Healing your Inner Child through Art

By Jess Scaffidi Saggio, Third Year Sociology

Last week, I was gifted the opportunity to visit a pottery painting café, ‘Flying Saucers’ as part of a society social. Sat just off the Clifton Triangle, this eccentric café offers the unique experience of painting a chosen piece of pottery alongside enjoying a warm beverage.

With a wide variety of ceramics and coloured paints to choose from, you are left free to come up with your own design and paint! Safe to say, I was skeptical about the whole experience, as I have always thought of myself as someone who is not artistic – at least, not in the traditional sense.  However, this trip has changed my perspective.

It was a welcoming and safe environment and I felt absolutely no pressure to produce something that would be considered conventionally ‘good’. I just let myself draw what I wanted and was left happy with the end results. I found the whole process therapeutic and healing, especially as I have been struggling with my mental health lately and being quite self-critical.

But sitting there, hot chocolate in hand, surrounded by other course mates and students who I know are in similar situations, I felt at ease. Everyone was relaxed, and laughing, not taking themselves seriously.

It reminded me of being younger and free of any self-doubt, the days when we would just do what made us happy and treat ourselves with kindness. I soon realised that no matter what my finished artwork looked like, I would be happy. I was nurturing my soul, and more specifically, my inner child.

I absolutely adore flowers and that is where my inspiration for my design came from. Pinterest was my best friend in this process, as that is where I found some relatively basic pottery painting ideas to use as a starting point. The table that I was sat at had several pastel paints, and I instantly found myself drawn to these, in the hopes of creating a very cute and Spring-like bowl. And of course, I incorporated my favourite colour, pink!

I was inspired by a picture of a pottery trinket dish covered in tulips, and it all seemed to come together from that point onwards. Though I can recognise that I won’t be winning any awards for my artistic skills, I’m happy with what I produced, and even happier that something that I was so unsure about ended up being such a positive experience.

My advice for you all: draw your feelings! All art is good art, and the best art is that which lets you unwind and de-stress.

Featured Image: Courtesy of Jess Scaffidi Saggio

What creative outlet do you turn to in order to heal your inner child?