[00:00:00] Pam Uzzell: Do you believe art can change the world? So do I! On this show, we meet artists whose work is doing just that. Welcome to Art Heals All Wounds. I'm your host, Pam Uzzell. Do you ever struggle with judging yourself? I do. This is something I've worked on, but it still can get me. That voice inside that says things like, You could have done better. You should have worked harder. Why did you feel so angry, or so hurt, or so sad? As we approach this holiday season, I decided to give myself a gift.
[00:01:14] I found a book called The Intuitive Drawing Journal: A Guided Journal for Processing Feelings and Emotions, made by the artist, Almudena Rocca. Almudena is a multidisciplinary artist and advocate for mental health. She created a beautiful drawing journal that focuses on using the continuous line drawing technique as a way to draw your way through difficult emotions.
[00:01:42] The overarching theme of this journal is no judgment. That's the gift I'm giving myself, a break from judgment. I ordered Almudena's book and I'm about to order two more for both of my daughters. I also invited Almudena on the show to talk about the book and her own struggles with mental health that inspired her to create this journal.
[00:02:06] She's learned from experience that creating the space just a few minutes every day to connect with your emotions through this drawing technique can become a tool when you need help going through difficult emotions without judgment.
[00:02:22] What I love about this is that I really don't know how to draw. And this journal, of course, emphasizes learning to draw without judgment. Almudena has generously offered a 25 percent discount on her book for Art Heals All Wounds listeners.
[00:02:39] At the end of this episode, I'll give you the info on how to get that discount. She's also offered three free copies for listeners. So I'll let you know what to do in order to have a chance to get one of the free copies.
[00:02:53] And of course, all of that info will also be in the show notes.
[00:02:59] Hi, Almudena, thank you so much for being on Art Heals All Wounds. Can you start by telling us who you are and what you do?
[00:03:09] Almudena Rocca: Hi. Just thank you so much for having me, first of all. My name's Almudena and I'm a multidisciplinary artist
[00:03:16] based in the UK. I do a lot of different things, but primarily my work focuses on clay, stained glass and tattooing. And a lot of inspiration for it comes from
[00:03:29] experiencing mental health, whether that's my own experiences or other people's experiences, as well as just the importance of creative spaces in improving
[00:03:40] mental health and how important art is in healing.
[00:03:44] Pam Uzzell: So, Almudena, I want to talk about your book, The Intuitive Drawing Journal: A Guided Journal For Processing Feelings and Emotions. Can you describe what this book is?
[00:03:56] Almudena Rocca: It's a drawing journal first and foremost,
[00:03:58] but, it's based on just drawing every day and the importance of drawing,
[00:04:04] and it looks at specifically a technique called the continuous line,
[00:04:08] so where you,
[00:04:09] Draw without lifting your hand off the
[00:04:11] paper, and It came about just with, the importance of journaling and how people journal every day,
[00:04:17] whether that's they wake up and journal their thoughts, just to kind of clear their mind.
[00:04:22] But I wanted to tackle it and make it more art based rather than text based, as I always felt that art can reach a lot deeper than maybe some words can. So it's kind of... a journal based on that and finding different ways to process how you're feeling and somewhere to place them and somewhere to put them...
[00:04:40] Pam Uzzell: I love this book. I don't draw, although I think because of your book, I'm going to start but I wanted to say really quickly before we get any further, when I was reading this book, I kept Googling you because I just I knew that you were young, but your book has so, much wisdom. I just kept thinking, [00:05:00] wait, is she older than I think she is?
[00:05:03] But it is incredible how mature and how much just really. incredible wisdom around mental health and art there is in this book. So I'd love to get the backstory on this. I think I read in there that you had your own experience with a panic attack or something. Can you talk about that and how that led you to thinking that it would be really helpful to create a journal like this?
[00:05:31] Almudena Rocca: Yeah, Oh just thank you so much, I appreciate it. I've always been told I'm a bit wiser, wise head on my shoulders. So, I've always experienced family members and friends who have had really bad mental ill health and I kind of never really was aware of it until, until I had that panic attack, I think, so in, I believe it was 2019, just with the stresses of, I think, graduating and Trying to find your feet in the world as a non student, all of that then led up as well as past things that I hadn't processed, traumas, things like that.
[00:06:08] It's like a kettle boiling, and then it's like that boiling point and then all of a sudden it was this kind of burst
[00:06:14] of a panic attack and then that kind of then led
[00:06:17] me into starting my own healing journey and going into
[00:06:21] therapy. And throughout this time, I had always used drawing and art as a way to voice how I was feeling or
[00:06:29] to help process things that I
[00:06:32] didn't really know how to.
