Michael finds his voice

Art can be a creative outlet for everyone to express themselves and gain a feeling of empowerment. This is exactly what happened for Michael when he completed his latest masterpiece.

Working with his occupational therapist at National Star, Michael expressed an interest in learning art techniques he could achieve with his cerebral palsy. He experimented with a variety of tools to apply paint, keeping a loose, abstract style and building up the scene in layers.

Art Tutor Louise Adams said: ‘You can clearly see Michael mentally and physically relaxing whilst he is painting. He has now completed his second piece, a landscape view from Swaziland, where he was born and grew up. So not only is he continuing to learn and develop paint techniques that he can take forward when he leaves college, but this new piece has personal meaning to him.’

Michael has low self-esteem and is often quite hard on himself, yet when he finished this piece, he smiled and said: ‘Yeah, it’s all right!’

Art provides a non-verbal way for people to express themselves freely. Whether through painting, drawing or sculpture, it allows them to communicate thoughts, emotions and ideas they may otherwise struggle to share.

Michael’s artwork is now available to purchase in StarShop at the Ullenwood campus.