Arts and Wellness Wednesday - Nurturing

In Today's Arts and Wellness Podcast I talk about the need to nurture and make sure that you prepare yourself for the Christmas Season - for some it can be a lonely time.  Were possible see if you have anyone who may need that extra support, welcome them to your homes and family gatherings and be part of a wider community that cares for the individuals who may have a hard time at this time of the year

We can often forget to take care of ourselves as we are rushing around caring for others, and so it is important to take stock every now and then to make sure your not running on empty.

Remember to check out the Art Journal page creations in Mondays Creating in faith as a way of you taking stock of how far you have come and the direction in which you are heading.  Taking one step and one day at a time you are able to make sure you are always prepared for the events that may crop up and your perspective is one that is coming from abundance rather than lack.

I look forward to the journey with you, do let me know how you are getting on in your pursuits.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Creating in Faith - Compassionate

The word for today is Compassionate, think about what the word means to you in relation to you.  How would you express an example of it to someone else, and what does it look like when you show it to yourself, how does it make you feel?

Listen to the podcast episode below and check out the Art Journal page and examples of how you can work on your page.

Here is the video of my page creation, have a look

I hope it has given you ways in which you can work on your art journal page, but more importantly treat yourself with compassion.

Here are some of the other links that you can connect with on social media.

Creating In Faith Encouraging Recordings are to bless and inspire you to be the best of yourself. It can be really great to pull out your art journal/Journal and express what comes up for you either with images and colour, with words or with both. Check out the weekly and monthly videos to help you spend more time in your art journal.

If you would like to see some behind the scenes, images and additional tips HERE

You will find the  art journal videos available to consume at your leisure - the Making of the art journal for the month and an art journal page process - Check these out HERE

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There are so many FREE ways in which you can support the podcast and the work that I do on some of the other channels and it is always a blessing when you connect -

• listening each week and leave a comment,
• Subscribe to any or all of my channels, visit the
• YouTube channel (remember to hit the notification bell)
• Let me know how the content impacted you and if you were inspired to make changes/additions to your work or life.

Patreon Blog - http://www.patreon.com/realityarts

Instagram www.instagram.com/realityarts/

Facebook www.facebook.com/realityartss/

Check out some encouraging boards on Pinterest 

Artwork available from the title image HERE

I also have an Arts and Health NHS Network for information on activities and organisations working in the field. You are welcome to join, it is a FREE resource and if you have any activities or want to talk about your work you are welcome to send me the information and I will see that it gets uploaded. You can create your own profile on the network and connect with others who are passionate about the arts in health too.

Creative Encourager - If you want to talk about creativity and the direction you are going and need a listening ear, sign up for a FREE 30 minute call http://bit.ly/Encoura

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Arts and Wellness Wednesday - Episode 166

In today's show I take a look at the work that I have been doing, working with fabrics and stitching, in preparation for an exhibition that will be taking place in a couple of weeks.  Also the idea of planning and how not to be drawn into overwhelm.  The stitching to me is a very therapeutic activity and it is great to be able to pull the work together a combination of stitching, fabric manipulation and embroidery techniques.

Social Media

I have also been considering changing up my approach with social media, and look at the need for us to share our work and be more strategic in the content that we are going to share.  I am in the early stages of my planning but it is coming together  We all have something to share and we just have to get out of our own way and get on with it, we have a mission to get done.

I also wanted to share with you some events that are taking place this week and into the new year in regards to the Arts and Health events, and I have provided links below for you to take a look at:

Photography, Mental Health and Creative Expression, Arts SIG Conference – 11 December 2019
Join artists Daniel Regan and Antonia Attwood to learn about their creative arts practices in mental health and their work in social prescribing, and participate in two workshops on mindful making.

Dementia & Imagination: Art as Inspiration, Artists as Researchers, Derby – 17 December 2019
The University of Derby's Arts-based Research in Dementia cluster invite you to attend a seminar in their series of arts-based and creative approaches to dementia care

Early Stage Dementia Awareness training, Arts4Dementia – 24 January 2020

Training session designed to give arts facilitators greater understanding, increased skills and confidence in communicating and working creatively with people experiencing the early stages of dementia and their carers

The Art of Ageing Artfully, Midlands Art Centre – 5 February 2020

This event, produced by Midlands Arts Centre on behalf of The Baring Foundation and Arts Council England, will explore the role of creativity, arts and cultural change in the experiences of growing older and ask if a medical model of old age can address the creative and cultural realities of our lives

A Culture of Care: Culture, Health & Wellbeing Alliance national conference, Derby Museum – 19-20 March 2020

The theme of the event will be care: care for one another (participants, practitioners, commissioners); care for the environment; and caring economies

If you have been able to attend any of the events do let me know how you get on.  Stay blessed and be a blessing

Creating an Art Journal - December Journal

Art Journal Creating for December - with Amanda Trought

I decided to step it up a bit and create more Art Journals.  I love creating them and have so much paper, and other materials that it makes sense to bring them together and start using them for the work that I want to do in them. 

Part 1 of the Art Journal Process

Creating an Art Journal page is something I do as part of my morning routine and I wondered if others did the same.  I decided to use up the materials and try not to purchase them as you can customize them to your own suiting and use the Art Journals you want to use.  You might be one of those people who want to purchase them but I guarantee that once you have really got into making your own journals, choosing your paper, binding them in a particular way then you won't be the same.

The video this month is far longer than I had anticipated but it gives you over two hours of tutorial that you can watch at your leisure, see what tips you can get from the videos and pull them together in the Art Journal of your own creating.  You can use all the tips or just a few, the main thing is that you have fun along the way.  Let me know how you get on, if you need additional information do not hesitate to let me know.

Part 2 of the Art Journal Process

Each month you will get to see a new art journal in the making.  I use simple techniques and have fun in the process.  You can also join me on my Patreon Blog where I give a few behind the scene tips to my process.