What This Blog Is (and What It Isn’t)
Writing about messy creativity, mental health, and the courage it takes to let yourself be seen as an artist.
Hi, I’m Emma —artist and illustrator, mental health survivor, ex-art therapist, and long-time creative who’s finally letting herself be seen. If you’re a creative person trying to find your way through self-doubt, mental health struggles, and the messy reality of making art, you might feel at home here.
This space — whether you’ve landed here via Substack, Instagram, or sheer curiosity — isn’t going to be a how-to blog. At least, not in the traditional sense. I’m not writing from a mountaintop. I’m writing from the middle of the mess. This blog is about the journey, not the destination. It’s about building something imperfect and honest from the inside out.
Photo by LOGAN WEAVER | @LGNWVR on Unsplash
So, let me tell you what this space is:
🌀 It’s a journal of becoming.
I’m still finding my art and illustration style. Still working out what my offerings will become under Emma Clarke Art. Still letting go of the pressure to have a polished brand before I’ve fully stepped into my creative identity.
You’ll see me try things here — and talk about how they land.
🔮 It’s a Manifestor’s playground.
According to my Human Design (a slightly unconventional system that I’ve found surprisingly accurate), I’m a Manifestor — here to initiate, not wait. My strategy is to inform and then act, which is both empowering and terrifying.
If you know Human Design, you’ll also notice I’m a 6/2 profile — part role model, part hermit — which makes this public sharing both natural and deeply vulnerable. I’m wired to experiment, withdraw for a while, learn, and then return a little wiser. So, expect cycles. Expect pauses. Expect honesty.
I’m led by emotional authority, which means I don’t make decisions in a straight line. I feel my way forward. This blog honours that – there won’t be writing to a strict schedule, I share when I have something I feel like I want to say, not at 3pm every Thursday for example.
💭 It’s a safe space for messy creativity and mental health.
I trained as an Art Therapist, but I’m not currently practicing in that capacity (more to come on that further down the line…)
What I am doing is weaving together everything I’ve lived and learned — the therapeutic, the spiritual, the intuitive.
Into work that heals myself first.
I’ll share what it looks like to use art, journaling, self-hypnosis, and energy tools to overcome depression, procrastination, and creative self-doubt.
I’m not a guru, and I won’t pretend to be. But if you’ve ever felt stuck, scared to be seen, or like your creativity is buried under years of “not good enough” — you’ll find resonance here.
Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash
🌱 It’s not a niche blog. It’s a living process.
You won’t find tight branding here (yet). There isn’t one polished elevator pitch. I’m incubating multiple ideas at once. I’m building in public — which is equal parts thrilling and wildly uncomfortable.
This blog isn’t just about art, or mindset, or healing, or business.
It’s about becoming a whole person through creative expression — slowly, imperfectly, and in public. And I’d like you with me on the journey, if any of this resonates with you.
Here’s to creating as we go.
Emma x