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t would be a lucky person indeed who had navigated the last eighteen months without worries around family, jobs, finances, or mental health. The crisis has brought to a head many everyday stresses we place ourselves under, thanks to life’s increasing pace and pressure. In a month where mental health is given the prominence it deserves, artist Carla Raads is driving for open, honest and supportive conversations about stress and depression. It’s also intrinsically linked to the unique and very hands-on way she creates her artwork, as I am to discover. Born and raised on the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa, Carla’s family knew they could always find her on the beach, as she describes: “In thrall to the sound, the powerful thunder of the rising tide.” Moving aged 16 to the UK with her family and settling on the Fylde coast, the
NOT DROWNING, BUT WAVING THE LYTHAM ARTIST PAINTING UP A STORM TO PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH With rising mental health issues exacerbated by the Covid pandemic creating a perfect storm for an already overstretched NHS, Kate Bowyer meets Carla Raads, whose very personal journey through depression has led to her creating her own ‘perfect storms’ – on canvas
familiarity of the sea helped Carla feel at home, and sealed her lifelong love of the wildest elements of nature. Studying fine art at Blackpool College, Carla went on to study design and interiors at Manchester Metropolitan University, after which her striking looks were spotted by a modelling scout. The unplanned and high-octane 12-year modelling, acting and presenting career which followed led to her paintbrushes lying fallow for longer and longer periods.
I’M HOPING BY SHARING MY PERSONAL JOURNEY I CAN HELP WOMEN FIND THE STRENGTH TO FIND THEIR OWN VOICE, SELF-WORTH, AND PATH TO HEALTH Looking at the powerful, vivid sea and skyscapes gracing the walls of her light-filled Lytham home, it’s hard to envisage the dark path that drew Carla back to rediscovering her creativity ten years later. Describing that moment, Carla simply holds up her hands.
