<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[DeConte Fine Art]]></title><description><![CDATA[Rachel Duffield Art]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2026 14:32:15 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.artwelleast.org/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[How art can reduce loneliness and improve wellbeing]]></title><description><![CDATA[Shared art can reduce loneliness and improve mental health Photo credit Rachel Duffield: Community Art Club 2024 Loneliness is not just an unpleasant feeling. It can affect sleep, stress, mood, immune function, motivation, and long-term health. People can feel lonely after bereavement, illness, relocation, caring responsibilities, retirement, disability, or simply through a lack of regular connection. Arts engagement can help because it gives people a reason to gather that is not forced or...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/how-art-can-reduce-loneliness-and-improve-wellbeing</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a919c72968a722ed63792a1</guid><pubDate>Sun, 18 Oct 2026 15:31:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_5df6a9ebf5704176be8ebb93e09cc7bc~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[October 2026 Newsletter]]></title><description><![CDATA[Rachel Duffield Art Inspirational art classes, clubs &#38;  coaching October 2026 Transformational art clubs, classes &#38; coaching for wellbeing and personal growth Hello there!   A few people have asked me recently what I do when I'm not teaching art.   Well, sometimes I make my own art, but not often enough. Below is a 'trois crayons' self-portrait I did last week - I only have my own face to draw most of the time so I've started pulling different expressions!    Boringly, I do a LOT of social...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/october-2026-newsletter</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6abe3e867abaa950d89b1cdc</guid><pubDate>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 11:14:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_6639bd551ecc46ab9e9befd8e763bae3~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Art for wellbeing or art as therapy: What's the difference? ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Art can say what words cannot - so why don't I call it therapy? Photo Rachel Duffield Creative Reset: Art Life Journalling 2026 Short answer: I'm not a trained therapist! My professional experience is in teaching, coaching, supporting and guiding, which I've been doing, one way or another, for 25 years. Emphasising the process rather than the outcome in my art classes, alongside offering a warm, welcoming, safe space, is what gives them their wellbeing focus. So, art as therapy, or art as...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/art-for-wellbeing-or-art-as-therapy-what-s-the-difference</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9191be4f7694ed1ed77fb4</guid><pubDate>Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:24:55 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_d24d6e0288a649a189c684015282b56f~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_939,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The surprising ways my own wellbeing improved through making art with others]]></title><description><![CDATA[Photo credit @timetobephotography I started Community Art Clubs CIC (a Community Interest Company) in 2024 to support people in rural communities to create, experience, and enjoy art while combatting growing issues like social isolation.  What I didn't expect was how well it would make me, too. My own wellbeing improved through making art with others  Drawing from my 20+ years of experience in Norfolk Museums' learning and engagement team, I always say I launched the social enterprise based...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/the-surprising-ways-my-own-wellbeing-improved-through-making-art-with-others</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9a7bd1e12fa7bad8b5b84e</guid><pubDate>Thu, 10 Sep 2026 12:19:37 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_7ad923b4351a433ebc45bc4d4ebc65e5~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Arts and Wellbeing: How Creativity Lowers Stress, Heals Trauma and Boosts Health]]></title><description><![CDATA[A song can soften a hard day in minutes. A sketch can give shape to a feeling that has no words. A dance class can turn loneliness into shared laughter. Art is often treated as a pleasant extra, but research and clinical practice suggest it can play a meaningful role in health and wellbeing. Arts engagement takes many forms. It can be active, such as painting, singing, dancing, writing, playing an instrument, acting, or making ceramics. It can also be receptive, such as listening to music,...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/arts-and-wellbeing-how-creativity-lowers-stress-heals-trauma-and-boosts-health</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a918ffb94a35c6c99d3447d</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 07:52:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_8b60adef4cf94afa9146ce10ff5eecb9~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[A quiet space for your creativity this Autumn (Sept 2026 Newsletter)]]></title><description><![CDATA[Rachel Duffield Art Inspirational art classes, clubs &#38;  coaching September 2026 Transformational art clubs, classes &#38; coaching for wellbeing and personal growth September's headlines: Community Art Clubs are back from summer break NEW Thetford Community Art Club - alternate Wednesdays  Creative Reset: Art Life Journalling Six Week Course starts 11th Sept Copycats theme for September is Kim Haskins  If you have been feeling creatively blocked, overwhelmed, or like your inner perfectionist has...