You may not have thought of art as a medium to promote healing but Swedish artist Cecilia Glencross strives to give her followers that feel good factor from her paintings

The artist, whose work will be on display at the Ripley Arts Centre until June 24, has been interested in healing and the holistic approach to health for many years and she uses her paintings to channel healing.

She says her aim is to enrich other people's lives through her paintings.

Cecilia suffers from a condition called synaesthesia which is an intermingling or involuntary joining of the senses in which when the sufferer hears or reads words they either experience colour, tastes, smells, shapes or touches.

Cecilia says while this was frustrating as a child, she now uses it positively in her paintings.

When she wakes up in the morning, Cecilia thinks of colours and in this way she "absorbs positive energy".

While deeply relaxed, slowly-moving images in rainbow colours form inside her head.

She then goes to her studio and paints what she has seen. While she paints, she is unaware of anything around just her and the paint.

"The paintings often paint themselves," she says.

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, the artist trained for three years in design crafts and haute couture dressmaking and created one-off garments sold in boutiques in Stockholm.

She spent her summers on an island surrounded by the Baltic Sea and drew much of her inspiration from the natural colours, textures and shapes she found there.

Some of her paintings are displayed at the Princess Royal University Hospital in Farnborough and she paints for a hospice in the hope that people in need of hospice care would benefit.

Visit art4healing.co.uk or call Cecilia on 020 8460 3958.