A common concern for people considering art therapy is whether any artistic ability is needed. You may be wondering if you need to be creative, confident with materials, or able to produce something that looks like a finished piece of work. The simple answer is no, you do not need to be good at art for art therapy. Art psychotherapy is not about being good at art. It is not concerned with technique, skill, or producing something for display. It is a way of exploring experienc

The work of Anselm Kiefer has been an inspiration to my own since I first began to create visual art. This superb exhibition of varied pieces from earlier in his career brought me in touch with the work in a new way, and also evoked memories of a formative encounter with his artwork twenty years previously. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England Anselm Keifer — Urd, Werdandi, Suld (Die Nornen), (The Norns), 1981 - Oil on canvas About the exhibition Anselm Kiefer: Early Works at

An exploration of material becoming living presence in the art object. Jungian analyst Warren Colman explores the formation of archetypes as derived from human engagement with their social and material environment. This is a phenomenological approach which sees psychic life as emergent from embodied action in the world, in contrast to a classical Jungian perspective which would view archetypes as pre-existent, either “inborn” biologically, or metaphysically a priori. As I und

There is a particular tension that many artists and creatives will recognise. A sense of something wanting to be expressed, alongside the realities and limitations that shape how, or whether, that expression can take form. This tension is not only practical. It is often deeply personal, touching on questions of identity, purpose, and what it means to bring something of oneself into the world. ...in a world that is more often than not associated with a harsh and destructive bo

Cecil Collins is an artist I have a great appreciation for. This book documents the thoughts and reflections of many of those who knew him, whether as a collector, curator, student of his unique teaching methods, or through other connections. Collins’ work carries a particular quality that is difficult to define, yet unmistakable when encountered. It speaks from a place that feels both ancient and immediate, personal and universal. Images arise from the fountainhead of human