COMMUNITY PARTNER OF EVERYDAY WELLNESS
Every other week, Monitor staff writes about a feature article exploring wellness in the Capital Region. We’d like to thank our Community Partner Concord Hospital. Our Community Partners do not participate in the selection of these articles. That is fully at the discretion of our journalists.
Jessica Rayno turned to art after she was laid off from her corporate project management job.
She had been in her field for 15 years and felt shaken up by the sudden change. It ended up being a gift in disguise.
“That’s when I discovered my passion for art and how much of a mental reset it can be to not get so focused in the productivity of the corporate world and more into the free-flowing creative world,” Rayno said.
Rayno leaned into the shift, searching for ways to foster creativity wherever she could. She began working at an art studio and witnessed the experimental, playful manner in which children approached art.
“Their parents, when they came in to pick up their children, they’d say, ‘Oh, I wish I had that now for myself as an adult,'” she said.
Thus, The Cozy Artist was born. Rayno decided to start a business geared towards bringing art into the workplace to help provide a “creative break” and combat burnout. She moved to the Concord area earlier this fall, ready to bring The Cozy Artist to the local community.
Rayno sees a whole host of benefits in giving adults the chance to reignite their creative sides. From rock painting, cookie decorating, wreath-making and more, she’s constantly searching for more ways to engage people through workplace events and open community sessions.
“It really allows us to switch off our thinking minds, disconnect from the thought processes that kind of get us burnt out and just get into this flow state where we’re using our hands and we’re tapping into our imagination, and that helps us become better problem solvers,” she said.
Newbury jewelry artist Hillary Flanders says art contributes to both her physical and mental well-being.
“For me, art acts as an outlet,” said Flanders, who runs the flower jewelry business HeeBee Geebs. “It contributes to my self-worth, and I am able to make other people happy with my art, which is a big thing for me personally.”
She offered strategies for people looking to lean more into their creative side.
“My advice is to not take it too seriously, and try anything that speaks to you,” she said. “It can be so fun trying out different artistic mediums. You may discover a love for some type of art you never thought you would enjoy. Art with friends can be a really fun way to try out some new mediums while having a great time.”
Meme Exum, owner of Glimpse Gallery in downtown Concord, finds that art similarly stimulates her brain. However, instead of creating art, she immerses herself in it both personally and professionally.
“In my house, at home, it’s just really important for me to surround myself with ideas, because where we live, everything can be so stagnant and so materialistic, and when you have original ideas that have come straight from the brain onto paper or canvas, you can’t buy that on Amazon and have it delivered in 24 hours,” Exum said.
Simply being around art, whether at a gallery or a museum or inside one’s home, allows people’s brains the chance to cogitate on the ideas present around them, according to Exum.
Sometimes, someone will find something specific in a piece of art that resonates with them for a particular reason, either conscious or subconscious. For Exum, this resonance happened with a painting of tornadoes that she’s owned since she was in her 20s.
“We’re just searching for identity, and we’re posting selfies with filters, and it’s like, the opposite end of that spectrum is having this piece of work that I’ve had for 25 years. It’s grown with me, and I’ve grown with it, and I derive my confidence from it,” she said.
At the gallery, she strives to help others discover that same sense of feeling seen within artwork.
“When someone finds a piece that speaks to them, there’s a happiness, there’s an energy, and I think for some reason or another, they identify with it, in something that’s going on in their brain, and it’s a connection,” she said. “And then they take it home, and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I helped facilitate that.'”
In the same manner that Exum helps people find art that speaks to them, Rayno gives people the skills to use art in their daily lives.
“I think as adults, we’ve just lost our ability to connect with creativity,” she said. “Everything’s just so high stakes, and how do we reduce it?”
It starts with a willingness to be experimental and to suspend judgment over one’s own work, she said.
Being “good” or “bad” at art doesn’t matter. Rather, the act of doing art itself is what counts.
“Anybody can just get in touch with their creative side in small ways, even if it’s putting a little bit of color in their home or doing a little bit of doodling while they’re on a call, or setting up a little craft event with their friends and just doing a DIY paint night or something,” she said.
Try it yourself!
InTown Concord hosted a First Friday Art Walk for the month of November. While the art or art-adjacent businesses may not all be open at the same time, check out the route and try to catch as much creativity as you can on the way!
- League of NH Craftsmen Gallery: 49 S. Main St.
- Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce: 49 S. Main St.
- Concord Community Music School: 23 Wall St.
- Art Plus Inc.: 28 S. Main St.
- Arts Alley: 20 S. Main St.
- Woman’s Club of Concord: 44 Pleasant St.
- Outer Space Gallery: 35 Pleasant St.
- Wine on Main: 9 N. Main St.
- Viking House: 19 N. Main St.
- Go Native Gallery: 23 N. Main St.
- Witchlight Oracle: 21 Warren St.
- Penumbra: 10 N. State St.
- League of NH Craftsmen Retail Store: 36 N. Main St.
- Pompanoosuc Mills: 38 N. Main St.
- DIY Craft & Thrift: 46 N. Main St.
- Lili’s Pad: 55 N. Main St.
- Saad Hindal Art: 57 N. Main St #105
- Glimpse Gallery: 4 Park St.
- The Eleventh Letter Writing Gallery: 146 N. Main St.
- Kimball Jenkins: 266 N. Main St.
The Concord Arts Market, another source of local creativity, has different pop-up dates around the city. For more information, visit https://concordartsmarket.org/.
And, if you’re craving even more art, check out the art installations and murals around downtown:
