Finding Your Costa del Lols: Art, Fantasy and Well‑Being with Helen Brown

'My T-shirt is a seascape. The sun is shining, there's two mermaids having an ice cream, there's a dolphin that looks like it's frying an egg, but actually I think it's playing a guitar, there's a seagull that's happily stolen a packet of crisps, there's a crab that's wearing sun glasses, and it says “Costa del Lols”, which fills me with joy.' Helen Brown, facilitator of Belle Vue Arts Festival's Art for Well-Being workshop on June 10^th, is the first Festival blog interviewee to arrive dressed in an advertisement for her event – but the more she describes what that event is all about, the more her choice of outfit begins to make perfect sense.

As well as promising lots of fun, Helen's workshop imaginatively interprets the Festival's fantasy theme as a route to promoting mental well-being. 'My T-shirt maybe helps to describe what I do' she said. 'I'll be asking people who come to the event to create a fantasy landscape which they can then use as a safe place to retreat to in their minds when things in life feel cumbersome.' As a qualified counsellor and psychotherapist, Helen is well-equipped to deliver the session, but stresses that the focus will be firmly on playfulness and joy. 'The invitation is to explore what makes you feel happy, what makes you feel held, what makes you feel safe, and then to create a piece of work that represents that' she said. 'But if you want to explore deeper into the landscape, there's the option to have a fantasy guide with you, and you can create that person, or animal, or whatever you want.'

The workshop is particularly suited to neurodivergent participants. 'As a counsellor, a lot of my work is with people who are neurodivergent' explained Helen. 'Expressing ourselves through verbal communication can sometimes be difficult, and art can provide a way to navigate that. Colours are an example. If I said “what colour is anger?” or “what colour represents calm?”, everyone tends to answer the same thing, so this can be an alternative form of communication. Some neurodivergent people might struggle to identify their emotions or feelings as readily. They know them, but expressing or naming them can be more challenging. So I might say 'what colour are you feeling?' or 'if you were an animal right now, what would you be?' and it helps people to explore and develop and connect themselves, but in a less conventional way. And for everyone else, there is so much research out there about the emotional release of art, getting emotions out, whether that's through painting, movement or writing stuff down.'

So do participants need to be good at art? 'No!' said Helen. 'You do not need to be in any way an artist! There might be people there who are super-creative and love to draw and paint, but if, like me, you've got loads of ideas but when you put them down on paper they look like a disaster, there'll be collage. I'll provide materials, but if people want to do collage and they've got magazines with content that might help with what they want to create, bring them along. Bring anything that helps you to feel comfortable. To encourage people and give them an example, I'll be bringing a collage I've made myself – it will by no means look professional!'

Helen hopes that whatever landscapes people create, they will be able to return to them later if they find themselves feeling overwhelmed, stressed or upset. 'The invitation would be: remember', she said. 'Remember your landscape and the fun you had creating it, go into that space, hold it in your heart, in your mind. Use it as somewhere you can go when you hear yourself saying “The world is crazy! I need my Costa del Lols!”'.

You can find all the details of Helen's workshop here.