WEAVING ART, MOVEMENT AND PRESENCE

Mara Cabral : Multidisciplinary artist and creative facilitator.

My creative workshops are accessible spaces of experimentation, curiosity, and self-expression. Through exploring different materials and creative methods, participants are encouraged to develop their own artistic language and ways of expressing themselves.

These are spaces of freedom and inquiry, where participants are supported to make choices, follow curiosity, reflect, and engage creatively in ways that feel meaningful to them.

My artistic practice is rooted in my sensorial and emotional experiences of my inner and outer worlds. Art is how I express myself. It's how I honour my human experience and feel connected on a deeper level.

WHERE IT BEGINS

ABOUT ME

Inspired by memories, the flow of nature, details and connections.

Currently attending: MA in Arts Health and Wellbeing. This is helping me develop my toolset and knowledge to become a more conscious and well informed facilitator. It is also transforming my practice and deepening the way I use arts for my own wellbeing.

I work across mediums: each one brings its own language, approach and way of seeing.

Art as a space of freedom, presence and curiosity.

Portuguese artist and facilitator, happily rooted in Wales

Led by experimentation, curiosity and the pure joy of playing with materials.

My neurodivergent way of experiencing the world influences how I see, make and connect. I’m drawn to sensory experience, movement, unexpected connections and following curiosity rather than a prescribed path.

This also informs my approach to facilitation: creating space for different ways of thinking, sensing, moving and expressing.

Creative movement, painting, drawing, printing, collage.

Work in the community: creativity as a universal language that needs to be made accessible.

BA in contemporary dance and choreography, where I became interested in somatic based dance improvisation

WHAT I DO

Pathways of expression and connection

Workshops

Creative movement and mark making

Mindful photography

Creative labs

Self portraiture

Arts practice

An exploration, following curiosity wherever it leads. I’m drawn to new paths, unexpected discoveries, wonder, and a deep reverence for the sacredness of life.

Photography

Movement

Visual arts

PRINCIPLES

What to Expect in a Session

Whilst different mediums, themes and groups will lead to different sessions, a few principles guide my work and the way I facilitate.

Arriving and presence

We begin by taking a little time to arrive — in the space, in the moment and in our bodies. Through simple sensory or movement-based invitations, we may notice what we can see, hear, feel and sense around us, creating a transition from the outside world into the session.

Creative exploration

There is no right or wrong way to make. My sessions invite experimentation, curiosity and play rather than aiming for a particular outcome or artistic standard. Everyone has the ability for artistic expression, my aim is to create spaces in which this can happen and you can explore your own artistic language.

Reflection and connection

I invite space to pause, reflect and notice what emerges through the creative process. When we share our experiences with one another, we may discover different perspectives, fostering empathy, connection and a sense of shared experience.

Accessibility and choice

I aim to create sessions where people can participate in ways that feel comfortable and meaningful to them. I am committed to fostering accessibility in a broad sense — not only in terms of physical or practical access, but also emotional, sensory and cultural accessibility — especially at a time when some spaces are becoming less inclusive.

Activities can often be adapted, and there may be different ways to engage with an exercise — through movement, observation, making, writing or simply taking time to notice.

A photograph showing a small group of people in a circle, engaged in a creative workshop, with soft focus on a centerpiece of natural objects and art materials.
A photograph showing a small group of people in a circle, engaged in a creative workshop, with soft focus on a centerpiece of natural objects and art materials.
'Now I feel like I can sit down and play with my grandchildren again. I feel like I'm 4 years old again!'

— Liz, Experimental watercolour session

'The time really flew. I can say the whole session is a moment to remember.'

— Montse, Movement and visual arts session

ECHOES

Experiences

Words from past participants

Projects I took part in:

CONNECT

Let's Create Together

Reach out to discuss individual sessions, group workshops, or collaborative projects in arts and health.

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