Table of Contents
Categories and post-by-post guide to my writing and research into the complex relationship between art and mental health
Welcome to Create Me Free where I share all of my deep research into and musings about the complex relationship between art and mental health. While I touch on art as therapy and the benefits of creativity, I also look at the times when creativity exacerbates mental health symptoms. Moreover, I really dig into the ways that our mental health symptoms can impact our creative process, content, productivity, medium choice, and more.
I wanted to make it easier for you to find the different content that I’m sharing here, so I’ve created a Table of Contents.
This will also help you see what types of things I’m writing about so that you can choose to opt into or out of receiving different material. Learn more here about that. You can also choose to receive only a monthly digest.
Essays, Articles, Thoughts Of Mine
Is the Depression Spectrum Really More Of a Circle? Or a Spiral? Or a Keyboard? Adjusting my framework as it relates to my lived experience and to the relationship of mental health to creativity with a focus on understanding “double depression.”
Depression: A Black Dog? An Elephant? A rider on the bus I navigate through life. Why this metaphor makes sense and why it changed from a Lyft passenger to a bus rider.
Semi; Colon: A Grief Tattoo Story. A writing work in progress as I continue to process my father's death ten months in ...
I Live Here: SF ... a look back at a 15 year old project and what feels true and not true for me in San Francisco today. Deep in the archives, a project that was so special to me to become a part of, a lens into how I've changed and stayed in the same
Rediscovering My Old Double Exposure Photos of Georgia O'Keeffe Produces Memories of My Creativity I Hadn't Even Known Had Faded ... "it’s really tough to describe what happened but if I were a Russian nesting doll, the big head was popped off to reveal that there was a same-but-different little me inside ..." See more double exposure photos from my archive here.
On Trying Again To Be The Writer I Really Am, to get my voice and brain back from the inanity of algorithmic writing (there’s also more about artist Kay Sage in this one)
Musings and Memories on Art, Education and Mental Health at 43, 33, 23 … Train of thoughts on my experiences as I begin grad school again and look back on the journey to here
Adding and Subtracting, Writing and Sculpture. About my creative career and how it’s moved from adding to editing as I grow.
The Research Phase in Writing Feels Like Falling in Love. You have to show up to the page and keep trying to find the right one. And then one day, suddenly, you do, and you’re in love, and you can’t wait to get to the page, and everything glitters and your words come flowing and you fall a little bit more in love with yourself because you are inspired.
Thoughts on Letting Go, Releasing, and the Importance That I Stop "Shoulding" On Myself. Learning to let go of my own high expectations for myself, my own self-judgment and self-criticism, my own sense of internal obligation has been one of the most difficult parts of my creative process.
When The Music Stops ... Music for Mental Health, Mental Health Problems in the Industry, and More: A collection from the archives and an exploration of the early days of forming my questions around the ways in which art can both heal and harm us
Handwriting, Hypergraphia, Hypographia, Creativity, and Mental Health: Exploring the impact of bipolar depression and mania on writing.
Mental Health Reasons I May Not Read Your Writing ... and Please Write It Anyway: Tips for worrying less about likes, comments, shares, subscribers, etc.
My 2024 Word of the Year: Wellness - How what I most yearn for this year relates to both going deeply inward and spreading broadly outwardRESEARCH AND WRITING ABOUT ART AND MENTAL HEALTH
On Crochet/Craft as Therapy
The Early Days of My Depression Story and how crochet came to help. And excerpt from Crochet Saved My Life.
How Crochet Taught Me Gentleness With Myself: A podcast interview of me with Clinical Psychologist Dr. Mia Hobbs about How Craft Heals
Crochet/Craft to Break the Cycle of Rumination and Reduce Depression Symptoms. An excerpt from Crochet Saved My Life with references to Old Order Amish, Little House on the Prairie, and female depression
Things Artists Might Not Need to Give a Hoot About. Letting go of perfection and other “shoulds” - for all artists but I share my crocheter’s lens
Plus Mandalas for Marinke
In 2024, I started re-sharing the Mandalas for Marinke project from almost a decade before:
On Mandalas, Music, and Color as Therapy for Depression. Looking back at five more contributions to the Mandalas for Marinke project that raised awareness about depression, suicide, and crafting as therapy.
Now-Closed Small Yarn Store Had Contributed 50 Mandalas to Crochet Project Raising Awareness about Depression and Crafting to Heal. A look back at a Mandalas for Marinke post and a reminder to support your local yarn/art/craft stores and artisans.
