Creative Junction Magazine January 20th | Page 4

Art as Therapy A place for learning, for expression, for creativity and for confidence building. But most importantly of all, Julia Tapp wants her latest venture to be a place for healing. The new arts centre will accommodate students who wish to use art as a form of therapy. “I’m not a trained art therapist,” says Julia. “But I am qualified in the art that I do, I’m a qualified teacher too and I have personal experience to prove that art can help overcome grief.” In 2014, Julia lost her son Ezra in traumatic circumstances. “I went through a period of grieving, and had a block for about a year,” she says. “Then I had to figure out what this [accident] had taught me, how did it change us, what can we do to help others going through the same thing.” She went on to create ‘Angel Portraits’, paintings for parents who had lost a child. For nearly four years, the qualified airbrush and customs artist has been donating her time and materials to help grieving families get one last moment with their child. “They just want to show their child to the world like everyone else does,” says Julia. “The hospital does take photos but often there isn’t a lot of preparation or cleaning that takes beforehand.” Julia uses her skills to remove tubes and blemishes from a child’s final photo. Having completed more portraits than she ever imagined possible, Julia intends to continue with Angel Portraits and hopes to use funds raised within the centre to help towards costs.