A project aiming to improve mental health has been displaying the artwork of participants in Bath recently, shining a light on the benefits that being creative alongside other individuals can bring.

Carolyn Trippick, from Midsomer Norton, who was receiving treatment for Anorexia Nervosa and Generalised Anxiety Disorder, was introduced to the Fresh Art@ Project, a partnership between Radstock charity, Creativity Works, the Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, Bath Museums Partnership, and Virgin Care in 2017, and here, she reflects on how joining the group helped provide her with a toolkit to understand and manage her mental health.

From taking part as a participant, to becoming a volunteer supporting artist, and most recently, joining the Fresh Art@ Steering Group to have a say in how the project is run, Carolyn found the sessions gradually taught her how to develop and enrich her life at a point when her mental health controlled everything that she did.

She says: “I had been an inpatient at STEPs Specialist Eating Disorder Unit in Bristol following a re-feeding programme. My mental health at that time controlled every aspect of my life and made normal, day-to-day activities extremely challenging.

“You join the Fresh Art@ project as an unassured individual; scared of insecurities and unaware of hidden confidence and talents. But the project brings you out of yourself and your finish ‘an artist’.

“At first, it all seemed overwhelming; a new environment, a whole group of new people, an array of professional art resources, and initially, I felt completely out of my depth. My mind was in overdrive with anxious thoughts and my body mirrored that anxiety. The first session was particularly hard.

“However, the support of Fresh Art’s staff, along with the artist (and lots of tea drinking), gave me the reassurance and encouragement to stay, enabling me to calm my body down and engage in some artwork.

“Walking out at the end of the first session, having successfully completed a piece of art, I felt accomplished for ‘feeling the fear and doing it anyway’. So, that is how it all began.

“During the twelve-week programme, I experimented with new, creative techniques and built new skills. I created good stuff, bad stuff, perfect (well almost!) and completely imperfect stuff. All of it a journey of discovery.

“Engaging in art; the process of physically making something by utilising your creative mind, making something unique, something you can have complete ownership of, is an invaluable means of improving wellbeing.

“Some weeks were more difficult than others, and sometimes the instability in my mental health actually prevented me from attending. The beauty of the project is that this is OK – staff understand and reassure without pressure. Although it is not ideal to miss sessions, I was supported in this, and used the time at home to be creative and prepare work and develop ideas for the next session, when my anxiety was more manageable.

“The Fresh Art@ project works; it really works, to improve wellbeing and support mental health recovery. You build a willingness to risk and try, a willingness for me that meant challenging my anxiety and self-critical thoughts. A willingness to sit with overwhelming feelings but still engage, and use the time to choose to express my feelings through my artwork or as a mindful break from my chaotic mind and eating disorder thoughts.

“The project is unique and the outcomes are really powerful.”

At the end of the project, which sees workshops held at the Holburne Museum, Number 1 Royal Crescent and the American Museum, each participant chooses one piece of artwork they have created over twelve weeks to donate to the exhibition and which will be displayed in NHS clinical environments.

Carolyn has since gone on to exhibit her artwork at Southmead Hospital, has given back by donating her art to the STEPs Specialist Eating Disorder Unit in Bristol for display in the consultation rooms, and also had her artwork published on the front of The Hope Guide. She has also co-facilitated wellbeing-based art workshops and built networks with creative opportunities.

So much can come from projects such as Fresh Art@, which is the only one in the local community that has a hands-on mental health worker present during sessions. The project runs once a year from February to May, with an enrolment process that begins from December.

Readers can contact Creativity Works to find out about more Creative Wellbeing groups by contacting: 01761 438852 or by emailing: [email protected]

Becky Brooks