Depression in Schizophrenia, in People of Color, Depicted in Dance ... Honored by Beginner and Expert Crocheters Alike. Looking back at five more contributions to the Mandalas for Marinke project that raised awareness about depression, suicide, and crafting as therapy.
Benefits of Crochet for Ten Symptoms of Depression. Crafting to heal + 5 more beautiful, colorful crochet mandalas to raise awareness about depression survival
Interviews with Artists and Writers About Mental Health and Creativity
I interview contemporary artists and writers (and sometimes other people like psychologists) about their experiences, thoughts, and research into the complex relationship between art and mental health
Visual interviews
Sometimes we don’t have the words to explain something. Or we have some words but the words aren’t enough. Neurodivergence, mental and physical health challenges, etc. can sometimes limit our words. And some people just think in images. For all of those reasons, I’ve launched visual interviews - I ask the questions in words and people respond in images.
Illustrator Sue Clancy shares sketchbook images with a little text in the first visual interview here on Create Me Free.
Photographer Perfectlight shared a variety of striking images that get at the heart of how creativity and wellness may intersect
Saxxon is an artist-writer-musician and author of the book Suburban Gargoyle.
Christine Castigliano adapted her upcoming graphic novel "Meet Your Monkeys: Make Friends with the Meanies and Imps that Rule Your Mind to respond to the questions about art and mental health.
Lyly is a self-taught artist from France who shared a combination of handwriting and images in her response.
And uniquely: one from The Lizzy Co Show that was answered in music/sound art
Interviews with artists
Interview with Artist Sue Clancy on her history as an LGBTQ+ deaf female artist growing up in a religious-conservative culture, how art and some great people helped along the way, and some of the transitions she’s experienced in how she sees the value of her artwork as a process in her life.
Meet Neurodivergent Playwright Kari Bentley-Quinn through this art and mental health interview. "Protecting your mental health and working towards healing your traumas and wounds is the best way to foster your creativity."
Interview with Street Photographer Neil Milton: How imposter syndrome, the pandemic and going to therapy relate to the creativity in music and street photography.
Art and Mental Health Interview with Multidisciplinary Creative J. Moore. "Art helps us to share thoughts for which we don't always have words, so we can communicate more about where we are at, and share concepts that are very complex."
Meet Writer/Creative Tricia Easter in this Art and Mental Health Interview. "The biggest benefit of creating is the joy I feel. I’m learning that joy is the panacea to fear, so the more I create, the more joy I feel, helping to edge out fear."
Art and Mental Health Interview with Writer, Reader and Musician Alex Yalen: “Art is a direct connection to the beauty and the pain of human experience."
Knitting Heals: Interview with Stroke Survivor Rebecca Robinson. Followed by related excerpts from my research and writing for the book Crochet Saved My Life: The Mental and Physical Health Benefits of Crochet
Passing the Torch: Northern California Liberty Crochet Mural Moves From One Hand to Another in Display of Solidarity for Women’s Reproductive Rights. Kathryn Vercillo In Conversation with Marie K. Lee and Jen LaMastra
Art and Mental Health Interview with writer and visual artist Ruth. "Creativity is a way of life for me and how I interact with the world--- it's one of curiosity, play, meaning making, a beholder of reality and truth-telling."
Interview with “poet, writer and apprentice creator of monochrome portraits” Mya Dexter. On social anxiety, angst-ridden writing, writing as therapy, drawing for healing and more.
Interview with Tamzin of Resurface. On holding space and reflecting people's energy back to themselves via Soul Signs, taking care of our mental health, and how health can impact creativity.
Interview with Helen Conway. "Mental ill health is undoubtedly helped by art making but it also makes the art making harder."
Interview: A Conversation with Claudia Wool in English and Spanish: About the creative nourishment of a journalist and textile creator's nomadic family lifestyle
Crochet Heals: Interview with Chason & Tumaini on Mindful crochet as an act of kindness healing individuals and communities
Crochet Heals Interview: Ecocrafter The Crafty Therapist. How crochet helped Janferie heal through the bereavement of losing a baby ...
Art and Mental Health Interview with Musician, Singer, Writer, Artist Mark including Visual Responses: "When I feel stable and happy my art looks more professional, during intense emotion it is more abstract and metaphysical stuff."
Art and Mental Health Interview with Photographer/Painter/Writer Terry Lee Nelson. "I worked and wrote and drew a little and survived over the next six years completing 35 works on canvas and six books in the Franklin Diaries."
D on the pressure to become an artist. Many people are discouraged from becoming artists ... D was actually pressured the opposite way as a child and it ruined art for them for a time! I also did a follow-up about their experiences with art therapy.
