Too woo-woo for me, but good for more spiritual types who lean into “live laugh love” positivity. The art would make for an engaging activity with children.

I really love this book, its message and the way it is laid out. It's not a step by step instructional manual, about which the author is really clear right from the start -- it feels more like a call, not to action but to digging in and doing the work of acceptance, self-care, honouring ourselves. It's inspirational without being preachy, and accessible to people who aren't even kind of artists (like me).

I loved the artist's use of color, and the visual prompts were inspiring. I like the gentle guidance and appreciate that the prompts are simplistic enough for beginners. I found it less attractive as a self-care guide, but I could see that some may find it helpful. It wasn't the vibe I look for in art books/guides, but I still loved the use of color and look forward to trying some of the prompts, but it wasn't for me as a read.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Art for self-care is a book to be used as an avenue to healing, self-knowledge, and, of course, self-care.
The author starts off telling the reader of her life and a tragedy she endured and how her art helped her to heal and recover. The book then progresses to three areas for you to work on - going inwards, considering insides outwards and integrating and honouring. There are explanations on how to work through each area, and the author includes many examples throughout of her own pieces of art. I don't think this book would be to everyone's taste, but you can use it as a base board and create your own healing from it.

The subtitle of this book gives readers a perfect sense of the author’s goals. She believes that art can be used as a form of self-care, self knowledge and healing.

Ms. Swift begins by sharing her own story which included a tragedy. She then discusses who might benefit from spending time with this title (most of us). In the pages that follow, readers are invited to work in three areas. These include going inward, considering insides outward, and finally integrating and honoring. She explains how to approach each area.

This is a lovely book. There were so many wonderful examples of Swift’s own artwork. Kudos to this warm and insightful artist for opening up her world to readers and encouraging their art and ability to hear an inner voice.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

I thought this was going to be a mostly blank journal full of prompts for me to complete, but it is actually a guide full of suggestions on how to create my own art journal. I loved this book, and I’m feeling inspired to create something of my own now!

I thought this would be a perfect fit for me and I’m not sure why it didn’t fit me well. There’s a lot of encouragement about self love and such here, and lots about the author’s own struggles. There are many examples of the author’s work and it tends towards word art and multimedia— colorful motivational sayings, collages, art journal pages and so on. There are lists of ideas to create different art but I am visual and would prefer less talk and more pictures of art ideas in all different styles. Maybe like here’s a project for one day, pick 10 symbols for what you want from life and draw them in a piece of art, and here’s an idea, put on music that soothes you and paint in the colors it inspires (these are my ideas, not in the book). This is a great book and does have lots of colorful art and encouragement. I’d recommend peeking inside to see if it’s a great resource for you.

I read a temporary digital copy of this book for review.

“Art for Self-Care” by Jessica Swift is a transformative guide that harnesses the healing power of art. With personal anecdotes woven throughout, Swift outlines a three-stage process for self-care through art.
Readers will learn to embrace their emotions and thoughts without judgment. Swift encourages quiet reflection and provides prompts for expressing one's inner voice authentically.

Then she focuses on practical aspects of art-making, offering advice and techniques, inspiring readers to find their own sources of inspiration.

Then in the final stage, readers learn to accept healing and honor their truth. Swift guides readers in committing to an intuitive art practice that strengthens their relationship with their inner selves.

This book recognizes the therapeutic potential of art and presents it in a way that is accessible to everyone. Swift's writing style is warm, encouraging, and compassionate, making readers feel supported throughout their creative journey. The book is filled with inspiring examples, practical exercises, and beautiful illustrations, further enhancing the experience of self-discovery and healing through art.

I highly recommend “Art for Self-Care” as a valuable resource for anyone seeking a creative and meaningful way to process emotions and nurture their well-being. Through the power of art, Jessica Swift invites readers to change their lives one piece of art at a time, fostering a deeper connection with themselves and their inner world.

★★★ ☐☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.

A fun book that's more comic book than artist manual. Beginners will love the color and line, the many prompts and examples. For most artists, it will also give ideas for examining feelings and handling stress.

