Using Art Instead of Substances, I Found Healing and Substance

This is a personal reflection on why I offer recovery art lessons in Johannesburg — and what art gave me that nothing else could. I remember coming into recovery over 13 years ago and having to find my relationship with art again. I thought the drugs and the booze supercharged the creativity — that it was the substances making art, not me. That association is a hard one to break. I had to go at it like a child, small and humble, to find my innocence and move past that critic that says the canvas is a big scary thing to be feared, and I couldn’t possibly make anything worthwhile without the substances. And it’s been work.

Any artist will tell you the critic is ever present. I found that the only place I could experience true humility to move forward was in making art — knocking down the stories in my head about life and the way I responded to it, one painting at a time. It’s a battle between the artwork and my ego. A battle I have to lose for healing and recovery.

My relationship with art and creativity is the most complex in my life, and life is not easy. I use the medium and the process to battle through the paradoxes and the outright lies.

Recovery Art Lessons in Johannesburg — Private and Group Sessions

I’ve worked with groups in rehabilitation facilities — people who weren’t artists, and some that were — to use art for release and play and relief from all the stresses of letting go of addiction and the courage it takes to face up to life. I have worked with individuals who used art to work through their own mental illness and trauma, to come to new perspectives beyond the conscious mind.

Truly, though you cannot eat art, you can feed and heal your soul, and that in turn will filter into your life. That impact is measurable. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can touch God through art. With private lessons in Hurlingham Manor, and group sessions at rehabilitation facilities across Johannesburg, I can show you how. Book Now.