Time to talk again

Today, Thursday 6th February is Time to Talk day.  This is a day particularly set aside to think about mental health.

This is what the Time to Talk website says: Time to Talk Day is the nation’s biggest mental health conversation. It’s a day for friends, families, communities and workplaces to come together to talk, listen and change lives. Time to Talk Day is taking place 6 February 2025 and is run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, in partnership with Co-op and delivered by See Me with SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health), Inspire and Time to Change Wales. We want everyone to feel comfortable talking about mental health.

I have written about mental health at different times: in 2018, in 2019, in 2020 and in 2024.  There are probably other posts but that will do for now.

 
Recently I have been researching Kintsugi. In particular, I'm interested in the philosophy that by repairing something broken with the gold, it can make the piece more beautiful than it was originally.  I think this feeds into my textile work on Identity.

Whatever you may think of AI, I have found it particularly useful for doing research.  I've been using Claude.ai and in about 18 minutes I can get around 18 months of research.  Amazing.  So I asked Claude about the human need to be seen, recognised and valued.  This is part and parcel of our identity and the lack of 'being seen' can often be a root of depression.

I got all sorts of information about psychological and social aspects and then I asked Claude about being seen through creative expression.  So much was found, but I'll just share this bit:

The Paradox of Creative Expression:

- Many artists create from a private, even lonely space, yet their work serves to connect them with others

- The act of creating can be healing in itself, even before sharing with an audience

- Some find it easier to be "seen" through their art than in direct personal interactions

- Creative work can serve as both a shield and a window - protecting while revealing

Impact on the creator:

- Developing a unique creative voice helps strengthen sense of identity

- The process of creation often leads to deeper self-understanding

- Receiving recognition for creative work validates both the art and the artist's experience

- Creating alongside others (in workshops, classes, collaborations) provides community and mutual recognition

The Risk and Reward:

Sharing creative work requires courage - it's an act of trust to put one's inner world on display. But this vulnerability often resonates deeply with others who recognize pieces of themselves in the work, creating meaningful connections and the profound experience of being truly seen.

Then I asked about Textile Art and Textile Artists in particular.  I was given so much to read through - too much to share here.  Try asking Claude yourself.

However it convinced me that creative expression can be a source of healing particularly for mental health issues.

I will continue to investigate identity and find ways of expressing this through my textiles and mixed media pieces.

Watch this space!

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

Captivity Collage

I love the online courses that Fibre Arts Take Two produce with a variety of different tutors.  They are well worth the money.

Especially if you actually get on and do them!!!!  At the beginning of the year I had one new one unstarted, two part way through - so unfinished, and one that I thought I had finished but it seems not.  Although upon further investigation it turned out that 10 new videos have been added.

The new course was The Art of Abstract Collage: Mastering Composition.  Bearing in mind that my word for the year is [focus], I applied myself to the course.  I focussed on watching all the videos and did some but not all of the suggested activities.

The bonus module was about using your own memories in a collage.  As regular readers know I have been working for the last several months on the theme of Captivity, Freedom and Identity.  So this seemed a good theme for a set of collages.

I prepped four 20cm square canvases and printed black and white photographs from Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney; Port Arthur, Tasmania and Fremantle Prison onto Rice Paper.  These are all convict sites we have visited in Australia over the years.

Using my stash of painted papers I worked on all four canvases at the same time.  I am really pleased with the results.  I am hoping they will part of the 'Expressions' Exhibition at the Redditch Needle Museum - Forge Mill - from 19th March to 27th April.

Now to focus on one of the other FATT courses either Visual Narratives with Sally Tyrie or Embrace the Journey with Wen Redmond.  Choices! Choices!

Whichever I choose, I probably need to go back to the beginning and rewatch the videos.

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

Old Year New Year

Amazingly we are almost at the end of the first month of 2025. I'm not at all sure where the month has gone to.

Last week Sara-Jane led the first poetry zoom session of the year.  The warm up exercise was to choose from one of five titles and write a poem or piece of prose.  I chose Between Silences.

Between Silences

Words were stilled.
Muted before the sounds
could reach the air.
Subdued, suppressed,
censored by petty debate.
Free speech gagged by order
of the righteous minority.

Outraged, a fearless few
stand to be counted.
Unwilling to be silenced
they speak the words
that some want forgotten.

It is said
that all that evil requires
to prevail
is that good men do
nothing.

The silenced rose up,
clawed back the words,
the thoughts, the rights
that the inconsequential hoped
to cast into oblivion.

Now no longer silent
the muted sounds reach the air.
No longer subdued, suppressed or
censored between the silences.

The theme for this Theme Poetry Session was New Year Traditions.  There are some really interesting traditions around the world.  Have a look on the internet for yourself.  I chose to write about the change from the old year to the new.

Old Year, New Year

Janus, the two-faced god
of Roman myth
looks back at the old year
and forward to the new.

The god of new beginnings,
of gates and doorways,
of choices and transitions
but also the god of endings.

His month of January
can only start
with the ending
of December.

The new year can only begin
with the finish of the old.
He stands in the opening
heralding the new.

Janus, the two-faced god
of Roman myth, looks back
at the past and ahead
to the days to come.

Thanks for being here today
Bernice