As you have already gathered I am someone who suffered severe depression, suicidal thoughts and anxiety due to a lot of reasons I have not divulged at this stage ( but plan to in the near future ) but it was not only myself who suffered with mental health problems.
Both of my siblings have both experienced mental health problems for different reasons, my older sister had stress related illness and my younger sister, who has suffered more than any of us has been living with annorexia for over 2 years now, a repercussion of a kind person who got severely bullied at school and her family around her not being able to cope with the challenges that life had thrown at them.
I am very proud of my sister, both of them actually, but my younger one is living with severe depression, anxiety and trying to overcome the most challenging difficulty of anorexia and this painting depicts her experiences of living with the disease.
It is a very complex mental health illness and one that is proving very difficult to overcome, it apparently claims more lives than other form of mental health condition but I believe she will get better and become a stronger person because of it.
She is doing an amazing job and fighting as hard as she can something all mental health sufferers know all too well.
Art Exhibition discovered by older sister
My older sister recently discovered an art community project called big love sista and the idea of the project is to help vulnerable females who have suffered or experienced challenging times heal. Claire Campbell the founder has worked with groups of women such as carers, dementia patients and carers groups of breast cancer survivors , people suffering and recovering from depression , lesbians think they r called lgbt , women leaders and Asian communities she had also worked witht little sisters he young women under eighteen.
Both my older sister, mother and younger sister took part in this exhibition and I find their completed results amazing!
This is my younger sister’s painting and her conceptual theory behind the works : –
My painting is about inner reflection, “compassion through the looking glass.” No one can see the pain you are going through inside behind a brave face. Every human deserves inner happiness. The meaning of everyone is more beautiful than what your mind may believe but that doesn’t mean your mind is telling the truth to you. Don’t destroy a beautiful soul. Stay strong, believe, hope and be brave in search for self love, self acceptance and inner freedom for happiness.
Inspirational sister
What Alice has achieved is nothing short of brilliant and her painting is incredibly well layed out and impressive considering she has never had art training and lost her final year of art education in her GCSEs due to ill health, she is completely self taught whilst also struggling with the mental chatter of anorexia.
She has always been passionate about the arts, acting, dancing, singing, painting and drawing our her real talents and I am sure once she overcomes her own personal challenge she will use her painful journey as a way to help others.
To suffer as much as she and still produce this fantastic piece of work is nothing short of outstanding. I couldn’t be prouder of her and what she has already achieved at this early stage of her life.
All the paintings are currently on display in London John Moores Art School but will be in an exhibition in London shortly, please contact me for more details about the dates and times if you would like to see these artworks in person.
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