Art With Jess

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Art With Jess

Hello, I’m Jess, I’m an abstract artist and freelance art coordinator working with groups and 1:1.

My practice focuses on expressionism through therapeutic frameworks, that help towards mental health and self-reflection.

07/05/2026

✨ Minimalism Part 2✨

This bum vase is always the talk of the town at Talk About It Mate and for good reason, they’re so bloody good at portraying it!

Part 2 focus was on minimalistic material unlike the first part which was working with technique capturing the essence of the still life through linear drawing, I wanted to spice things up with ✨collage✨

And I think the guys did a fabulous job! Collage and minimalism can go hand in hand, it forces intentional choices. When you limit yourself (few elements, restrained colours, lots of space), every piece you include has to earn its place.

Instead of grabbing dozens of pages, you might use just one, a torn shape, and a block of colour. That constraint sharpens your decision-making and strengthens your visual storytelling.

It also reduces being creatively overwhelmed too! Collage can quickly become chaotic. A minimalist approach simplifies the process, fewer materials, fewer decisions, clearer direction.

06/05/2026

✨Minimalism ✨

Lovely session with Talk About It Mate and yesterday’s session part one was working with minimalism as a theme, “less is more” some would say. But creatively minimalism can be hard, especially if we apply creative pressure to fill in all the details all at once.

First drawing was drawing with continuous line, second was 2 lines with 2 colours, third was 3 lines with 3 colours and 4 drawing normally with 1 colour. Sometimes, there’s too much to choose from and this can give us creative block, and this applies to daily life.

Philosophically, minimalism is focusing on the essentials. A lot of us hold internal or physical struggles and stresses and it’s hard to prioritise and get overwhelmed. We discussed how minimalism can benefit us, and tricks that could help.

One word of advice was to get a mini bin 🗑️ and put all your stresses in that bin, and when it’s full, prioritise.

Each drawing is capturing the essence of the still life, not focusing on shading, or getting the shapes right, but strengthening the basics. Many artists improve faster by simplifying first, then adding complexity later.

It also trains your seeing. When you draw minimally, you start noticing subtle relationships angles, negative space, and balance that are easy to ignore in more complex work.

Good work guys! 🧑‍🎨

28/04/2026

Yesterday with Talk About It Mate we worked with MEDIUMS.

The mediums were fine liner, oil pastels, soft pastels and coloured pencils, the second half was working with watercolours!

Mediums can extend to the material you’re using both through technique (pen/pencil) and through representation (paper). Me and the guys did both!

I gave the guys “starter packs” that had 2 drawing pieces of paper (10x7.5cm), a yellow one (8.5x6cm) and a purple piece (6x 4.5cm) the purpose for different sizes it to work with perspective, accuracy and to make creative decisions with dimensions.

Working big or even A4 can be daunting, especially if you tell yourself you’re not good at art (rubbish!) so starting small and experimenting is a good starting point!

A lot of the conversations within the session was about just having an ago, changing the narrative that they have told themselves which is not being good enough!

Art isn’t meant to he perfected it’s meant to be practiced!

25/04/2026

Yesterday with Talk About It Mate we explored bilateral drawing and drawing in silly ways. Using both hands, crossing the page, and letting go of “doing it right” helped shift the focus from pressure to play.

I’ve done this exercise with other groups from langworthy, and Walkden and decided to do it again with Eccles, an oldy but goodie.

Reason being, is art can be intimidating, especially being thrown in the deep end, but what people don’t understand is being creative is to explore playfulness, being curious and being silly in the name of art.

Bilateral movement can feel grounding, while silly drawing helps challenge self-judgment and perfectionism.

Sometimes wellbeing grows through movement, humour, and giving yourself permission to be imperfect.

Moral of the post: Be silly, have a laugh and see where it takes you

21/04/2026

✨ 👎 to 👍 ✨

The second half of Tuesdays session with Talk About It Mate was to externalise negative thoughts, not letting them dominate the whole image, to change perspective.

Turning the words they once used against themselves into something softer, kinder and alive. Covering old labels with growth, colour, and nature because even the harshest thoughts can be rewritten. 🌿

Some of the guys used metaphors, symbolism, self reflection and some took over creatively erasing the word all together.

14/04/2026

✨Neurographic Drawing ✨

Ever feel like your thoughts are all over the place?

This exercise is a simple way to slow things down.