[00:06:34] Again, like having a place for them to be put down and expressed in a way that I feel like sometimes
[00:06:40] words couldn't reach.
[00:06:43] And I'd always use the continuous line drawing
[00:06:45] technique as a way to
[00:06:47] Either press really hard on the paper to kind of release any stress or anger or as a way to just relax and
[00:06:54] have a place to numb my mind a little bit and
[00:06:57] just not think about anything.
[00:06:59] And then in, I'd like to say about
[00:07:02] It's 2019, 2020, start of 2020. That's kind of where the idea of the book came about, kind of thinking about how others could use this technique to access how they're feeling, , and explore that in a way that's safe and Most and foremost, yeah.
[00:07:19] Helping other people with that.
[00:07:21] Pam Uzzell: Yeah, I would love just to get more information about the continuous line technique. As I said, I don't draw and I don't think I had ever heard of this before. Can you describe what that. means just a little bit more?
[00:07:39]
[00:07:39] Almudena Rocca: I first used it when I was in first school, so at a really young age and it's one kind of technique that you can use to loosen up before you even start drawing, it's almost like when you draw without looking at the paper, things like that.
[00:07:55] So it's kind of one of those techniques. And again, it's really simple. It's just drawing without lifting your hand off the paper
[00:08:02] and. It can look
[00:08:06] really
[00:08:06] different to each person. So kind of in the book, I give you like a range
[00:08:10] of different techniques, all using that same motion of not lifting your hand off the paper.
[00:08:16] When I first started drawing, I kind of just started doodling with it. So
[00:08:20] doodling in my
[00:08:21] sketchbook without lifting my hand off the paper. And then I started to see faces within that. And so I kind of started
[00:08:28] then to develop my illustration started like that and then started drawing faces because I kind of saw myself within those faces
[00:08:35] Pam Uzzell: I love the faces that you have in the journal. Every few pages, there will be an example of something that you've drawn with this technique. And I want to go through the book a little bit. You start first by talking about emotions and then examples of how you might draw from those and draw about those what are some of the emotions that you introduce in this book?
[00:09:02] Almudena Rocca: So we look at 11 kind of what I'd call quite core emotions. And they kind of range from anger to happiness, to sadness, , to guilt, to jealousy, so kind of all things that I think everyone's probably experienced but might not know how to, feel or know the right words to
[00:09:26] access that feeling. So we kind of go through those 11 core emotions, and then it just gives you then space to do what you want
[00:09:35] with it as well, with lots of prompts and questions along the way.
[00:09:38] Pam Uzzell: Yeah, I love... the emotions I think that they are emotions that we all can relate to and the prompts are really great. One thing that struck me about your book is that
[00:09:50] you really emphasize this idea of no judgment,
[00:09:54] Almudena Rocca: Mmmm.
[00:09:55] I
[00:09:55] Pam Uzzell: No judgment on your drawing, no judgment on your [00:10:00] feelings. Can you talk about that? Why was that so important for you to emphasize that?
[00:10:05] Almudena Rocca: I think it's just really important to give ourselves space to feel . When we feel without judgement, I feel like that's such an important part of healing and just allowing space for
[00:10:17] yourself, allowing space to feel vulnerable, it's really really important, it's really powerful if you can feel vulnerable,
[00:10:24] Giving yourself that space to practice that, I just think it's really important. One of the ideas kind of around the book was that I would create
[00:10:33] something that you didn't have to be an artist to use it. Because I think that like, the label of an artist can make you feel a bit like, oh, well, I can't do that because I don't think I'm creative or I don't think I can draw.
[00:10:45] And I really wanted to look at that. With this book, and kind of tackle it a bit, because it's just purely based on looking at the process of how you draw, rather than looking at the end result. It's more about the feeling and the motion, and being in that moment, rather than trying to create a pretty picture, or something like that.
[00:11:07] Pam Uzzell: Yeah, I appreciated that As I said, I don't draw and I've thought many times, Oh, I want to learn to draw. and then immediately judgment comes in like, Oh, you're not going to be any good at it. Or it's kind of late to take that up now. So I love this idea of no judgment,
[00:11:28] but I'm also wondering about this idea of no judgment on your feelings
[00:11:33] Almudena Rocca: Yes, so
[00:11:36] I think we all experience feelings very differently, and I don't think there's one right way of... to experience them, especially things when it comes to the more maybe difficult emotions like anger. Some people will go either really quiet and withdrawn or some people are very explosive and need to kind of be very physical and like throw things and I think it's just acknowledging that however way we do it, making sure we're doing it, of course, in a safe space and, you know, making sure we're not harming anybody else.
