It’s been months since I spent time in my studio—it’s too cold in the winter and I’ve been too focussed on trying to pay the bills to think about art.

But it’s often the best way to get the breakthrough.

Creativity is such a great stress reliever but in a world that values productivity over playfulness it’s easy to think of it as a waste of time, or indulgent. There’s a tendency to keep pushing—to keep striving for a result—but sometimes the most productive thing you can do is stop, and give your mind a break by doing something fun.

I’ve never been a ‘sketchbook artist’ — I always go straight to the canvas. But I’ve been feeling so uptight lately, so this week I decided to just play with the paint in an attempt to loosen up. No intention, no desired outcome.

Expression without expectation.

Mark making in this way is so freeing. It’s not about creating a masterpiece, it’s simply about allowing your pent-up emotions to surface so they can dissipate.

Solutions arrive when you can make space for them. So next time you’re stuck or stressed, get creative.

Kx

PS. To see my finished pieces, visit my gallery

kerryhussain.com

It’s tempting to curl up on the sofa and binge-watch a box set on Netflix, or lose hours aimlessly scrolling social media for a hit of dopamine but after the initial high these activities only heighten anxiety.

In more serious cases the cold, wet weather and gloominess can bring on severe depression along with other symptoms including disrupted sleep patterns and difficulty concentrating on simple tasks.

There are lots of things you can do to combat mild cases of the winter blues (such as physical exercise, eating more mindfully and staying connected with friends and family) but have you thought about visiting an art gallery?

New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London found that viewing original art in a gallery can reduce cortisol levels by 22% (compared to just 8% when looking at reproductions of the same pieces in a non-gallery environment).

Far from simply being inanimate decor, art is crucial to our wellbeing. It is the bridge between stimulation and stillness and the psychological benefits that incorporating it into your daily life can offer will keep your mental health in check.

It is a visual medicine that only has positive side-effects!

Kx

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I received the best compliment about my art recently.

From a 12 year old boy.

I was showing my brand new pieces at a local fair. His mum had the stall next door but one to me.

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Now, I’m not good with kids. But he showed an interest so we chatted. I asked him what he thought of my paintings and he said:

“They feel like home.”

My soul was touched. And my heart melted a little.

Because he was right. They do feel like home because they are home.

The funny thing is, for years I’ve had so much resistance around being ‘a landscape artist’.

It didn’t seem interesting enough. Boring, even. And, if I’m honest, too easy.

I thought I needed to create something different. I’ve struggled to paint over the past year—because I’ve been fighting my natural instinct.

But that’s about to change.

How it all started…

Ever since I could hold a crayon, all I wanted was to be an artist. As a teenager I’d while away hours in my room, meticulously drawing pencil portraits of my favourite footballers and pop stars. And horses.

I became obsessed with the work of George Stubbs and Alfred Munnings, and their depictions of racehorses on Newmarket Heath, one of my favourite places in the world. There was something so alluring about the vastness of the landscape—it made me feel free.

I didn’t realise it then but art was my escape from the drama that was unfolding around me.

As I got older I spent less time creating—between work, boys and drinking there wasn’t the time or the inclination.

I didn’t return to art properly until around 2019.

And this time, it saved my life.

The healing power of art…

I spent the majority of my thirties depressed and angry, but I didn’t know why.

In 2014 I got my answer. After being triggered by events in the news, all my repressed emotions exploded to the surface and I started counselling for childhood trauma.

Compounded by the collapse of my marriage at the same time, however, I spiralled further downwards into a tormented existence of codependency and toxic friendships, fuelled by drugs and alcohol. It was a healing process that got worse before it got better.

Then one day, at rock bottom, I looked within for help and was guided back to the one thing that had comforted me as a child: making art.

In the chaos, I found calm. Painting lifted me out of the darkness and I began to realise its power.

I turned my pain in to purpose and I began creating under the name Art For The Soul in 2020. I deep dived into the neuroscience behind why creativity is so beneficial to our mental health, wrote several articles that were published in national magazines, and my art even appeared on TV!

What’s next…

There’s still relatively little research into the wellbeing benefits of art but it is beginning to increase. My hope for this newsletter is that it becomes part personal journal and and part educational, a place where we can all enjoy the healing power of art—even if you don’t think you’re creative (spoiler alert: you are!).

My creative journey has taken many twists and turns. Since returning to the countryside after 22 years in London, my obsession with the landscape has been reignited.

My newest pieces have been inspired by the expansive Suffolk skies, a part of the world I’ve always loved and where I now reside.

After a year in the creative wilderness, I’ve come home. To my art—and to myself.

Kx

PS If you’d like to see more of my work, head over to my gallery

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