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Art With Jess, Manchester (2026)

08/06/2026

✨WE INVENTED THE WEEKEND FESTIVAL ✨

What an incredible two days at the We Are The Weekend Festival at Media City.

Talk About It Mate was proud to be part of this amazing community event, using art as a powerful tool to start conversations, encourage creativity, and promote positive wellbeing.

Throughout the festival, visitors joined us in creative activities, shared stories, and discovered how art can help support mental health and emotional expression. Alongside our art activities, we were also raising awareness of local safe spaces and support services available within our community and within TAIM (Talkaboutitmate)

Creating connections, reducing stigma, and helping people know where they can turn for support are at the heart of what TAIM do. The group offers a safe, supportive, and non-judgmental space where men can connect, talk, and be heard.

Whether you’re dealing with stress, anxiety, low mood, loneliness, life changes, or simply looking for a community that understands, you’re welcome here.

A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by, got involved, shared a conversation, or simply took the time to learn more about mental health and wellbeing. Together, we’re helping to build a stronger, more connected, and more supportive community.

💛 Remember: You don’t have to face life’s challenges alone. Safe spaces, support networks, and community groups are here for you.

If anyone is interested in the art practice used at the festival it’s hirameki drawing. Hirameki is a Japanese words translates to “brainwave” or “lightbulb moment”. Ever looked at the clouds and thought “wow, like looks like a bird” this exercise uses that creativity but instead of clouds, it’s ink blots.

You look at the abstract shapes and draw them into recognisable images. Great mindfulness exercise, and a great way of being creative for those that say “I don’t have time to be creative”.

02/06/2026

✨ The Yet Jar✨

As an artist, an art coordinator and a conversationalist I hear A-LOT “I can’t “ ….. specifically, “I can’t draw”, “I can’t paint” “I’m not creative “ “I can’t do art” especially with the guys at Talk About It Mate but recently I’ve been thinking about how to redirect that mindset and the solution - “The Yet Jar”.

If I had a £1 for every “I can’t” I’d be a millionaire, the influence for the yet jar was from the infamous “swear jar” but I didn’t want it to be a punishment, I wanted it to be a redirection, from a “I can’t” to “I can’t yet” implying that currently you think you’re unable to do something, but intend to do it in the future suggesting that you are still learning and practicing or waiting for the right circumstances.

“I can’t” implies the 🚪 is completely closed, but “I can’t yet” keeps the door open by implying growth and redirecting the mindset to “I’m still learning “.

RULES

If someone says “I can’t” they must write a self -complimentary slip. Suggestions include;

• “One thing I did well today…”
• “A skill I have is…”
• “Something I’ve improved at /good at…”

These reflections help by recognising a time where you used to say “I can’t” but now it’s a skill, it’s something you’re proud of, it’s a moment where you persevered when you felt that you was incapable of, and that in itself is powerful!

28/05/2026

✨Wanna play a game?✨

TWISTER

What happens when drawing becomes a game of chance, movement, and emotion?

In this creative exercise, me and the guys from Talk About It Mate used a Twister-inspired drawing game where each colour gave a different instruction — encouraging participants to let go of perfection, respond instinctively, and explore emotions through mark-making.

🔴 Red – scribble
🔵 Blue – waves
🟡 Yellow – Xs
🟢 Green – triangles

As colours were called out, the guys had to respond physically and emotionally in real time. The result? Layered drawings that reflected energy, stress, calm, chaos, playfulness, and connection.

This activity explore mindfulness through creativity and embracing spontaneity

Often, being creative can come to a holt, that’s why sometimes, instructions can be useful for creative expression.

Artist such as Allan Kaprow and his “happening “ series where he uses rule based events where the audience becomes the artwork through guided instructions, Marina Abamovic uses endurance, audience participation and structured actions and others too- it’s a tool, just like a pencil or a paint brush 🖌️🧑‍🎨

19/05/2026

✨Mindful colouring ✨

When was the last time you coloured a picture in?

On Monday, with Talk About It Mate this is what happened unexpectedly - the objective of the session was to practice drawing techniques like cross hatching, hatching, stippling and blending with pencil, and then to convert it to colour within a image.

But what I noticed was men having heart felt conversations, expressing deep emotions, experimenting creatively, reminiscing and having a laugh all through the likes of colouring.

This geometric shading pieces was more than just learning color and design — it became an exercise in mindfulness, patience, and self-expression. The balance of symmetry, warm colors, and repetitive shading techniques helped create a calming and focused environment for creativity.

Sometimes, healing and growth begin with a pencil, color, and a safe space to create.

17/05/2026

✨A Picture Can Speak A Thousand Words ✨

I recently tried an art exercise where I drew my family members as objects instead of people — and it affected my mental health in ways I didn’t expect. Each day will be different reflecting on your mood, mindset, relationships etc, and I think the guys at experienced the same process.

One family member might became a kettle, short fuse, abrupt, stressed.

Another became an alien: being the outsider, the “black sheep” alien to others or to oneself. Someone else portraying their father as a pack of sausages to portray their flirtatious personality.

I put myself as an unfinished rubic cube, stressed, complicated and always question being “complete” (whatever that means).

