The name GeistLife came to me in an unexpected moment. I’d stepped upstairs in a tucked-away shop in St Albans, where a few prints quietly adorned the walls. One of them stopped me. It was called Geist, by the artist Bella Peroni. There was something in it—movement, spaciousness, stillness—that resonated deeply. It felt alive, like it had been created from the same field that therapy draws from. I didn’t know it then, but that image would stay with me and eventually give my practice its name.
Bella Peroni is a contemporary fine artist known for her expressive, energetic depictions of the human form. Music is central to her creative process—each piece shaped by rhythm and felt movement. Her materials are natural, her process intuitive, and her presence unmistakable. For over 30 years she’s exhibited across the UK and internationally. She often speaks to the importance of wonder—a philosophy shaped by the artist Cecil Collins, who believed that our sense of wonder is what justifies being alive.
There’s a strong Gestalt sensibility in her work: it’s alive to the present moment, shaped by contact with sound, sensation, and flow. Her drawings don’t just capture bodies—they transmit something of what it feels like to be in one. That’s what I try to offer in therapy too: not a fix or a solution, but a space where energy, emotion, and meaning can emerge in real time. Where we can meet what’s alive beneath the surface—and begin to follow it.
