Lilly Meikle is an Artist and Art Psychotherapist whose work explores the transformative power of creativity in response to grief, loss, and emotional healing. Her paintings are deeply personal, often reflecting the complex and messy journey through pain, connection, and a search for belonging. Through an energetic and abstract approach to painting, Lilly finds a meditative space where she can translate her emotions into colour and form, ultimately leading her back to a place of inner peace and understanding.
Lilly first began her artistic journey during her Art Psychotherapy training at Roehampton University, where she was encouraged to respond creatively to her clinical work. She discovered that abstract painting was not only a therapeutic outlet for her emotions but also a powerful tool for self-reflection. The landscapes that emerge in her work are often dream-like, combining memory, emotion, and nature into compositions that represent new territories of emotional exploration.
With over five years of experience working in bereavement, Lilly’s art-making is intricately intertwined with her professional life. Specialising in grief, loss, and trauma, Lilly has spent years helping children, young people and adults navigate their emotional landscapes through both art and psychotherapy. Lilly’s therapeutic approach combines psychodynamic, trauma-informed, and client-led methods, always with an emphasis on creative expression as a means of emotional exploration.
As an Artist, Lilly’s creative practice is grounded in her connection to nature and the outdoors, which she describes as a source of grounding and renewal. Her abstract landscapes, which often blur the lines between reality and memory, invite the viewer to explore uncharted emotional territory. These paintings are deeply informed by her experience in grief therapy and are often described as a means of navigating the unknown, much like the process of healing from loss.
Lilly’s work has been shown in various exhibitions, including at The Society of Fulham Artists Autumn Exhibition, The Old Fire Station Gallery, Camden Image Gallery, and Cloisters Gallery. She has also collaborated with interior designers, creating bespoke abstract landscapes for both residential and commercial properties. Currently, she is an artist-in-residence at Riverstone Living, where she offers weekly art workshops for residents in Fulham and Kensington.
In addition to her work as a Therapist and Artist, Lilly has trained extensively in grief education and mental health support, attending courses from the Anna Freud Centre and other leading organisations. She continues to contribute to the field through clinical training, as well as offering support and psychoeducation for parents, carers, and professionals working with bereaved children.
Lilly's creative process and therapeutic work are deeply connected, with each informing and enriching the other. Through her art, she seeks to offer a sense of belonging, healing, and connection—both for herself and for those she works with.
Awarded 'Compassionate and Empowering Award' as part of the Bereavement (Adult and Children) and Spiritual Care Team at St Christopher's Hospice in 2022
Awarded the Beepurple Santander Start-Up Grant in 2020 and the Santander LaunchPad Business Start-Up Grant in 2021
Santander Community and Engagement Award, ’recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of volunteering and community engagement undertaken by current University of Brighton students during the academic year 2015-16’
Photographer of the Year at Oxford Brookes University
Interviewed by Alison Gibb, a talented interiors feature writer and stylist