A designer is delighted to be back doing what she loves after her amazing artwork was selected to become an inspirational mural at Paisley's Royal Alexandra Hospital.
Patients, their families and carers, and staff at the RAH voted for their favourite mural after artists were challenged with coming up with a design for the exterior wall of the hospital’s Chaplaincy building.
Tasked with creating an image that conjured up the healing affect of nature, local mum Faye Ward’s striking design included the phrase “to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow”.
The competition meant even more to winner Faye, 40, as it got her back to her art, following a challenging time for her mental health.
Faye, who previously studied at Glasgow’s School of Art, said: “I had to give up my job as a graphic designer, following a nine-year battle with depression, so to be back doing what I love doing feels amazing.
“I’m doing a bit better now and enjoying my art again, which is partly down to having this competition to focus on.
“After leaving my work in December last year I had a bit of a dark time and I barely picked up a pencil.
“Art isn’t just what I do, it’s who I am so that was a very hard time. After that period, I just got back to basics and focused on doing what I wanted to do again.”
The brief, set by the Pond and Beyond Arts and Greenspace Strategy Group at the RAH, was for the design to showcase the theme of the healing power of nature to complement a tranquil new HALO Garden, which recently opened at the site.
That theme resonated with Faye, who felt her own experience could be used to create art that would help anyone else going through a hard time.
The mother-of-two from Netherlee in East Renfrewshire, said: “When I saw the competition, in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) email update, I thought ‘I have to enter’, maybe I would be able to use my own experience and understanding in my work, I drew the picture that makes up the design with the view of helping people and I hope it will.
“I have included a lot of different plants and wildlife, I wanted to make it something that you could look at each day and find something new in.
“I wanted to include the famous Audrey Hepburn quote ‘to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow’ in my design. I think it’s a really important quote, I like the idea that if you look after yourself now you will feel the benefits of it later. So take time to plant the seeds now.”
NHSGGC will now work with Faye and a mural artist to bring the winning design to life.
Jackie Sands, senior arts and health lead at NHSGGC, said: “I would like to take the time to thank everyone who entered the competition, there were some truly brilliant concepts on show and I’m sure it was a tough decision for the community at the RAH to decide on a winner.
“We set out to find a design that will help to improve the overall look, feel and welcome of the hospital, while offering a supportive and therapeutic experience for patients, their carers, staff and the general public.
“We were looking for a design that had the healing power of nature at its heart, something that would complement the other ongoing work at the RAH as well as the new HALO garden. In Faye’s design, we have found all of this and I can’t thank her enough for all of her hard work.”
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