Jessie has over ten years experience working with people with mental health and neurological conditions, substance and alcohol misuse, cognitive impairment, brain injury, dementia and learning disabilities. She also has extensive experience of supporting family members and friends with long and enduring conditions, such as schizophrenia, bipolar, eating disorders, anxiety and depression.
She is able to empathise through her own personal experiences of mental health and continues to develop her knowledge in the field. Jessie is currently pursuing a degree in Mental Health Nursing and incorporates her knowledge into her art practice. She is calm, sensitive and passionate about helping people live well with their conditions and loves to see them thrive.
Jessie's current focus is on delivering positive and empowering creative workshops within the local area. So far, she has worked alongside Letting in the Light, Borderland Voices and Growthpoint and has supported and involved people with creative writing, arts, crafts, textiles workshops, woodwork and gardening activities.
Jessie is keen to collaborate with other local charities and organisations to promote awareness and acceptance of Mental Health and Neurological conditions in the local and wider community. She loves to use art to challenge peoples perceptions and beliefs and also promote education around the subject of health and wellbeing.
Outside of her education, Jessie channels investigations of various mediums to express her creative ideas. She often works with vibrant colours, patterns and text in layers to produce rich imagery to explore concepts within Art and Mental Health. Jessie takes her mindful approach from gardening and she keeps an allotment where she grows fruits and vegetables.
Prior to this, she gained a First Class Hons in Textiles and Art from the University of Huddersfield and participated in two exchange programmes at Kookmin University, in Seoul, South Korea. She was also involved in making artwork for an exhibition in Jeonju, titled Beyond Borders.
During her studies, she participated in a number of community art projects such as: The Sleeping Bag Project and The Dream Rocket Project and led workshops in high schools and special learning needs schools in Huddersfield. She developed a community art project called the Penistone Puzzle in collaboration with Rowena Chantler from the Penistone Line Partnership. This project gained recognition from ACORP, achieving third place in the innovation category in 2014. Her project titled Overcoming, which explored concepts around language and travel won first place in the Batsford Art Competition in 2013.
Jessie has been commissioned to carry out community workshops in her hometown of Stoke on Trent to involve people in her creative explorations of the local area and within Etruria Industrial Museum.
