Young Artist Brightens Up Hospital
InSITE editor Naomi Allaway went along to see the unveiling of a young artist's work at Hereford County Hospital.
A new painting can now be seen at Hereford Hospital, the work of 18-year-old Emma Clayton, a local young artist.
The piece was put in place to brighten up the theatre area in the hospital and to give patients something to focus on when they are going in for treatment.
Emma found out about the need for a piece of artwork through the mother of a school pupil at Lady Hawkins’ High who had contacted the art teacher at the school about it. The opportunity came at a very good time because Emma was looking for a commission for her A2 art project. The hospital piece seemed ideal.
To get started with her painting, the first thing Emma did was to research art in hospitals and she came across a website about murals in hospitals, “their colours and patterns seemed to brighten up the lives of patients and lead me to try out some of my own”, she said.
Quote: I'm really pleased with the final results. It's such an honour to have my painting at the hospital and I can't quite believe it."
After a lot of research, Emma came up with the idea of butterflies. “Butterflies seemed so appropriate as they represent freedom and hope and their vibrant colours create a warmth because all the other walls seem so dull in comparison,” she added.
As a result of the commission piece being for a hospital, there were various things that needed to be right. The artwork needed to be produced on MDF board and not canvas because canvas can store infections. As well as that, the piece needed to be big enough to cover the area where it would be displayed, which was 8ft x 4ft, the biggest size Emma had ever tackled. Another major thing was that Emma needed to check that all the paints and the varnish she used for the painting were suitable for a hospital environment and therefore worked very closely with staff at the hospital through out the process.
“It took about eight weeks to finish it all,” said Emma “and I’m really pleased with the final results. It's such an honour to have my painting at the hospital and I can’t quite believe it. I’m really pleased that it might cheer up the patients in some way,” she said.