Today with Talk About It Mate we started off with drawing random, messy lines across the page - no plan, no pressure. Then slowly go back and round off the sharp edges, connect the lines, and bring some order to it, and filled the gaps with creative abstractions.

The intention is not to create art, but training your focus.

What starts as chaos gradually becomes something more structured, and that’s shift can help your mind do the same.

25/03/2026

✨BEING PRESENT - with a viewfinder ✨

I got the guys at Talk About It Mate to draw my beautiful girls (plants) but using a view finder to go along with the theme of being present.

As an artist, I know how hard it is to create, the perfectionists tendencies, repeating “I can’t” do this and that, but after further discussion with the guys, this nifty technique helped them feel more relaxed in the creative process!

The viewfinder narrows your attention, blocks out distractions and limits what you see. Instead of being overwhelmed by an entire scene, you’re only focusing on a small section. That naturally pulls your attention into the here and now.

24/03/2026

✨BEING PRESENT ✨

It’s hard to be present in this day and age, it’s hard just slowing down, and feeling what you feel, mentally and bodily. There’s always a rush, a rush to look after others, clean up some mess, do the laundry, write the letter but never slowing down and tuning into your present self.

I asked Talk About It Mate guys to take a minute to be present, and be in-tuned with their mind and body and to express it. And I think they did a wonderful job.

One of the guys (first image) was asked why he did the colours in columns, he said because that’s the sequence my moods go in, anger, envy, happiness and the blues. Within further analyses he admitted to putting on a brave happy face, when in actuality he is angry, and it’s quite fitting how the red column sweeps into the yellow, subconsciously of course.

Action drawing or painting can really expose a lot about oneself if you just allow yourself to feel and be present and of course be creative!

21/03/2026

🌿 Mindful Leisure🌿

Lately I’ve been trying to incorporate mindfulness in my day to day, I don’t like sitting in silence being “mindful” because I do everything but, however, I have a misconception of what mindfulness is meant to be. Zen🧘‍♀️ crossed legged, breathing, not for me.

Come to realise the term “mindful leisure” which is being mindful in the things you enjoy, so in this case, painting.

Painting grass can become a deeply therapeutic process when in conjunction with mindfulness and presence. As you focus on each brushstroke the variation of greens, the texture of the blades, the way light falls across the surface you naturally slow down and anchor yourself in the present moment.

This attentive observation quiets mental noise and reduces stress, allowing your mind to rest from overthinking about the past or future. The repetitive, rhythmic motion of painting can feel meditative, gently regulating your breathing and grounding your body.

Over time, this mindfulness not only enhances artistic sensitivity but also fosters emotional balance, helping you feel more connected, calm, and aware of the subtle beauty in ordinary moments.

16/03/2026

🐛The Hungry Caterpillar 🐛

Eric Carle is one of the most profound children’s authors known for creative narratives with brightly textured creatures, but what is less known is, is how he creates them. Eric Carle uses painted swatches and combines through collage with tissue paper, coloured paper and scissors. , simple right?

And this is what I got the guys from Talk About It Mate to do, but instead of creating a creature, to create a landscape instead. Creating various textured colour swatches and create a composition that resembles a landscape.

Collage is an effective way of being innovative especially when you struggle with being creative!
It relieves the pressure of having any artistic skill like painting or drawing tends to have. But from a mental health point of view, it can reroute the mind to focusing on what’s wrong, to focusing on the potential all whilst getting messy!

13/03/2026

GRIEF (Part 3)

Another thought provoking session today with Talk About It Mate in Eccles. This being the final session on grief really showed me how different we all are, our backgrounds, our cultures, our experiences and especially towards grief, and how hard it is to distinguish and sometimes recognise.

For the final session I got the guys to visually explore emotions connected to the 5 stages of grief - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Determining how they show up through expression, different scenarios within grief as the 5 stages, and making abstract feelings visible.

The second activity I got the guys to portray grief as a character or if grief was an object what would it be.

The pictures don’t do the groups justice as it’s the discussions and the warmth of support for one another which is truly amazing, hard topics, but I know you guys are resilient enough individually and as a group to get through it! 🤜

In loving memory of the members, volunteers and supporters of Talk About It, Mate that sadly passed away- Graham, Darren(Daz), Paul and Barry 💛

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Manchester

Website

https://www.instagram.com/abstractartjessica/

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