Gallery

Click on a name below to take you to the project:

Art Lifelines

This artwork is from our social prescribing project for Merton residents. The project was funded by Healthy London Partnership, Arts Council and the Mayor of London as a pilot social prescribing programme, helping improve people’s mental health and wellbeing through creativity.

*The project was funded by Healthy London Partnership, Arts Council and the Mayor of London as a pilot social prescribing programme, helping improve people’s mental health and wellbeing through creativity.

How Does it Feel?

Freedom Stroll - Tracy Eaton

After what seemed like an eternity stuck in the Covid lockdown, being able to go back to the park made me feel free.

Magdalene - Thomas Etheridge

Watercolours & Gouache

Woods - Rinal Patel

Eye - Rados

Eyes speak more than words. Eyes as intimate conversation of the soul.

Heal - Sukaina Juma

I wanted to use bright colours that would appeal to the eye on first sight and to use patterns to add texture. It was very therapeutic to create this piece, as it has been a while since I have made art work.

Horse - Rados

Family Crest Matters - Consuela Lewinson

Thomas in Chocolate - Rinal Patel

The Fox Muse - Tracy Eaton

Rediscovering pointillism during the first Covid lockdown, I made a new foxy friend who comes to see me in the garden.

Relaxing - Uzi Imran

It was about mandalas, it was an easy start to go into the project. It was so relaxing, it eases your mind. As long as you have all your materials in front you can get started, it can help you forget the world around you. I’d recommend it to anybody.

Fiery - Sukaina Juma

I drew this after a dance movement therapy session which brought up a lot of difficult emotions to process. I began with a mandala design, but then intuitively I drew large strokes and fire to express myself. I felt a huge emotional release after this was complete.

Not As Seems - Shardz

This piece of art is my representation of the saying "behind closed doors". In the part of the image where the door is shut, we can see through it and everything seems normal, but as we open the door, we see the image in its true state. Torn. The hand opening the door represents us, looking in to understand situations that may be overlooked at a first glance.

Open Your Art

An abundance of artworks have appeared in waiting rooms, along platforms and railings at South Croydon station. The rail company GTR approached Studio Upstairs, inviting us to help improve the look and feel of South Croydon Station. A diverse group of artists, all members of Studio Upstairs, responded to a call for artworks that would comfort, inspire, and connect with people passing through the busy suburban station. The art trail of images includes striking large-scale posters, intimate and reflective pieces, art with a tongue-in-cheek message, plus a cosmos of colourful bubble-shaped stickers.The artists in this exhibition are members, volunteers and workers from Studio Upstairs. We are a therapeutic arts community with studios in Croydon, Dalston and Bristol. We support people experiencing mental health difficulties to find artistic expression and personal creativity.

*This exhibition has been generously supported by: Southern Print Foundry Lab, LION Picture Framing Supplies Ltd, Kit Oates Photography

Also, huge thanks to: Sarah Dean, Snapped Arts; Mary Gauthier, songwriter; Andy Keane, installer and Whitney at South Croydon

Open Your Art

Mercy Now - Andrew Mead

Subterr-tr-ainia - James Squire

Sunny Shard - Devi Raste

Armour - Edgar Causey

Cloud Streets - Toria Lamb

Worry Train - Jake-Summer

Shared Ovation - Andrew Whitely

To Do Today - Toria Lamb & Andrew Mead

Etty-Mathews-The-Magic-of-the-World-in-a-Dewdrop-300x300.jpg

The Magic of the World in a Dewdrop - Etty Mathews

Warm Up Memories Plz 5T2 - James Squire

You Have Done Nothing Wrong - Nicola Field

Lady meditating at the well - Sandra Wills

How Does it Feel

How Does It Feel?

Online Exhibition responding to COVID19 Lockdown

Covid-Contained - Etty Mattews, Watercolour, 76x58cm

This work began on 31.03.20 as part of a group response to the lockdown. It is chronological response to a weekly art psychotherapy group and my feelings around being contained by the virus but by finding the art work emotionally containing.

Cornered - Brem Locke, Watercolour, 76x58cm

I decided to try and make a painting without brushes and decided on kitchen roll as it’s been in short supply. I tried to capture the feeling of being trapped inside the house and not really knowing what is going on outside of the window. I’ve definitely felt the isolation and strangeness of the lockdown and I know everybody else feels it too.

Staying at Home - Carrie, Watercolour & pens, 21x29cm

I drew my experience of each week during lockdown. This week was spent growing different things – I now have 16 plants, but they’ve brought a little serenity to this scary experience! I've had to learn to tolerate my own company somehow, and nature has helped.

Time Stamp of Loss - Fazila Virmani, Mixed Media, 21x15cm

It has been a year of immense loss with so much coming to an end abruptly. I lost my father and whilst I was and still grieving, there came this pandemic that shook the world. I went through further losses; loss of health, loss of working, loss of graduation and university environment. Amidst all of this I lost myself too.

Free-weeling

This piece is pure, mindless, plan-less doodle. The point was not the final product, but the act of making. Doodling helps me feel calm and focused, which can be hard sometimes during lockdown. I haven’t doodled in years, and lockdown gave me the opportunity to remember how much I enjoy it.

Save Lives - Grazyna, Photography, 40x30cm

I am a strong believer in artworks talking for themselves however I do take into account how important the back story may be and how much it may add emotionally to any image ; how appreciative audiences may be when symbols and objects or sources of inspiration for individual pieces are explained . This image is self - explanatory today and I wonder what its lifespan may be in the dystopian future.

Suspended - Genevieve Collier, Magazine print & acrylic paint, 40x50cm

There has been an underlying sense of waiting around in the dark, not knowing anything for certain during the pandemic. The tarot image of the Hanged Man is usually suspended upside down, voluntarily surrendering to forces for change that are coming but not yet understood.

Lily Flowers - Vera Freire, Wire, Enamel Paint, 30x70cm

I went to the park and I saw the flowers which make me think of isolation. I was inspired by the flowers because I could not go anywhere else. I was feeling claustrophobic at home, and the Studio Upstairs group online has made me feel better. Thanks to the group, I was inspired to use wire at home.

Godzilla - Jerry Bayley, Acrylic on Card

This is a piece l painted at the Studio Upstairs . I've always loved the image of GODZILLA a 500 ft creature that saves our planet from other Monsters. It's a bit like the way scientists are saving people from the Covid -19 virus if you imagine it as a destructive monster. GODZILLA is the saviour of humanity . He is a kind of metaphor for an anti virus.

Subjective - Kayleigh Ditchburn, Acrylic, 29x30cm

Initially I envisioned creating a waterfall, I then turned it upside down and a volcano also appeared. I found this piece evolving into different things depending on what the viewer was experiencing. What can you see?

Locked Eyes - Harriet Muncey, Acrylic on Paper, 29x42cm

Like many of my lockdown projects, this isn’t actually finished. I’ve spent so many hours in online meetings staring at people in little boxes - including myself - unable to access those particular moments of satisfying connection when you make eye contact with another human. This is me, locking eyes with myself, really trying to see what’s behind them.

Inside the Studio - Toria, Oil Paint, 30x45cm

It was the first still life I have made and it was to give me a piece of the studio life whilst at home.