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/a-quiet-space-for-your-creativity-this-autumn-sept-2026-newsletter</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a96d58125b3354b47925183</guid><pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2026 13:40:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_7f043478637d4eee81c95b18905de396~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_630,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Three Fears About Making Art and How To Banish Them for Good ]]></title><description><![CDATA[[Jump to list] "If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced” ? Who said this? You guessed it - it's attributed to the famous Starry Night painter Vincent Van Gogh himself. If the quote is right, he's not wrong. Any artist will tell you the best way to improve is simply to make some art every day by maintaining a daily drawing practice in a sketchbook.  Except we all know it's not always as easy as that. As an artist and art...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/three-fears-about-making-art-and-how-to-banish-them-for-good</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a620d40b252e37e4d34f325</guid><pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2026 11:34:39 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_a6b99c27c11743c7b07feca7323c05d2~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Art for Wellbeing Everywhere- Even Prisons?]]></title><description><![CDATA[The word 'well-being' was once accompanied by audible eye-rolling. This recent  BBC report about the use of art as a rehabilitation method for prisoners in HMP Erlestoke started me thinking about how attitudes to art for wellbeing have -and haven't- changed in a decade.  Photo Credit Gressenhall Farm &#38; Workhouse Rolling back a decade to my own 2016 work in community engagement, I visited a range of community groups - including a prison - to use historical stories and arts activities to engage...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/art-for-wellbeing-everywhere-even-prisons</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a75a0252dc76a37da3d5cb4</guid><pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2026 10:23:26 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_82efe78f8e7c47e6852d96af53368f76~mv2.webp/v1/fit/w_455,h_150,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Creative Reset : 6 Weeks to Clarity &#38; Purpose with Art Life Journalling]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Creative Reset:  6 Weeks to Clarity &#38; Purpose with Art Life Journalling Booking is open now for your  6-week creative breakthrough   Art Life Journalling 6-weeker starts 11th Sept!   Design Your Next Chapter with a 6-week journey to inner clarity Find creative alignment through journaling for life transitions Reclaim your narrative 6 weeks of gentle art and conversation in a uniquely intimate, respectful &#38; transformative community.   Each cohort is strictly capped at just six participants...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/creative-reset-6-weeks-to-clarity-purpose-with-art-life-journalling</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a79a3d5ecb2cb929ff5eb58</guid><pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2026 10:20:59 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_853ea1fac5f84c1cbdf4372b129dc88e~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Five (arts) a Day to Keep the Doctor Away]]></title><description><![CDATA[Picture Credit Rachel Duffield 2025 Community Art Club in Bunwell, Norfolk Art is good for you. It's been scientifically proven in a lot of studies (I've listed a few of them here) that getting creative can act as a real pick-me-up, causing psychobiological reactions in our bodies that translate into things like improved cognition, reduced inflammation, and uplifted mood. Of course, creativity doesn't just mean arts &#38; crafts - or even creating something you'd want to show anyone else! The...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/five-arts-a-day-to-keep-the-doctor-away</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a69e5bc5329f38dcec6216c</guid><pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 08:53:12 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_8cc1a2bc36d8483a9fec227f4cca1891~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why Art Is For Everyone]]></title><description><![CDATA[Bunwell Community Art Club July 2026 Photo Credit R Duffield Of COURSE art is for everyone - why wouldn't it be? I was born into a culturally engaged family that visited so many stately homes as a kid I got sick of them. I had dancing and music lessons. I was given colouring books and feltpens and crayons and craft kits and a subscription to a kids' magazine called Make &#38; Do. I had no idea how lucky I was. As an adult, I fell back in love with heritage and worked in 'museums and galleries...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/why-art-is-for-everyone</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a60e489c1270e7e21eda1de</guid><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2026 08:51:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_757df984041b4afc9946d01a4a7bec95~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[8 Ways Art Is Good For You]]></title><description><![CDATA[[Jump to list] Recommendations for products or services not offered by Rachel are for info only &#38; not affiliated to/of any financial benefit to Rachel Photo credit Becky Demmen Sewell @TimeToBePhotography 2025 What is the point of art and creativity? Some people would say it’s a waste of time, right? Here in the UK, politicians have been removing funding for arts education in schools at an alarming rate for some years. And if people think that artists contribute nothing to society, I wonder...