A Patient Story - Mick's Gem Art

Mick Clare and his wife Barbara, felt the strains of lockdown when Mick was unable to attend our Creative and Support Therapy for weekly visits, so they both learned a new hobby – Gem Painting.

Mick said that although they had made cards previously, they had never actually tried this craft. Mick explained, “You start with a design on canvass which you can buy from the internet, and use a special tool to pick up the diamonds to stick on that then forms the picture, a bit like painting by numbers really.  You can do animals, scenes, whatever you choose to do and we have almost finished a picture of a lighthouse. It isn’t easy and you have to concentrate, but we have been doing it almost every day since March last year and now we are experts, in fact we have a portfolio”.

Mick went on to say “Trapped in the house you can feel like a caged animal but Liz from the Hospice comes to see me most weeks. She originally showed me how to do the art so I enjoy showing her what we have done and then we have a biscuit, brew and a good chat.  I enjoyed my weekly visits to the hospice and although I can’t eat very well, I really did enjoy my lunches in Café Retreat. It’s good to be able to talk and I hope and pray it won’t be too long before we can go out again”.

Thanks for showing use your wonderful artwork Mick and we hope it’s not too long before we can welcome you back into the hospice again.