Creche Leader
Bridal Shop Assistant
Hampshire County Council Approved Foster Carer
Catering Assistant
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So, as you can see, I have been many things over the years and it is only now, driven by circumstance and a lack of any employment opportunity that I am beginning to believe that I may yet be able to become something else as well...
an Artist!
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This Blog and The Forty@40 Project are the start of my route into Art as a career and the dream is to eventually work with children as an Art Therapist. I am beginning to believe that all of this is possible... and more!
Kline's Way (2016)
