Mike Armstrong in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory | Visual arts

Mike Armstrong

Locality: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

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17.01.2022 Depression... Well there's a mood killer. This subject seems to be even harder to talk about than PTSD for some reason. Shame? Yet most of us will experience depression in our lifetime. For some of us, depression constitutes a major portion of our life not a passing experience. Hindsight has not been kind to me once I finally admitted I had depression. Upon reflection, which was then reinforced by my closest family, I've been suffering with depression for over a d...ecade. As a symptom of my PTSD, perhaps, as a result of my pain, maybe; it's a difficult chicken and egg debate that my medical staff can't agree on. I fought the idea of taking medication for.... well, over a decade. It was always others that needed medication, not me. It was always others that needed to see a psychologist not me. I was a warrior, being numb all the time was what I needed to be; except it wasn't. Being numb means you disconnect from the people around you. Emotions and empathy are how you connect with people and nurture relationships. Without it I felt isolated and alone from even my closest friends and family. If you think it's bad at first just add years and years to that equation and watch helplessly as your family resorts to more and more extreme measures to reach you within your cocoon until they too give up and leave you to your numb state. Like PTSD, admitting that I suffered from depression was a wonderfully healing admission. It meant that I could have real conversations with friends and family for the first time in a very long time. It meant that I could understand the feelings that I was having, the actions I was taking and make small incremental changes to my life. Being a #ptsdwarrior is about accepting who you are and deciding to do something about it. It's not bottling things inside for another decade and poisoning your relationships. #ptsdawareness #ptsdrecovery #ptsdwarrior #ptsdisreal #ptsdhealing #veteranart #veteranartists #veteranartist #depressionawareness #veteransupport #veteranmade #veteranhelpingveteran #depressionhelp #drawingforfun #drawingart #drawingaday #drawingartist #depressionart #drawingoninstagram #drawingpeople #draw See more

13.01.2022 The term 'triggers' was one of my least favourite mental health terms. I felt that the term had become over used and even misappropriated by a chunk of the population as they declared they were being triggered by words and ideas. I resisted using the term during my own PTSD diagnosis, and avoided even the idea of being triggered, until I couldn't. It really is the best descriptor for the experience. Within the scope of PTSD, 'triggered' refers to a situation, sound, smel...l or environment that triggers an unwanted memory (physical or emotional) of a past trauma. This memory can be a powerful and vivid reliving of the event or a return to the emotional state experienced at that time or a blend of the two. I just spent today with a group discussing our collective triggers; the situations and environments that make us vulnerable to triggers, their impacts and the interventions we can employ. Places, people and characteristics associated with the trauma seem to be common triggers for the group as was the actual discussion of triggers. Thinking about triggers was enough to illicit the unwanted memory and/or adrenal responses in members of the group. Fatigue, pain, stress and a lack of positive activities can make someone with PTSD more susceptible to being triggered. This makes predicating how someone is going to cope with a given situation difficult. Dissociation, pain, anxiety, hyper vigilance, irrational behaviour and burnout are all possible after effects of becoming triggered. Where possible observing and reacting to the potential warning signs is an important skill to managing triggers. As is developing healthy interventions for when triggers have occurred and the after effects are in full swing. Tomorrow I'll discuss a range of intervention techniques that are essential knowledge for those managing their trigger symptoms as well as those individuals that are trusted confidants supporting friends and family members. #ptsdsupport #ptsdawareness #veteranart #veteranartists #veteranartist #depressionawareness #veteransupport #depressionhelp #ptsdrecovery #artmentoring #artstudios #sculptureart #sculptureartist #sculptureoftheday See more

12.01.2022 It's going to get worse before it gets better. Opening the box that you've kept your pain, sorrow and shame trapped in successfully for years isn't going to fill you full of happiness; it's going to hurt. It's going to test your resolve every day as you feel like you're going crazy. You had thought you had moved on successively from your trauma's. You had rebalanced and buried that pain away where you couldn't feel it anymore. You were able to live again, face the world ...again. But there was always more; more trauma, more stress, more anxiety, so you tucked that away too. Numbed yourself. Decided you were going to fake it until you make it. If mask is good enough, you told yourself, you'll feel better and in turn be better. The mask was good. You had everyone fooled, even yourself. But the pain kept piling up and the cracks appeared. Your mask became so tight no emotion except the occasional unexpected rage peaked through. It worked; at least until it didn't. Maybe it was the accumulation of pain that caused the cracks to appear. Maybe it was the stress of maintaining the mask for so long. Maybe it was the sense of loss and loneliness that hiding your emotions caused. Whatever the reason the pain is back. The trauma's vivid and real. Sleep doesn't want to come and perhaps because of the nightmares you don't want it to either. You want to be better; to be well, to be whole. But what you really want is the pain to just stop again. You would be happy to put it back in the box and seal it up tight; moving forward as a shell or a ghost. A fragment of what you were but at least the pain would stop. It was functional; kinda. It's going to get worse before it gets better, and you're worth being better. You're worth being whole. You survived the trauma; you survived this far. You can survive this too. #ptsdsupport #ptsdawareness #veteranart #veteranartists #veteranartist #depressionawareness #veteransupport #depressionhelp #ptsdrecovery #artmentoring #artstudios #sculptureart #sculptureartist #sculptureoftheday #sculpturestudio #artistsnetwork #beeswax #waxart #figurativeartist #figurativesculpture See more