[00:12:13] That kind of judgment that you place on yourself of just, oh maybe I shouldn't have done this. Should's always a big judgment word as well. So it's just, yeah, that kind of little acknowledgement of just like making sure you're giving yourself the space to do that in a way that's beneficial to you, and of course doesn't harm anybody else, I think is really important.
[00:12:34] Because I think we judge ourselves a lot and, yeah, judge what we do so harshly.
[00:12:41] Pam Uzzell: That. was one of my favorite things in the book. You make it very clear in the journal that this is not a substitution for therapy. This is not even art therapy, it is a therapeutic practice. And I'm wondering if you can just talk a little bit about how anyone can incorporate a therapeutic practice, no matter what they're going through.
[00:13:06] How do you think that this will help people?
[00:13:10] Almudena Rocca: I think... It'll help people by allowing them to kind of take space out of their day to focus on themselves. So again, I think I talk a lot about kind of giving yourself space, as I just think that's really important. And because we move so quickly, in life, and I think we're always kind of moving on to the next thing, how we treat ourselves with kindness and how we incorporate little practices of self care are so important.
[00:13:43] So,
[00:13:45] with this book, it was, the idea was, If you don't have time to take a day off, as I know a lot of people don't, or
[00:13:52] a lot of people don't have that time to themselves, sitting with this book and doing a little doodle, that's kind of a little acknowledgement of self care. And
[00:14:01] I kind of thought that people could use it as almost like a tool for your toolbox. Again, as you said, it's not a replacement for therapy or anything like that, but I think as we move through life,
[00:14:13] we gather the tools
[00:14:16] that will help us, like, manage the more difficult times in life, whether that's focusing on your breath, drawing, knitting, crafting.
[00:14:26] We all kind of gather these things that aid us when we're feeling
[00:14:31] our worst or feeling very heightened in emotion to help soothe those
[00:14:35] bits to then move forward.
[00:14:38] Pam Uzzell: That's really beautiful.
[00:14:40] Almudena Rocca: Thank you.
[00:14:40] Pam Uzzell: that intention behind this. I love this book. I'm going to get one for myself and then I'm also going to get one for each of my daughters. I think it's so
[00:14:49] Almudena Rocca: thank very much
[00:14:49] Pam Uzzell: great gift idea either for yourself or for someone else. Where can people find out more about you and your work and where can they buy the [00:15:00] book?
[00:15:00] Almudena Rocca: So I have a website which is www. almudena.co.uk. I'm also most active on instagram and that's almudena.rocca.. I Kind of post quite frequently on there about the book and everything else i'm doing. And at the moment you can find the book on Watkin's website, which is Watkin Wisdoms, and it's a pre order at the minute but it also kind of tells you a bit more about the book.
[00:15:28] I've done a couple of YouTube videos as well that kind of just, take you through the book and kind of what to expect and how you may want to use it. But again it's completely up to you
[00:15:39] Pam Uzzell: Hmm. Well, thank you so much. I'm very excited to give it a try. And I hope a lot of people will be ordering this book because it does seem like a beautiful tool, as you said, to put into your toolbox to help you during stressful times.
[00:15:57] Thank you, Almudena, for making this book and for coming on the show to talk about it.
[00:16:02] Almudena Rocca: It was lovely to meet you and thank you for just the opportunity as well to let me speak about
[00:16:06] it and what I do. I really appreciate
[00:16:08] it.
[00:16:08] You're listening to Art Heals All Wounds.
[00:16:38] I loved talking with Almudena Rocca about her book, The Intuitive Drawing Journal: A Guided Journal for Processing Feelings and Emotions. Almudena is definitely what I would call an old soul. If you want the Art Heals All Wounds listeners 25 % off of The Intuitive Drawing Journal the code is INTUITIVE25.
[00:16:59] All caps, all one word. I'll put that code in the show notes, as well as the link for ordering the book. I don't get any kickbacks from you ordering this. I just like it so much. I feel really confident recommending it. I hope you'll get a copy for yourself. Or gift it to someone else. If you want to get one of the free copies that Almudena is making available, all you have to do is go to Apple Podcasts and leave a 5 star rating and a review for Art Heals All Wounds.
[00:17:31] Let me know what you're enjoying or what you find valuable. Feel free to mention Almudena's episode specifically or the show in general. Once you leave a review, just screenshot it and email it to me at pam@arthealsallwoundspodcast.com. I'll connect the first three people who send me that screenshot with Almudena's publisher to get a free copy.
[00:17:54] Thank you so much for listening today. As we go into this holiday season, I hope we can find healing and make space for caring for ourselves and each other. The music you've heard in this podcast is by Ketsa and Lobo Loco. This show was recorded using Squadcast FM.