Art Therapy. FRIEASEL Easel for people living with Disability

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The Birchwood Painters are groupd of artists who reside at a SCOPE care home in Herfordshire. All the artists are wheelchair users and most have severe cerebral palsy and learning difficulties. As part of the care programme, the residents take part in activities to stimulate and entertain them. One of these activities is painting. Every other week, two enthusiastic volunteers who are passionate about art, host a painting class for the residents. Under their guidance, the painters have produced many fine works, some of which have been made into a calendar. The calendars have been sold to help fund the class in painting materials.
One of the many problems the painters face is trying to paint on a canvas which is mounted on an easel designed for an able-bodied person. A combination of their physical disabilities and the sheer bulk of their electric wheelchairs mean that they find it difficult to get close to the canvas. Some of the painters have to use a mouth-stick whilst another cannot hold anything with any weight and consequently uses a feather to paint with. The only solution on many occasions was for the carers to hold the canvas in their hands whilst the painter applied the different media from a brush etc. The ladies who host the painting class approached DEMAND and asked if it would be possible to come up with a solution to their problem. Designers from DEMAND visited and assessed the painter's needs. They then went away and designed and built an easel which allows the able-bodied assistants to position the canvas in any orientation to the painter. The easel is also designed to fit between the wheels of the painter's wheelchairs.
Another great part of DEMAND's design is that the easel allows the artist to keep their talk boards on their laps so that they don't lose their voices whilst they are painting. This easel enables and empowers the artists. Without the right equipment the extraordinary talents of artist Mark may not have been discovered.
Mark Urwin is a disabled resident at the Scope Birchwood service where weekly exploratory studio sessions have been running for four years. The artists at Birchwood have very specific needs to help each individual artist to paint. Personally designed easels created by DEMAND have enabled the group of artists much more freedom and control in their creations where previously the class volunteers had to hold the canvas making certain angles to paint more awkward. Anita Osborne is one of the community art tutors at Birchwood and comments on the impact that the art classes have had; "With the painting came this extraordinary outpouring of themselves and they have just been amazing," Anita Osborne
During the art classes Mark showed a passionate interest in History of Art, particularly the works of impressionist painter Édouard Manet whose colourful scenes of everyday modern life have captivated art lovers worldwide. Inspired by his new found freedom in painting, Mark recently contributed some of his work to a DEMAND charity fundraiser to help raise funds for further equipment.
"When I paint, I feel free and excited. I think about beauty and I picture love. Some colours excite me. Green is very promising; it lifts my mood." Mark Urwin
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