Why I create: Art as Healing and Expression

I don’t create art to fill space or follow trends. I create because it gives shape to what can’t always be put into words.

Art has become a way for me to process emotion — to sit with feelings rather than push them aside. Some days the work is energetic and bold; on others it is quieter, more restrained. Both are honest. Both are necessary.

When I paint, I’m not trying to perfect an idea. I’m responding to what I feel in that moment. Colour often comes first — instinctively chosen, emotionally led. From there, forms begin to emerge, sometimes recognisable, sometimes abstract, always evolving. The process allows me to release control and trust what unfolds.

Creating is also a form of healing. It offers space to reflect, to slow down, and to acknowledge experiences that have shaped me. There is no pressure for the work to resolve everything neatly. The act of creating itself is enough.

Art doesn’t remove pain or difficulty, but it allows room for them to exist alongside hope, resilience, and growth. In that sense, the canvas becomes a quiet witness — holding emotion, memory, and movement all at once.

If my work connects with others, I hope it gives permission — to feel deeply, to pause, and perhaps to see their own experiences reflected back in colour and form. At a show recently, a lady came to the stall looking at the art and was drawn to “My Heart Bleeds For You”, she became very emotional as she said that the piece reminded her of her husband who had recently died.

This is why I create. Not for perfection, but for expression. Not just to be seen, but to understand myself more fully through the act of making.