Bunni on how depression and feelings of worthlessness affect art making. Depression / BPD symptoms keep Bunni's artwork small in scale, creating characters that reflect who they wish that they could be. And yet, the urge to keep creating is there, and doing so does help Bunni, particularly in terms of reducing self harm behavior.
A.F on how creating art is a compulsion that helps soothe anxiety and PTSD … but also that the symptoms of those conditions have impacted style, productivity, and self-worth as it relates to the business of selling art.
6 Artists Respond to How Health Challenges Changed Their Choice of Medium. Exploring how tweaking a medium can allow for creativity in the face of challenges that were stifling it
In Brief: 7 Artists Answer A Series of Questions About Art and Mental Health
Interviews with writers
The Cacao Muse: How Storytelling Brings Together Chocolate, Health, Creativity, and Sustainability. Author interview with Birgitte Rasine on the deep research that went into her children's novel that she is serializing here on Substack ... and so much more ....
Interview with Robin Reardon. On music as it relates to the writing process, Pain Reprocessing Therapy, how her work has positively impacted queer teens, and her Myers-Briggs …
Interview with Writer Jane Clark of Story Carriers. "Art is a form of soul expression and being deprived (or depriving the self) of creative expression is not benign"
Interview with Writer and Actor Jenn Zuko. How writing, acting and the combat arts have been healing for this neuro-spicy creative and others around her
Interview with Lauren Holt. “On pausing to find balance when creativity moves from catharsis into compulsion ...”
Interview with June Girvin. How knitting, writing, gardening, and reading are the same and different as creative tasks.
Interview with Leon Macfayden. "Before I started writing, I saw my depression and pain as entirely negative. Now I see it all as material - and as a chance to make a difference to others."
Interview with Russell Nohelty. "Art can be a wonderful way to work out your feelings & explore your relationship with the world. It's very easy, though, for a symbiotic relationship with art to degrade into a parasitic one."
Interview with Key Ocho of Inner Garden Alchemy. "Like how a gardener tends to their garden by sowing seeds, eliminating weeds, and harvesting, we must also care for our inner gardens."
Interview with Writer Samantha Rose McRae: A journey through depression, storytelling, writing to heal and one woman's experience of a creative life ...
Interview with Writer and Model Nessa Nachelle: "My mental health symptoms definitely altered productivity creatively and professionally. Currently, however, I am just focusing on what I can control and what I can do right here and right now."
Wendi Gordon of Changing Lives newsletter who says “I write to change lives, starting with my own.”
Interview with Alex of Loreteller. "Everything is: design | narrative | storytelling | experience | spirituality"
Interview with Sara London, Author of The Performance Therapist and Authentic Therapeutic Identity
Interview with Peter Smetanick. "Art and writing for me comes from the soul, but the mind can be a tricky place, with dark corners. Writing brings me to understand the deeper parts of my being."
Interviews with others
Art and Mental Health Interview with Martin Greenwald, M.D. of Socratic Psychiatrist. What is the role of art for patients hospitalized with severe mental illness? What, if anything, is the relationship between creativity and mental health? One psychiatrist's perspective ...
Interviews others have done of me
At Inner Workings, Rae Katz interviews women about chronic illness for her Lady’s Illness Library. We discuss my experiences with depression, perimenopause, how to redefine success in the face of chronic illness, and staying curious about what’s on your own next page.
Kathryn Vercillo on writer's block, the editing process, reading as research, and being gentle with yourself: An interview originally published by CeciliaIvy.com
Leon Macfayden and I discussed some of my findings from the research I’m doing into the complex relationship between art and mental health, my own lived experience with depression and what “recovery” might mean, and the role my Masters in Psychological Counseling played into all of this.
At Changing Lives, Wendi Gordon and I talked about my book The Artist’s Mind: why I wanted to write this book, how I chose the artists that are included, the sources used to research, what I learned that surprised me, and how writing the book impacted my own mental health and creativity.
Reflections on an author interview from over a decade ago and how much is still true. Kathryn Vercillo on book writing and marketing, crocheting to heal, and the advice to "Be You"
At Sue Clancy’s site we discussed the book as well: why I wrote a book about it instead of doing something like a podcast, and why it’s about artists instead of other careers. We also discussed the impact of war, global trauma, racism, sexism, and other aspects that intersect with individual mental health and the role art plays there. We also talk about self-care, staying inspired, and my pups.
At Wolf Interviews, we discuss ways that creativity can sometimes help overcome symptoms of depression but also the dangers of elevating that ideal to some magical level at the cost of wellness.
