Introducing Exhale Art
Hello, thanks so much for visiting me. Exhale Art is the place where I bring together the art therapy I offer and art playfully - a wellbeing led, fun art making offer for people of all varieties.
I qualified as an art psychotherapist in 2026. But prior to this I had many years working in a wide range of arts, design and education contexts that led me to this truly life enriching profession.
Having studied art and taught art in the “usual ways” there was always a massive piece of the jigsaw missing for me. Getting more technically good at art-making seemed to miss the point some how. When I witnessed students strive for “better” they seemed to lose the ability to connect with the playful aspects of art making on some level. Getting conceptual also seemed to disconnect people with the raw expression possible when they weren’t trying so hard. Later watching my children drawing and painting with the uncomplicated ease and fluency that children do so naturally made me feel even stronger that as a culture we have somehow lost direction in what art is or can be for us.
Alongside this I had also had a long standing passion for mental wellbeing. I’d studied counselling prior to my art degree. As I turned 40 in 2020 I decided this was the year to deepen my commitment to this area of work. I enrolled to study level 2 counselling, signed up for the foundation in art therapy at the University of Chester and got a new job in the office of a wonderful local charity who supported wellbeing and addiction recovery through dance. This immersed me in the link between mental health and creativity.
The foundation in art therapy was life changing in itself. The teachers took us through activities that helped us understand what art therapy was. Literally from the first activity I was amazed at what was coming out on the page, my internal world reflected back at me in my pictures, helping me crystalise thoughts that had been whirring through my mind for years without me being able to articulate it. I knew this was powerful. Being given the permission to make art without worrying about it looking good and indulging in the pleasure of playing with art materials felt like a creative spa retreat. It clicked that this was the missing piece of the jigsaw I had been looking for.
Over the following five years under the last whisps of a global pandemic and giving birth to my second child I studied for the MA in Art Psychotherapy at University of Chester, engaged in a 100 day professional practice placement and experienced art therapy first hand as the client too. Educationally and professionally it was hands-down the most enriching experience of my life. I’m now qualified and registered with the Health Care Professions Council and I’m excited to share the power of art and art therapy as a healthcare professional. Get in touch if you’d like to have a chat or ask me any questions. Take a look at my art therapy or art playfully page to see more about what I offer.