2022 is our 11th year of Creativity and Wellbeing Week. Read our reflections on both our curated programmes alongside other events that the team have been attending.
Monday 16th:
“Every mark is a moment of Rest” -Liz Atkin
We kicked off the week with a Creative Break Lead by Breathe Arts Health Research in partnership with Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. Designed originally for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS staff during the pandemic, Breathe Creative Breaks encourages a purposeful break in the middle of the day to pause and recharge. This artist-led workshop channels attention through simple yet inspiring drawing activities to refocus anxiety and alleviate work-related stress.
In this special edition of Breathe Creative Breaks for Creativity and Wellbeing Week, we were lucky to have artist Liz Atkin and Breathe harpist Ruby Aspinall for live music throughout the workshop.
Liz Atkin is a visual artist and creative practitioner who teaches art, set design and drama to all ages and abilities, and works in therapeutic and educational settings such as schools, hospitals and hospices, prisons, arts venues and universities. Liz has Compulsive Skin Picking, a complex physical and mental disorder, but reimagines the body-focused repetitive behaviour and anxiety into drawings, photographs, and performances. She is a mental health advocate and speaker, raising awareness for the disorder around the world, and her award-winning work has featured on TEDx, BBC News, Women’s Health USA, Huffington Post and iNewspaper.
Breathe Arts Health Research is a not-for-profit social enterprise that has designed and delivered creative health and wellbeing programmes for patients, NHS staff and hospital visitors for 10 years. Watch the Creative Breaks film
We were joined by nearly 60 participants all taking a break from their working day to focus on allowing their creativity to flourish and relax. At the beginning of the session we focused on our breathing by allowing our breath to guide the pencil. This led into a short study of Georgia O’Keeffe’s work which depicts englarded studies of nature. We looked at the spirals, the lines and the shading of the naturally occurring beauties and made studies of them while being blessed with the delicate sound of Ruby’s Harp.
This was a perfect start to #Creativityandwellbeingweek for 2022, giving us a moment of reflection and stillness to proceed with the week ahead.
