The Importance of Art in Mental Health

When I started my journey of becoming an artist during the pandemic, I had no idea the immense impact it would make in my life. I was in a bad place when I started to pick up the paintbrush again.

I had family unsure of what kind of work I would create. Would it be dark? Would it reflect the difficult things lurking in my soul? What images would I let out of my very dark pit?

I was amazed when what came out was so much joy, light and colour. They were impressed too. All I needed was a way to express my love and light with the world. That is how I found hope again. 

It is important to recognize that expressing oneself through art can truly help our mental health and be the process in which we can find healing in an authentic way.

That is why, when I had the opportunity again to give in support of an amazing cause, I did.

AgKnow is a new program that provides free counselling for farmers. They, and another group supporting them called Porch Light Mental Wellness Society were doing a Silent Auction to help collect funds and keep AgKnow's lights on. Without Government funding, they turned to the public and municipalities to help continue to provide their services. 

I was honoured to provide another piece of my artwork and heart. I gave them my work called Rocky Path. Congratulations to the new owner of this original oil art painting.

This was what I wrote them to share to whoever bid on my work:

"I have always been an artist from a young age. I loved drawing eyes and half faces, trees, anatomy, items I thought were exciting, etc. But becoming an artist...that is a whole different story.

Becoming an artist only happened after a few major events in my life impacted my mental health, severely. I had to stop working as a result and we suffered great financial losses from it. It was an awful point in my story. 

But thankfully, there was another page, another chapter that I was beginning to see a glimmer of through art. I started to paint for my own therapy. At first, it was structured, but quickly, I felt the restriction of that style was too difficult for my mental health. I was needing freedom. I started to let go of the rules and began to paint from my heart, from my soul. I let go completely. 

This allowed me the time to process my emotions through the canvas and the colours, and go through the work to heal my mental health. It really helped. Truly, I would be lost without the help of art through my mental health journey. 

I hope this work inspires you or ones you know through their own journeys. Finding our path can be rocky at times, but it is still a path. There's still another chapter ahead. We are one page, one canvas, one day away from finding that glimmer of hope, my friend!"

 

The Photographer for the cover photo is @gralynj.photography