Garry’s story – building confidence through art

"All I wanted to do was share what I was going through. I was broken and feeling worthless."

“If you said to me 5 years ago that I would be leading art workshops to groups I would have laughed. Being creative was always something that was in me but you have periods when you lose that spark and you become lost and start to feel restricted.

About five Years ago that happened. It was dark time with the constant rejection in my work and personal life was taking a toll on me. It’s scary thinking of those days. I was going through the emotions thinking something will come up but my heart and mind were not in it. The vicious cycle of starting a new idea with excitement but as the weeks go on my mind was not there and you are back to square one. The pressures of comparing yourself to others and the feeling of being two people, one being an act of someone doing well and the other being the real me.

The pressures of everyday life and feeling restricted was getting to me.

All I wanted to do was share what I was going through. I was broken and feeling worthless. Going to a support group helped. That changed a lot, felt like it was clean slate for me there and I just opened up to everyone. The relief doing that it felt like weights had been lifted off my shoulders. It was a turning point for me. I talked and started to draw how I felt more going forward.

This led to Mind and draw; a community arts project about building confidence and bringing people together through art. This has led to finding new paths and opened doors to new opportunities. I had found my purpose in life.

Mind and draw is into its 4th year now and I’m continuing with the workshops and with my added confidence in trying out new ideas. With us now being in lock-down I’ve been doing open online sessions and content as well.

Drawing and being creative gave me back my hope, support and a purpose, but most importantly the spark to keep going.”

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