I was clearly living in the wrong box twelve years ago, and whilst on holiday 'Down Under' I realised that the work I was doing was totally wrong for me, not supporting my personal development needs and certainly not helping my domestic situation. So, on my return to the UK, I handed in my resignation and set about securing funding for a return to university to complete my PhD studies. It took two years and lots of grant writing, but it also brought me to a local organisation as a volunteer art therapist.
A local artist started Sculpt it, a community arts initiative, and was looking for a volunteer to help with adults with mental health challenges. These were mainly in the autistic spectrum. Clients attended a weekly workshop where we used painting, drawing, felt-making, clay work and mosaics to interact in a mostly non-verbal way. Carers were invited but almost never stayed for the sessions so we got very close to the clients and quickly learnt which activities they preferred. One man enjoyed knitting so much that if he saw the needles he just picked them up and started knitting, stopping only once for coffee in the three hour workshop. He didn't like scissors! One of our clients could draw and paint so beautifully and with such insight that her work was exhibited publicly.
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| Sweet peas, Lesley Beeton, 2001 |
And my life has moved on too. After completing the PhD and a post doc in cardiovascular genetics I am now starting again, getting the art back together, writing, keeping in touch with people who mean a lot to me. I hope to link up with other like-minded people in Surrey. One of my goals this year is to create awareness for the kind of support people with terminal illness (not just cancer) need and I would love to explore creativity in this context.