09.01.2022 Many experiences in life seem unknowable to us. As a man I could only watch in awe at the strength and courage my wife displayed as my children were born. I could never know that pain. I stood by her side though; held her hand, encouraged awkwardly, soothed her when I could, fetched ice chips and tried to not show my own fears as she went through the ordeal of child birth. Discussing my mental health condition, PTSD, depression and trauma has produced a range of response...s in people around me. Many have found it encouraging to hear of my experiences as they mirror their own, others have found it uncomfortable and difficult to respond to. Just as I helplessly watched my wife, they now watch me helpless, unable to find the right words to say. Finding the rights words is not about fixing me or making things right. Nothing I could say to Sarah was going to stop her pain or change the path she was on. The fact that my words were awkward mattered less to her than the fact that I stood by her as she birthed our children. So when you are faced with a situation where someone in your life is traversing an ordeal; trauma, pain, illness or tragedy. The fact that you may have no actual experience of that ordeal doesn't matter. Your role as a friend is not to fix them, save them or solve the situation. Your role as a friend is to stand by them, in silence sometimes, with encouragement at other times. Perhaps you can direct them to professional help; a doctor, a psychologist a financial advisor or a counsellor, but that is likely the limit or your ability to 'fix'. So to everyone who has tentatively reached out, fearful of finding the right words, thank you, because your actions are what mattered, not your words. #ptsdawareness #ptsdrecovery #ptsdwarrior #ptsdisreal #ptsdhealing #veteranart #veteranartists #veteranartist #depressionawareness #veteransupport #veteranmade #veteranhelpingveteran #depressionhelp #depressionart #sculptureart #sculpturelovers #sculpturestudio #sculpture_art #modernsculpture #sculptureworkshop See more

08.01.2022 Let's continue the analogy that artists are scientists exploring the world. Using creation as their method of investigation and artworks as data collected; new understanding can be achieved and shared with their audience who in turn make their own inferences on the data presented. Research should always start with an understanding of the current state of the field of research. This is commonly termed a literature review. A literature review exposes the investigator to th...e historic and contemporary research and helps to identify universal limits to that understanding. This will allow researchers to identify gaps warranted for further investigation and potential innovation. Artists can undertake the equivalent of a literature review by undertaking an artistic survey of their chosen field of investigation. This should be a review of the artists working in that, or adjacent to that field. The techniques and materials being employed or developed, the philosophies and writings by the artists and of course the artworks themselves. Just like other innovators this allows artists to identify gaps in knowledge and to find niches that resonate for their research. So why is this approach important in my opinion? Most artists aspire to contribute something new and unique to the art world; to have their voice heard through the collective din of the millions of artists across the globe. How can you be unique if you don't know what has already been done? How can you innovate if you're not aware of the opportunities for innovation? Where will you derive the fuel for inspiration that will take your art to the next level? Being good at drawing or painting isn't enough to stand out; in fact it's not even necessary. What is necessary is the ability to look at the world in a unique manner and ask new questions of your audience. How we do this is by standing on the shoulders of greatness. Not rediscovering something that was never lost but by stretching current understanding into new realms of exploration. #drawingforfun #drawart #drawingartist #drawingpeople #artadvice #artnude #nudedrawing #figurativeartwork #figurativerealism #bodyart #bodyartist See more

04.01.2022 I often get asked who are the people in my artworks and the answer I give is that they are my friends. Many models have entered my studio over the years; I have drawn, painted, sculpted and photographed over a thousand people since 1993. I cherish the beautiful gift they give me me when they share my creative space and give of themselves; unadorned and unmasked. Every now and then I come across an individual that resonates with me. Something about them as an indiv...idual; their energy, the grace or strength with which they move, their willingness to open themselves up to an artists observation or our ability to converse openly and freely discussing ideas and inspiration. To say I cherish these relationships is an understatement. These individuals have a front seat view into my thoughts, into my process and practice. In turn they provide me with a level of insight they would seldom share. My work wouldn't be possible without them; each individual brings a unique energy that when combined with mine produces something not capable of being imagined without that relationship. This is why I work with the body as a subject. Not because of its status as a body, but because of the human that resides within it. I celebrate their experiences, feelings and emotions; and when shared with me, to be combined with my own, they reveal a new imagining. The irony that I've spent my art career seeking to unmask myself and my models whilst wearing a myriad of masks during every other facet of my life is not lost on me. I didn't even realise just how compelling and fixed those masks had become until I commenced treatment for PTSD. I would doggedly resist giving them up, insistent that they were part of me despite how unhealthy they had become. So what did I learn from all these years of making art? Meaningful connections are vulnerable connections. #ptsdawareness #ptsdrecovery #ptsdwarrior #ptsdisreal #ptsdhealing #veteranart #veteranartists #veteranartist #depressionawareness #veteransupport #veteranmade #veteranhelpingveteran #depressionhelp #drawingforfun #drawingart #drawingaday #drawingartist #depressionart #drawingoninstagram #drawingpeople #draw See more