At RUINS, William Collen and I discuss how helping others through creating art can help the artist, how social media might have impacted some of these artists’ mental health if it existed during their lifetime, and the complicated nature of the art world/ business as it relates to an artist’s mental health.
The Cacao Muse did a Holiday Tour of Chocolate around Substack and paired Create Me Free with CocoTutti. I share my work, my favorite chocolate, and a fond memory.
DRESSEMBER INTERVIEWS
I participate in Dressember annually, interviewing other participants to amplify their voices as they raise awareness and funds to combat human trafficking.
My interview responses about it all. Here’s the “why I do it.”
Meet Kristen T, a military spouse raising awareness about human trafficking: "How can we better support each other through life and its struggles? How can we celebrate our small or big wins?"
Meet Brenda Vale, raising awareness about human trafficking. Wearing a dress daily as an act of self-care as well as a way to combat human trafficking around the globe.
Meet Claire Sutcliffe-Campo, taking a unique Dressember approach. Raising awareness about human trafficking concerns while raising funds for The National Deaf Children's Society.
Meet Library Lady Life, Disneybounding through Dressember. Raising awareness about human trafficking through Disney fashion.
Meet Naomi, A Teenager Making a Difference in the Battle Against Human Trafficking. "It feels amazing knowing that I, an American high school sophomore, can change lives worldwide."
Meet Alysa, in her 11th Year raising awareness and fighting human trafficking. "I think it's so easy to fall into a false sense of security as someone in North America that it's something that only happens in other countries, not in this country, not to people I would know."
Meet Kat Wesely, Exploring the Intersection of Creativity and Mental Health in the Fight Against Human Trafficking. "Every moment taken to pay attention to the world around you counts."
Meet Kristy Howard, Healing Out Loud in the Fight Against Human Trafficking. "I’m not alone. You’re not alone. We fight this battle together, and for those who cannot fight for themselves right now."
Meet Justine Drnjevic, Reminding Us for Dressember: "Our actions always have power." "The problem of human trafficking seems like an overwhelming task to tackle, but Dressember makes it accessible."
Meet Christy MacCallum, Honoring the Need for Self-Awareness/ Self-Care in Dressember Activism. "What matters the most (in all activism) is finding the sustainable balance between creatively participating and taking care of yourself so that you can keep participating."
Meet The Bearded Ladies Team! A London company making dresses in a fairtrade and sustainable way. We're a new company, making manly dresses for anyone, of any identity, who wants to wear 'em. We are wearing dresses (both our designs and others) every day in December.
Len Dresses Up! Emphasizing the Humanity Behind Human Trafficking. "Dressember does a really great job of humanizing the issue of human trafficking and telling victims’ stories in a way that is empowering and not further victimizing them."
Meet Donia Webb, an Elementary School Teacher Who Joins the Fight Against Human Trafficking. "Dressember reaches the most marginalized groups of people, like runaways, LGBTQ+ youth, children in foster care, people of color, and people suffering with mental health disorders."
Meet Chris, Embracing Genderfluidity to Raise Awareness in the Fight Against Human Trafficking. Dressember helped me become "me" in all the best ways. I will always be thankful to Blythe for creating this wonderful opportunity and as a result giving me the tools to explore my own gender identity
Meet Dixie, Pursuing Justice Through the Arts in Dressember. "The only way that we will end human trafficking is by joining hands with EVERYONE to create waves of change."
Meet Cyndi, Part of the Solution through Dressember. "No problem is too big to tackle. Together we can make a difference."
Meet Lindy, Wearing a Dress as a Poster, Chant, March, Advertisement, Loud Speaker. Dressember fights human trafficking. Did you know that "less than 1% of victims are rescued? They need urgent intervention and radical hope."
Meet Amy Stauter, Wearing The Same Dress Throughout Dressember to Fight Human Trafficking. Doing a small act for one month can make a big difference!
Guest post by Brenda Nicholson about human trafficking in the state of Michigan.
I also did several roundups of their poignant responses to specific questions including: What Does Dressember Mean to You?, What Does Mental Health Mean?, What Is Creativity in Activism?, How Do Art and Mental Health Intersect in Dressember?, and What Do Creativity and Mental Health Look Like For You?
Guest Posts
I’m always open to sharing guest posts that are relevant to the topic of how mental health and are intersect.
When Dickens stepped in to keep me company: How reading literature gave me purpose during a time of grief. A Create Me Free guest post by Jeffrey Streeter
Happiness is yellow: why neurodivergence can drive creativity - Guest Post by Allegra Chapman. Creativity can be a powerful tool for neurodivergent individuals to navigate a world that often fails to recognize their diverse perspectives, providing a platform for authentic self-expression.
