Comfort in Connection by Jess Wilson-Leigh and Carla Smith
As part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival 2025, artists Jess Wilson-Leigh and Carla Smith led two creative workshops with a group of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) learners through Aberdeen City Council.
Many of the participants are building new lives in Aberdeen, and the sessions offered space to connect, create, and share experiences together.
Comfort in Connection
Carla Smith and Jess Wilson-Leigh hosted a zine-making workshop with ESOL learners at North East Scotland College. Building on a previous collaboration, the project invited participants to explore what brings them comfort and a sense of home in Scotland. Using image, text, and mark-making, the group created a collective zine.
About the Workshops
The workshops centred the theme of comfort – where we find it, how we create it, and how we can
comfort and support those around us.
The group were provided with and supported to use new materials and techniques to explore the theme, including tinfoil mono-printing, watercolour paints and collage.
At first, participants were hesitant with the new materials, but soon everyone began experimenting
freely, producing a wide range of thoughtful and beautiful work.
The second session was left open and flexible, giving space for each person to explore their own ideas. This freedom encouraged playfulness, confidence, and collective creativity.
About the Artists
Jess and Carla’s collaborative practice is rooted in care, community, and connection. They often work with food and collective making as starting points for shared experience.
Together they deliver projects that prioritise wellbeing, and the power of art to bring people together.
Art can offer an alternative way to connect – beyond language – through image, mark, and shared making.
This project celebrates creativity as a tool for building connections, supporting mental wellbeing, and amplifying voices that are too often unheard.
About the Contributors
With special thanks to the ESOL learning team at Aberdeen City Council who supported the facilitation of this project, in particular Aileen MacAlister, Emma Cresswell and Ana Miranda Ruiz.
We are extremely thankful to the participants of the project that have shared their experiences and perspectives as part of this project.
We are lucky to have such a wonderfully broad and diverse community in Aberdeen and believe this should be celebrated and supported wholeheartedly.
This project shares perspectives from:
- South Korea
- Yemen
- Syria
- Ukraine
- Columbia
- Brazil
- Thailand
- China
- Sudan
- Eritrea
- Russia
- Iraq
- Turkey