03.01.2022 Yesterday I wrote about triggers, today I wanted to continue an important component in that conversation; interventions. When someone is experiencing either the early signs of a trigger (unease, anxiety, tension, heart palpitation, hyper vigilance) or a full response (fight/flight, dissociation, shut down, panic attack, pain), knowing how to help them through that attack is essential in supporting their own efforts in battling through the situation. Interventions can be ...healthy but they can just as easily be unhealthy. Drug or alcohol use, numbing activities (social media flicking, binging of every kind, and workaholics and perfectionism (this is complicated and one of the techniques I used for years). Instead I encourage you to use and support healthy intervention techniques like the following. For heightened states I like to use exercise, yoga, meditation and breathing, and mindful activities like art, walking the dog and gardening to reduce my anxiety state before a panic attack occurs. I will even book a yoga class following situations I know are likely to generate triggers so my recovery plan is already in place. Note all of these activities require me to move away from the triggering environment before I can take action on reducing my anxiety. For a severe state of anxiety or panic attack the following are good for reasserting control of the bodies fight/flight response. Cold: icepack on the eyes and sinuses, cold shower or cold water splashed on the face accompanied with slow breathing. Exercise: Intense exercise to burn off the adrenal response and to normalise the state of the body. Breathing: Slow, mindful breathing (slow in, slower out) has a direct impact on the autonomic nervous system and can slow the heart rate. Relaxation: Progressive Muscle Relaxation is a mindfulness technique that highlights and reduces tension held in the body. YouTube will have plenty of examples for a guided meditation. Practice makes perfect, so practicing whilst calm is a great way to prepare for a triggered state. #ptsdsupport #ptsdawareness #veteranart #veteranartists #veteranartist #depressionawareness #veteransupport #depressionhelp See more

01.01.2022 Many wonderful individuals have reached out to thank me for sharing my journey with art and PTSD. For those that are wondering the reason why I have done this is three fold. 1. In the hope that my experiences will encourage others who are battling their own demons in their lives, 2. To provide an insight into the experience of mental illness for those that have never experienced it and will now perhaps provide better support to those in their lives battling with it..., 3. To remove masks from my life to find my authentic self as part of my own healing process. If you would like to help me tell my story please share my posts when they resonate with you. Send them via direct message to a friend in need, share them to your page or a groups page to reach your broader networks, post in your stories. To repost on Instagram just take a screenshot cut down the image and post it on your own feed. Tag me in the post so people can follow the link to the original post. This more than anything will allow more people to hear a hopeful story of PTSD, depression, pain and triumph. Thank you for your ongoing love and support. #ptsdawareness #ptsdrecovery #ptsdwarrior #ptsdisreal #ptsdhealing #veteranart #veteranartists #veteranartist #depressionawareness #veteransupport #veteranmade #veteranhelpingveteran #depressionhelp See more

01.01.2022 For those of you not watching my 'Stories' each day, you may not have met my new studio dog Sir Reginald Squishington, or Squish to his friends. He's an English Bulldog X, my first, and has brought absolute joy into my life during a difficult time. Although I was not looking for a new dog, the opportunity to have him join the family entered my life the day I left hospital late last year. I was feeling a little lost. Life in the hospital had allowed me to build a healthy ...routine full of good food, exercise, rest and study. Returning home made me both nervous and excited. Excited to be with family and friends and nervous as to how exacerbated my symptoms had become following the psychological prodding I had received in hospital. Squish was something I could really look forward to; a walking ball of serotonin inducing love and cuddles that I hoped would help force routine into my life. Get me out of bed each day and force me out doors. We had chosen the name Squish before we had met the dog, but the moment I saw him amongst his 7 brothers and sisters I knew he was my pup and the name was perfect. Since picking him up in early January Squish has brought absolute happiness into the lives of everyone he meets. Except my son Corey who is determined to not be swayed by his unrelenting cuteness and thinks he's a monster. A pup-sitting incident and some bitten toes got them off on the wrong foot. Squish loves short walks, long grass, everyone else's food and being fawned over by every stranger he meets. His super powers are farting, snoring and causing uncontrollable smiles. You need an anti depressant in your day, ten minutes of cuddles with him snoring in your arms is enough to put a smile on anyone's face. #bulldoglovers #bulldogpuppies #bulldogsworldwide #bulldogmoments #bulldogworld #bulldogsarebeautiful #bulldognation #bulldogin #bulldogpup #bulldogpics #bulldogpride #studiodog #studiodogs #artdog #artdogs #canberralife #canberradogs #canberradogsofinstagram #bulldogsquish @ Canberra, Australian Capital Territory See more