Facing Fears and Trying New Things: Guest Post and Excerpt by Maggie Maris + Crochet Exercise by Kathryn Vercillo. A stop on the virtual book tour for My Journal, a guided journal published by the founder of Maggie's Way
VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR INFO!!
Famous Artists and Mental Health
I do research into a variety of artists in different genres with an eye towards understanding how mental health and creativity intersected in their lives.
Georgia O’Keeffe
Art for Thought: Georgia O'Keeffe's 1918 Painting "The Flag". The Flag represented not just the usually apolitical artist's political beliefs, but her fear, anxiety, and depression, emotions which mirrored those of the country at large.
Two Ways of Beginning a Book Chapter About Georgia O'Keeffe's Art and Mental Health. The final draft that I submitted to the editor/ publisher and the final final draft that ended up as the published version.
The Role That Alfred Stieglitz Played in Georgia O'Keeffe's Creativity and Mental Health. O’Keeffe and Stieglitz had a complicated relationship with one another as she effectively replaced not only his wife Emmy. O’Keeffe is quoted as saying, “he photographed me until I was crazy.”
Georgia O'Keeffe's Flowers as a Breathing Meditation for Anxiety. Lake George, New Mexico, a new man, and the artist's last years ....
5 Things About Georgia O'Keeffe: a car accident, stretching her own canvases, other artists in her orbit ... Plus museums dedicated to women artists (there aren't many), her sister Ida's experience with Stieglitz, and a version of Starry Night
Others
Leonora Carrington Art and Mental Health. The surrealist artist's psychotic breakdown, a closer look at a specific piece of her rat, and a few fun facts ...
Asylum Art: Artists Who Created While Living in Psychiatric Institutions (And Those Who Did Not). Aloise Corbaz, Barbara Suckfull, Bryan Charnley, Camille Claudel, Louis Wain, Martin Ramirez, Unica Zurn and more than a dozen other artists who did and didn't create while in inpatient care
Richard Dadd: Excerpt From The Artist’s Mind. After murdering his father during psychosis, Richard Dadd lived and created his art in a psychiatric prison.
Michelangelo: Art and Mental Health History. An unrevised, earlier version of a chapter from The Artist's Mind
Brazilian Artist Bispo. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and hospitalized, spending five decades in Rio de Janeiro asylums. Once institutionalized, Bispo became a prolific artist.
Kay Sage: Do the desolation, prison-like scaffolding, and muted colors of Sage's dreamscapes reflect a history of depression?
Mental Health Lessons From Famous Artists. There are two there and another seven here.
From The Books I'm Reading About Art and Mental Health
I read a lot of books related to art and mental health. This is where I share what I’m thinking about what I read in those pages.
Sylvia Plath
I’m having a romance with Sylvia Plath these days, so there are lots of things about her including thoughts on books she wrote, fiction books inspired by books she wrote, and books about her.
Depression and Writing in the Mind of Esther Greenwood. What The Bell Jar teaches us about the complex relationship between writing and major depression.
The Last Confessions of Sylvia P. Loved this book so much - it’s fiction based on The Bell Jar with another storyline added in.
Pain, Parties, Work … Sylvia Plath’s Bell Jar Summer. Non-fiction on fashion and beauty, art and writing, depression and handwriting analysis in a key summer of the author's life.
Other Books
Lisa Carver's Heart-Wrenching Writing. On Yoko Ono, Dissociative Identity, Parenting a Special Needs Child and all of the ways art relates ...
Thoughts from a book talk: Gigi Otálvaro-Hormillosa's Erotic Resistance: The Struggle for the Soul of San Francisco. On sex work as an art form, why I love San Francisco in spite of its many flaws, and how it all ties in to the complex relationship between art and mental health
If you re-read books do you also usually order the same thing off of a menu? This was from a conversation we had here on Substack that I found super interesting! I’m mostly not a re-reader myself and do order new things off menus.
My 2024 Substack Experience
A blunt look at what Create Me Free needed to shift since the financial realities didn’t start to match up with the creative dreams - specifically losing weekly digests, considering a milestone format. I then realized I needed to unsubscribe to 300+ substacks. Next I explored: Am I writing on Substack for income or for community and what changes if the answer changes? And then: Is Substack Really for Paid Newsletters or Is It A Writer's Social Media Site?
And More:
Dancing About Depression Videos depicting the experience of depression/ mental "illness" through dance performance art
Housekeeping
A few posts that are about me and my writing and things around here: