Illness and the Art of Creative Self-Expression

How can artmaking help you to recover your health—in body, mind, and spirit?
How can you regain a fresh perspective on your life’s purpose?

Physician and artist John Graham-Pole shows you how you can regain
your lifelong sense of creativity, joy, and zest for living a richer life.

In this extensively updated second edition, clinician, teacher, medical scientist and artist John Graham-Pole offers countless fun and artful exercises, together with many stories drawn from his forty years of practicing the art and science of medicine.

John is the co-founder of Shands Arts in Medicine (artsinmedicine.ufhealth.org) and the University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine (arts.ufl.edu/academics/center-for-arts-in-medicine/). He currently co-owns with his wife Dorothy Lander HARP The People’s Press (www.harppublishing.ca).

The cover art for the book was created by internationally recognized artist, educator and activist Maureen St. Clair.

In his Foreword to John’s book, Dr Patch Adams writes: “Creativity is great medicine for all, both the creator and the one who experiences it. It prevents disease and promotes wellness. It is not an indulgence; it is fundamental to medical practice.”

Christopher Bailey, WHO’s Arts and Health Lead, says: “Dr Graham-Pole’s approach is in sync with the WHO definition of health… the attainment of the highest state of physical, mental, and social wellbeing.”

And Jenny Baxley Lee, Director of UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine, calls this new edition “A timely invitation to re-inhabit our creative selves at every stage of our lives.”

Illness and the Art of Creative Self-Expression is available online from HARP The People’s Press (www.harppublishing.ca) for $24.95 + shipping.

The Circle of Abundance Indigenous Program, Coady International Institute, St. Francis Xavier University (https://coady.stfx.ca/circle-of-abundance) and David Suzuki Foundation (https://davidsuzuki.org) each receive 10% of all HARP sales.