What surprised me most was how much this exercise revealed without needing words. Sometimes emotions are easier to understand symbolically than directly. It helped me and the guys process relationships, hidden tensions, comfort, love, and even resentment in a safe and creative way.

You don’t need to be “good at art” for this to work. The point isn’t the drawing — it’s the reflection that comes after.

Mental health conversations don’t always have to begin with talking. Sometimes they begin with a pencil, a page, and the courage to look at your inner world differently.

16/05/2026

✨Life Drawing ✨

Thank you for being our lovely life model Esther 👏 for Talk About It Mate - the guys have definitely captured your colourful spirit through their work!

Life drawing can be in the n**e 👀 dressed, portrait, landscape, in charcoal, paints, pencils - there is so much diversity when it comes to drawing a live model!

Life drawing offers more than creativity — it gives people space to slow down, focus, and reconnect with themselves, it reduces stress and anxiety through mindful concentration and encourages being present in the moment.

For many men especially, creative spaces can feel easier than traditional conversations around mental health.

Sitting together, a bit of banter, drawing, and sharing a space can open connection naturally and without expectation.

You don’t need to be “good at art” to benefit from life drawing — the process itself is what matters.
Art can’t solve everything, but it can create calm, confidence, and community.

On Friday we started off with 3 minute drawings, 5 minutes then 20. Seeing your progress gradually rewires your brain to change “I can’t” to “I’m experimenting”

creativeworkshop mindfulness

07/05/2026

✨ Minimalism Part 2✨

This bum vase is always the talk of the town at Talk About It Mate and for good reason, they’re so bloody good at portraying it!

Part 2 focus was on minimalistic material unlike the first part which was working with technique capturing the essence of the still life through linear drawing, I wanted to spice things up with ✨collage✨

And I think the guys did a fabulous job! Collage and minimalism can go hand in hand, it forces intentional choices. When you limit yourself (few elements, restrained colours, lots of space), every piece you include has to earn its place.

Instead of grabbing dozens of pages, you might use just one, a torn shape, and a block of colour. That constraint sharpens your decision-making and strengthens your visual storytelling.

It also reduces being creatively overwhelmed too! Collage can quickly become chaotic. A minimalist approach simplifies the process, fewer materials, fewer decisions, clearer direction.

06/05/2026

✨Minimalism ✨

Lovely session with Talk About It Mate and yesterday’s session part one was working with minimalism as a theme, “less is more” some would say. But creatively minimalism can be hard, especially if we apply creative pressure to fill in all the details all at once.

First drawing was drawing with continuous line, second was 2 lines with 2 colours, third was 3 lines with 3 colours and 4 drawing normally with 1 colour. Sometimes, there’s too much to choose from and this can give us creative block, and this applies to daily life.

Philosophically, minimalism is focusing on the essentials. A lot of us hold internal or physical struggles and stresses and it’s hard to prioritise and get overwhelmed. We discussed how minimalism can benefit us, and tricks that could help.

One word of advice was to get a mini bin 🗑️ and put all your stresses in that bin, and when it’s full, prioritise.

Each drawing is capturing the essence of the still life, not focusing on shading, or getting the shapes right, but strengthening the basics. Many artists improve faster by simplifying first, then adding complexity later.

It also trains your seeing. When you draw minimally, you start noticing subtle relationships angles, negative space, and balance that are easy to ignore in more complex work.

Good work guys! 🧑‍🎨

28/04/2026

Yesterday with Talk About It Mate we worked with MEDIUMS.

The mediums were fine liner, oil pastels, soft pastels and coloured pencils, the second half was working with watercolours!

Mediums can extend to the material you’re using both through technique (pen/pencil) and through representation (paper). Me and the guys did both!

I gave the guys “starter packs” that had 2 drawing pieces of paper (10x7.5cm), a yellow one (8.5x6cm) and a purple piece (6x 4.5cm) the purpose for different sizes it to work with perspective, accuracy and to make creative decisions with dimensions.

Working big or even A4 can be daunting, especially if you tell yourself you’re not good at art (rubbish!) so starting small and experimenting is a good starting point!

A lot of the conversations within the session was about just having an ago, changing the narrative that they have told themselves which is not being good enough!

Art isn’t meant to he perfected it’s meant to be practiced!

25/04/2026

Yesterday with Talk About It Mate we explored bilateral drawing and drawing in silly ways. Using both hands, crossing the page, and letting go of “doing it right” helped shift the focus from pressure to play.

I’ve done this exercise with other groups from langworthy, and Walkden and decided to do it again with Eccles, an oldy but goodie.

Reason being, is art can be intimidating, especially being thrown in the deep end, but what people don’t understand is being creative is to explore playfulness, being curious and being silly in the name of art.

Bilateral movement can feel grounding, while silly drawing helps challenge self-judgment and perfectionism.

Sometimes wellbeing grows through movement, humour, and giving yourself permission to be imperfect.

Moral of the post: Be silly, have a laugh and see where it takes you

Art With Jess

08/06/2026

02/06/2026

28/05/2026

19/05/2026

17/05/2026

16/05/2026

07/05/2026

06/05/2026

28/04/2026

25/04/2026

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