Hey! I am a mental health artist from Grafton, Ohio focused on spreading mental health awareness through vibrant psychedelic art.
I create art as a way to express and visualize thoughts and phrases using an expressive, colorful, cartoony and childlike style.
This started as an Instagram account in 2020 as a way of expressing myself under the handle Artbycallmejohn. Now you can find it at Art.By.Scotty
Why Mental Health Art?
My art naturally evolved from random expressive designs into an avenue of visually expressing the things that I have felt at any given time. I typically start by journaling, and then focus on key phrases or epiphanies that come up and make corresponding images to better visualize a concept. I have found it very freeing to be able to start with a phrase that is bothering me, or that I can’t seem to implement in my life and then draw a figure expressing that phrase in some way.
This process is a natural delving into my own mental health, and by sharing this art I have found so many people who have gone through similar experiences and can relate. I want to share this art with as many people as possible.
Mental Health Art Pieces
- May You Be Loved At Your Worst
When my vision started to blacken I knew I wasn’t crazy, something was actually wrong. I was diagnosed with B6 toxicity last October. While developing the toxicity sucked, detoxing and the corresponding nerve healing was the worst experience of my life. I had developed neuropathy, damage to nerves, which can be sensory, motor, or autonomic.… Read more: May You Be Loved At Your Worst - I Am Not A Workhorse
I find working as a programmer for corporations soul-sucking. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy helping people, so I find some level of satisfaction to solving problems for people using technology. The problem is when I think too much about what I am doing, or ask the real questions like “why the hell are we… Read more: I Am Not A Workhorse - Sometimes I Get In My Head
I spend a lot of time in my head. It’s so easy to get stuck in my mental space and not realize that what my head is saying is not always true, and is definitely not the whole story. I try to analyze everything, play out every scenario and come up with the perfect blah… Read more: Sometimes I Get In My Head
Shop Art
So.. Art and Mental Health?
Yes, I make art that’s all about mental health, emotions, and the stuff we don’t always know how to say out loud. As an adult male human being I found that I stuffed my emotions down inside for a very long time before finally letting it out via art. For me, sketching, doodling, and digital art has been a great way to deal with anxiety, overthinking, and just everyday life. If any of that sounds familiar, you’re in the right place.
Art That Helps You Feel Something
A lot of what I create is inspired by my own mental health journey. Sometimes it doesn’t make any sense, sometimes it’s colorful and weird, and sometimes it’s just a simple phrase that sticks out to me that I want to immortalize in a visual representation. I start most of my pieces by journaling—writing whatever’s in my head— sketch about it, and then turn that into a digital art piece.
This process helps me slow down, get out of my head, see what’s happening in there on paper, and feel a little more grounded. Sharing this art is probably my favorite part because then I get to realize how similar all of experiences are. My hope is that my art will be shared and used to help others who are going through tough things.
Mental Health Art Collaborations and Commisions
I’m based in Grafton, Ohio, so if you’re local and into mental health and want to collaborate or have an artist help you spread mental health awareness, or just want to connect through art, reach out—I’d love to hear from you. Even if you are not local to Grafton I can do collaborations and commissions. I have done collaborations with many groups including Self Care Is For Everyone, What We Bloom, Be Fruit Salad, and Thank You I Love You (check them all out on Instagram – great people spreading mental health awareness).
Why I have this website
It took me way too many years to get this site up. I shared my art on Instagram for years without actually having a platform to sell it. It is hard to monetize art and take yourself seriously as both an artist and an entrepreneur at the same time. Plus mental health is tough to talk about and sometimes I feel exposed sharing these things with the world around me (especially people I actually know), but I know my art has really impacted a lot of people and I feel driven to take this more seriously.
I was recently laid off from being a programmer, the first gap in jobs since I was fresh out of college. I had been able to lean on my full time programming job and just dabble with art while spending much of my focus getting my soul sucked out in the corporate world. After spending time in my passions of spreading mental health encouragement and love through art and sharing coffee, I started finding every word day super jarring – such a contrast to the vibrant authentic expression that I had experienced. I had been exploring ways to step away from programming but couldn’t figure out a viable solution, while still tethered to my job.
So now that that decision has been made for me, here I am stepping in and fully committed to sharing this work.
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my work – I hope you find something that makes you feel more seen and understood ☺️
-Scotty