Kathryn Thompson
Kathryn Thompson (she/her) is a participatory artist and alumna of the University of Sunderland.
Kathryn Thompson is a participatory artist with a strong background in health and wellbeing. An alumna of the University of Sunderland, she began her career with the NHS, working in Health Promotion teams such as Community and Children & Young People, where she was involved in some innovative participation work such as the development of a Healthy College Standard and a One Stop Health Shop for Young People.
Working with various NHS Trusts, her work in cancer prevention led to teaching with a diverse range of community groups. More recently her career reflects her love of art and now delivers workshops for voluntary and not-for-profit organisations, including social prescribing for people with long term limiting illness, social isolation, and mental health issues.
Kathryn has a passion for walking the fells and writing and has delivered projects of this nature with the National Trust at Great Langdale in the World Heritage site, The Lake District National Park. Kathryn believes that art should be accessible to all and making should serve to protect our planet. Reflecting this ethos, she only uses sustainably and ethically sourced, and reclaimed materials, including pallet wood, wool and recycled fibres, driftwood, sea-glass, wire, willow, and hazel. She works mostly in felting, yarn work, acrylics, and wood/mixed media sculpture.
Kathryn had a long-standing interest in researching the concept of Flow, as defined by Csikszentmihalyi. The beneficial effects of Flow upon health and wellbeing are well documented and she works to facilitate this phenomenon, both within her own practice and with her clients.