From supply lists to easy-to-follow DIYs, you'll have fun with this one. There's a bit too much magic and woohoo for my taste, but if you're new to visual processing, this may be the ticket.

I enjoyed reading through this book, and whilst I don’t think that all of it is for me, lot of it was. I do generally believe that being creative, regardless of what that creativity looks like, is good for you and can definitely be a form of self care.
One of the things I really liked was the Feelings Tracker, but even more than that, the lists of different feelings, because there are times when you so desperately need the self care, but your mind can’t even begin to process how you are feeling.
I really liked the way the author shared her own experiences and was open and honest with her readers, for me that validated the content in the book.
I would definitely recommend this book.
My thanks to NetGalley, the author and the for gifting me this book. I’m leaving this review of my own volition.

Art for Self-Care : Create Powerful, Healing Art by Listening to Your Inner Voice is a beautiful book for helping you to heal and manage your feelings through art. It is aimed at artists and non-artists alike, and focusses on enjoying and getting lost in the process. The book is beautifully illustrated throughout, and while the art might not be to everyone's taste, it is definitely inspiring.

Art for Self Care is a guided tactile, meditation. There is something magic about getting “in to it”. Just doing. Getting your hands dirty and going into a meditative state.
No one is perfect, and self care that allows you to use the most basic things and cut out all the surrounding noise is where the magic lays.
In Art For Self Care, Jessica Swift gently shows you the way to find that state of peace where reflection can happen. Where we can safely see our flaws and make peace with them.

Art for Self Care is a guide to teach you to listen to that inner voice and your intuition, and create art for "the moment", trusting the process rather than the working towards a finished outcome.

The author/artist has been through hell and back, and the tips, processes and outcomes are what has helped her get through it all. Once you step back from the artwork within the book (noting that the illustration styles may not be everyone's cup of tea), you are guided in the art of slowing down, breathing, listening to your intuition, reconnecting with the inner child and creating for creating's sake. There are no rules.

This book leans heavily into the messages from the inner self, with words and symbols, and encourages daily art practice as a way of centreing oneself, acknowledging one's feelings and overall self-care. A message often repeated here is that it doesn't matter what it looks like; it just mattes that you DO it. No judgement.

Art therapy is an important tool for processing, healing and self care, and this is a good guide to assist.

*Note: I would have liked more examples of other art styles for self care. The graphics in this book are predominantly symbols, words and slogans in collages or bold colours. I understand this is the author's preferred style, but would have liked other styles to be included, too.


~Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~

What a beautiful book. Lovely pictures and a positive message and change of mindset. With helpful tips, ideas and positive and calming words this is a great book for mindfulness and self-care.

Jessica Swift's book, Art for Self-Care, is a beautiful book filled with inspiring art. I loved the explanation of the mediums that can be used for art and how to apply them for self-care. I also loved the prompts for art. Sometimes I want to use art to help me manage my feeling, but I don't know where to start, This book provided a road to wellness through art prompts and a plethora of ideas of mediums to use for art self-care. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in exploring art as a means to manage one's emotions.

I was so excited to start reading Jessica Swift’s new book and I wasn’t disappointed. This book is all about using art as a form of self care, more specifically by tuning into your intuition and inner self for guidance on how to cope with negative or difficult situations. This guidance is then interpreted and turned into a piece of artwork. Jessica is quick to point out that you absolutely don’t need to be an artist to use this book and I agree - it is the action of making marks on the paper that is therapeutic, not the look of the end result. However, the advice in this book is useful for artists too - being able to tune in to your intuition to discover inspiration will help you to create a much more unique piece of artwork that is infused with your style, rather than doing what many others do which is copy pictures from Unsplash or find inspiration on Pinterest, making their art look eerily like everyone else’s.

