How creativity helps me cope with Tia O’Donnell

Here at CALM, we’re always wanging on about what creativity can do for your head. And we’re not about to stop. In fact, we’ve been chatting to Tia O’Donnell, a multidisciplinary artist with exhibitions at the National Gallery under her belt. Not to mention a five figure Instagram following and collabs coming out of her ears. Tia’s art is eclectic, and a great expression of the weird times we’re living through.

We’re catching up as part of ITV2 and CALM’s How We Move series – a new show that’s all about finding new ways to look after your mental wellbeing. And while getting creative has been a solid way to express and channel feelings and emotions for millennia, this Instagram favourite’s work is definitely worth writing home about (or an article on the CALM website at least).

Tia’s style is bold and hopeful, but it’s also evocative of struggling and getting through tough times. And there’s a reason for that. She uses her art as a way to articulate the feelings she’s dealing with. A process that starts with a diary, and ends with some proper good pieces of art.

“For me art – sculpting, painting, performance – they help me physically remove the emotion I’m feeling out of my body and into a physical object. It’s like extracting it from myself and then putting it into the real world so that you can look at it from a different perspective.”

But that doesn’t mean that when she’s feeling crap Tia O’Donnell just goes right ahead and attacks the canvas. Although we’re pretty sure that’s a great way to get out some proper emotion if you’re feeling crappy.

“It all starts with a diary. It’s the best coping mechanism I’ve found. Words are powerful. I was bullied as a kid at school and words were really heavy. Words were like weapons. And now, through journaling, I’ve kind of understood that words are just words.”

“When you write a diary, or a journal or whatever you want to call it, the stuff you’re finding hard just comes out of you. It’s literally like a weight off your shoulders because you’re taking it out of your head. When you keep stuff in it just goes round and round and it’s overwhelming. Writing it down makes it manageable.”

Once she’s done getting her feelings out on paper – the creative stuff starts. Using her diary as a starting point to create the distinctive, rich pieces she’s known for.

Aside from helping her deal with her feelings, Tia uses her art to open up conversations around the tricky stuff that she’s faced or is facing.

“When I was experiencing bullying at school, that’s what triggered me suffering with anxiety, bulimia and anorexia. I was so isolated. And if I’m being honest, I didn’t talk to anyone at my school about it or my parents. I just suffered in silence. Don’t do that.”

At the time, Tia O’Donnell thought she was meant to just get on with the tough stuff she was going through. She hopes by talking openly and creating artwork about her experiences, her audience will feel comfortable to open up and share when they’re feeling crap.

“I just thought what I was going through and what I was doing to myself was completely normal. I thought that was what a teenager was meant to feel like. And it isn’t.

“So I think it’s important to share that on social media. It’s not all bikinis and holidays. It’s real life. We all have ups and downs. Since building my platform online, I’ve been able to talk about this stuff. I’ve got a space where I can just say, you know, it’s fine if you don’t want to get out of bed today. It’s totally normal. We all have those days. Just knowing that someone’s been through that in the world. That makes a difference.”

Catch the full How We Move series from ITV here.

And if you’re struggling, there’s loads of support over on our Get Help Guides