This image is from a self-portrait series, "Why Did No One Tell Me," reflecting on my mental health in a humorous and approachable way. Eco-anxiety - a chronic fear of environmental doom - is a newer mental health term that includes anxiety and personal guilt over a person's role in the changing world. As people watch the catastrophic environmental changes, they feel powerless that their efforts will have any impact on the climate even as they passionately recycle and reuse.
I'm a photographer based in Asheville, North Carolina. My passion is using photography for social change. I have an ongoing documentary photo project on the youth mental health crisis to help bring awareness to the lack of affordable resources for families when a child is in crisis. and I most recently created a whimsical, fine art photography series focused on my mental health with hopes of encouraging a more open discussion about topics like depression, anxiety, and grief. I also enjoy photographing the unique activities and people in Asheville to showcase this amazing, artistic town.

Hear our interview with Mali M. Schwartz, an artist, writer and breast cancer survivor. She takes us through her artwork telling her story of the “diagnostic part of her journey”.

Art and how it helped me cope with the breast cancer in my family.

Interview with award-winning artist Judy Clarkson

Ileana Collazo offers a second story of an experience with breast cancer.

Ileana Collazo, an accomplished artist, poet and journalist illustrates her experience of finding a lump in her breast…

Judy Clarkson

Platinum Award, The Cancer Feminine, Purple Octopus Art 2023
Nude Category Award, Artist of the Year, The Artist Lounge 2021
Judges' Choice Award, Chaiya Art Awards 2021
Winner of The Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize 2018
Shortlisted for the New Light Art Prize, 2020
Shortlisted for The John Ruskin Prize 2019
Ing Discerning Eye Exhibition 2019, 2020, 2022

Society of Women Artists' Exhibition 2020, 2022



I was born in Harrogate, N. Yorks, and studied Fine Art BA at St Martin’s School of Art. My work revolves around the human form, whether nude, clothed or in portrait. As I paint, I feel an intense relationship between the subject and myself. Oil paint lends itself peculiarly to the depiction of human flesh with its earthy spectrum and plastic nature, and I strive to reconstruct the physical essence of the living person through this medium. In my recent work, I've introduced context through environment and objects that comment on the state of mind of the subject, and, in a wider sense, on the human condition.

How Art is Scientifically Proven to Help Brain Health

My Fathers' 1st open heart surgery 1983
My Father's 1st open heart surgery was in 1983, Drawing, my father loved these drawings, as a doctor he saw his recovery as seen by his son, thank you, Dad, for all you gave me.

drawing by Teo Freytes, drawing of Dr. Hector Freytes

Dementia and art: making a positive connection

Posted 18 Sep 2019, by Jon Sleigh

The enduring-connection-between-art-and-mental-health

article published by artuk

Trans People Face Breast Cancer Challenges

International artist Rajul Shah