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/8-ways-art-is-good-for-you</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a60b5715240f49d5ffef499</guid><pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:43:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_869c9344bef64f418eecfecb5495f036~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[When Mindfulness Actually Matters]]></title><description><![CDATA[It's Mental Health Awareness week and I need to get a pet peeve off my chest. Speaking as someone who was unfortunate enough to be well aware of 'mental health issues' back in the days when it was only whispered about in dark corners, I honestly find it hard to believe we still need a special time to make others aware of it. To explain- I fall into the category known as Gen X, which, as I learned through a range of amusing internet memes, means that I was raised on garden hose water, Angel...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/when-mindfulness-actually-matters</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0334a38bd1bce082af3ed6</guid><pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2026 16:35:51 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_b1e54f5f304a40c09f75d55ff44b48ab~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[That Time Art Life Journalling Changed My Life ]]></title><description><![CDATA[If there's one thing I've learned in my 52 years, it's that everything is connected. It was Mary Blue, an artist who paints the sea (sometimes using seawater, come to think of it - and that's her real name), who first showed me that a sketchbook could be something more than just a series of unfinished drawings. Mary had kept all of hers since college, even transporting them over to the UK from her homeland of the USA, so I knew they were important to her. She sketched, annotated, stuck things...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/that-time-art-life-journalling-changed-my-life</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c16ab5e26320a33935193e</guid><pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2026 13:30:55 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_1d5078e64b364ce98fc1dd59955b6f93~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[That Time I Started An Art Club]]></title><description><![CDATA[It's the day before I launch my third Community Art Club, and I can't quite believe it. This time three years ago I was, to put it bluntly, pissed off and tired. Like many perimenopausal women I had this undertow of permanent 'wtf' with my body doing weird stuff. Also, like many my age, I was really hacked off with my job; I'd finally become the miserable old bag I swore I never would, scowling in the corner, pooh-poohing 'new' ideas as they carouselled into view for the umpteenth time in my...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/that-time-i-started-an-art-club</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69bab4b16f55c54be95f28a6</guid><pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2026 16:41:38 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_5a71e6c707e848be9c9fba6761eba9c2~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[That Time I Made a Queen Elizabeth I Costume. ]]></title><description><![CDATA[...and then remade it... and then added some more bling... and then a bit more... Remember, if you can, to a world before before Covid,...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/that-time-i-made-a-queen-elizabeth-i-costume</link><guid isPermaLink="false">63b5ab6a5f1ca1d298f94fe7</guid><category><![CDATA[Costume]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 04 Jan 2023 16:42:43 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_9174d3b3c8814227a11cdca17ceca191~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[That Orange Carpet (tw: mental health issues)]]></title><description><![CDATA[In the 1970s our home decor was all orange, brown and lime green. It felt like we had that same grotesque flowery orange carpet on our stairs for my entire childhood. I also feel like my clothes shared the same palette; our pets certainly did- not the lime green, but we had a friendly brown dog and a succession of spiteful ginger tomcats, one of whom famously camouflaged himself on an orange mandala cushion and got sat on. I digress. I'm here to talk about the painting. And orange carpets,...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/that-orange-carpet</link><guid isPermaLink="false">63aebb259653c3d7b0301cf3</guid><category><![CDATA[Painting]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 2022 11:38:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_dd3d05674e784934b9dfc3cc4df15cc7~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[That Time Tracey Emin Liked My Work ]]></title><description><![CDATA[I never thought things like this happened to people like me, but... A while back I had a tutoring session with Brighton-based figurative artist Amy Dury (@amy_dury). She asked me to bring a reference photo to paint, suggesting I use the face of any artist I admire, so I brought along the splendid visage of Tracey Emin. Tracey's controversial  work fascinates me, and I'd watched her episode of Who Do You Think You Are, so she seemed a good choice. The session was beyond brilliant both for...]]></description><link>https://www.artwelleast.org/post/that-time-tracey-emin-liked-my-work</link><guid isPermaLink="false">63adb49988e2701cf202fbf0</guid><category><![CDATA[Painting]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 29 Dec 2022 22:47:28 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/425ed9_8e5543a30e1f489799580c0316e01914~mv2.webp/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rachel Duffield</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>