A range of acrylic artwork produced by Action Mental Health service-users from our Belfast, Lisburn, Newtownards and Downpatrick locations recently exhibited at 2 Royal Avenue, Belfast.
The paintings, created as part of a series of workshops facilitated by local artist, Robert Peters, were on display in the city centre until January 29. They subsequently took inspiration from our “I AM SOMEONE” campaign, which aims to raise awareness of mental health issues in Northern Ireland and the fact that, behind every statistic, is a real person.
To produce their work, the Lisburn and Belfast service-users participated in a skills-based painting programme supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland*.
“They created paintings which expressed each individual’s view of what recovery might look like, or their experiences of Action Mental Health’s services,” said Robert.
Meanwhile, those in Newtownards and Downpatrick took part in an acrylic painting programme funded by the Public Health Agency’s (PHA) CLEAR Project, which explored the ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’. The programme subsequently encouraged participants to keep learning by developing skills in colour theory, connect with others through the weekly workshops and take notice of their subject matter, said Robert. He added that all of this then led to the creation of images which depicted how they kept active, while the exhibition then gave the public an opportunity “to see the outcomes and learn more about mental health recovery.”
“The classes were great,” said Robert. “They were very positive and I think all the groups enjoyed the process.
“With the Arts Council workshops we focused on colour theory. We did some work around colour mixing and the differences between colours. Once everyone had learned some basic skills they then came up with an image to represent their experiences with Action Mental Health. From their ideas, they generated prompts using AI and then selected the one they thought fitted that best, before painting these images. The PHA workshops then focused on the Five Ways to Wellbeing, so everyone selected something which represented one of those five things.”
Participants said they found the classes very enjoyable and that they had had a positive impact upon their mental health.
One client said: “Action Mental Health and in particular this painting class have been a port in the storm, a beacon in the fog of my week. I’ve really enjoyed learning about colour theory and mixing the paint to match different tonal valves.”
Others who took part in the workshops said they had provided “a safe environment to learn” and were “extremely helpful” in supporting their mental health.
“It relaxes me; makes me think about shades and colours,” said one person. “We have a good time.”
Reflecting on what the paintings represented, feedback included “community and friendship” and a “feeling of support,” along with “friendship, trust and acceptance… things that everybody wants in their lives.”
One client said their painting “represents routine, which I need in my life,” while another said theirs was to show “that there’s beauty in the simple things in life and to appreciate even the smallest things i.e. nature.”
“It’s hard not to see Action Mental Health as a flaming beacon of hope and a comforting place of warmth in an otherwise dark landscape of my mental health,” said another participant. “The storm clouds represent stressors, the sunrise, the prospect of a new start and the other beacons in the middle distance, the other Action Mental Health sites in Lisburn and Newtownards.”
Reflecting on the benefits of the sessions, Robert said that any opportunity people had to can together and be sociable while taking part in an activity was positive.
“With art, I think the interesting aspect of that is that you can learn new skills and it bolsters your confidence when you achieve something,” he added. “Also, you get to express something of yourself and spend a bit of time contemplating that – what you enjoy. There’s an idea that we become what we contemplate – so the more opportunities there are to contemplate positive things, the better for our wellbeing.
“Other benefits are to do with how our brains perceive different things. When you’re drawing you’re using the visuospatial area of your brain. While you’re using that you can’t really talk because you’re not using a verbal reasoning part of your brain. So, it gives people a break from the constant ‘brain chatter’ which goes on all the time. Verbal reasoning is over-developed in our society, so to get an opportunity to just concentrate on spatial relationships is great. It lets you switch off that part of your brain and takes you into a different zone. Anything that makes you conscious of yourself in space is a good thing.”
* Thanks to National Lottery players and money raised for good causes.