The book is split into three sections: ‘Going Inward’ teaches us how to listen to our intuition and gives guidance on interpreting the messages we hear. This part ends with a useful prompts section to help us to get started. ‘Insides Outward’ is where Jessica shows us the different techniques we can use to make our art, covering everything from mixed media, pencil crayons, digital art and different types of paint. She also covers different surfaces and finding inspiration. In ‘Integrating and Honouring’ we are advised on how to set up an art practise, how to keep going, to trust ourselves and our intuition and, most crucially, what to do with out artwork once we have finished it!

Jessica writes with a friendly, encouraging voice and weaves her personal story throughout the book. Her writing is easy to read, uplifting and enjoyable and I really enjoyed my time with this book. I would recommend it to anyone who creates art already or who would like to but thinks they can’t draw. This is different to any other art book I have read and is a very valuable addition to anyone’s collection because it covers dealing with universal issues and emotions through the very accessible medium of art. Highly recommended.

With thanks to Netgalley and Quarry Books for this advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Art for Self-care by Jessica Swift

This absolutely amazing book is everything you need to begin a journey inwards through art. As an artist and art teacher who has moved into the world of intuitive art I feel uniquely situated to highlight how special this book is.

Introduction: The introduction to this book, including Jessica’s story, gives us a real understanding of why connecting to our inner voice is deeply important. In sharing her story with such raw vulnerability, I was inspired to actually start finding this time for myself, rather only than thinking about doing it. (As a parent this is a common thought!)

Going inward:
This part of the book supports us to understand what our inner voice is and offers tips to make connecting to it easier making this book more than an art therapy book. It is a gift to ourselves where we start to see art as simply the vehicle to move us towards our inner world. This takes the pressure off the creation part of the process and opens us to the experience. The author covers all we need (in great detail) to feel like we can confidently get started connecting immediately.

I particularly liked the prompts with examples of artworks that she has created from those prompts as it gives a solid place to start.

Insides outward: This part of the book offers such a wonderful exploration of the creation process. There are examples of artworks, support to lean into your own artistic expression, suggested techniques and supplies discussed and artistic process to try.

Integrating and honouring: In this section the journey comes to a well supported conclusion, where the author encourages a journaling approach to the experience with ideas, prompts, and examples. As she talks us through this part of the process we realise that it sparks new thoughts and opens us to more artistic experiences which guide us inwards again.

I will be purchasing this book for myself and to use with my children and keeping it in mind for gifts in the future too. I hope that this book reaches many people as it has the potential to have a huge impact.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of this book, all thoughts are my own and are given voluntarily.

Oh bummmmer.. I thought this was an interactive art journal. The cover is absolutely beautiful and I thought there would be similar pieces within to colour and create.

Although I'm disappointed this wasn't the case, the book did end up being as equally lovely. This is a short self-help book. The author talks about her own life struggles and how you can use art for self-care and healing.

I loved the warmth within this book and I was so happy to find there were so many gorgeous art pieces to accompany the advice on every page 🎨 💖

The Art of Self Care starts by discussing the benefits of art, how to get your space, mind and body prepared.
Jessica discusses the importance of being intune with yourself and your work, and gives examples and discussion on how to help with creative expression - such as walking, meditating, exercise and other self care, reflective exercises.
Then, Jessica goes on to discuss the anxieties of art. The self-doubt and sabotage that comes with presenting yourself using the art form. This section aims to give the reader a boost, so that they can have the confidence to produce their own work and feel the benefits of art.
The book then goes into prompts things like your 'current feelings' and 'finish the sentence....' to give the artist ideas. These are particularly useful if you feel overwhelmed with the choices for drawing.
Overall, 'The art of Self Care' helps the reader to get a step into art. Jessica goes into what media the artist can use, the benefits on the mind and body when being creative in art. and the anxiety of producing art. The text is positive, bright and in general gave me inspiration to pick up a pencil and paint brush. I felt like it gave me some ideas on what to draw. The book is littered with lovely, bright print art that gives you a nice serotonin boost.

Art is wonderful for self-care, and this book is a good guide to dare doing art, even if you don't feel artsy or creative. There are a lot of art pictures that can give you inspiration if you don't know how to start.

Thank you to the publisher who provided me with an e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.