The Painted Perspective - Sharing the journey behind the art.

  A personal reflection on loss, identity, and finding healing through creativity. 2008 was the year everything changed for me. It was the year I got married, a day filled with love and joy. But alongside that happiness, there was also a deep, lingering sadness that I was carrying with me. That Christmas I lost my mum to suicide, and it’s something I have never fully been able to put into words - until now.  That loss is something I live with. It doesn’t disappear. Grief, for me, has never been a single process or a clear journey from A to B. It comes in waves, in different forms, at different times. Even now, years later, it can still surface unexpectedly. The trauma of how I lost my mum is always there in the background, shaping parts of how I experience the world. What I’ve come to understand over time, though, is that grief can also sit alongside love. I still feel the love my mum had for me, and in some ways that connection feels even more present now that I am a mum my...

Supporting Young People’s Mental Health, Confidence, and Emotional Wellbeing Through Creativity There’s something incredibly powerful about watching a young person realise they can trust themselves. Not because they got something “right,” or created something perfect — but because they explored, experimented, made decisions, and discovered they were capable all along. This is why creativity plays such an important role in supporting young people’s confidence, wellbeing, and personal development. For many children and young people, creativity is something they gradually move away from as they get older. Increasing pressure to be “correct,” follow rules, and avoid mistakes can limit exploration. But creativity thrives in curiosity, experimentation, and freedom. Why Visual Arts Support Confidence and Emotional Wellbeing Visual arts are not only about learning technical skills like drawing or painting. They are about building confidence, resilience, and self-trust. Every creative decision ...