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Hello my name is Jackie and I am 60 years old. I first attended AMH New Horizons in Downpatrick several years ago with complex mental health issues. I was aided from the onset by a wonderful group of people who took me from a very sad horrible place to somewhere where I could see that there was light at the end of the tunnel. Through their tutoring and assistance I was able to go on and live a relatively normal life.
This year I called on their services again as I had fallen slightly by the wayside and needed their help. They thankfully accepted me and I had started on a new road to recovery filled with optimism when coronavirus struck and I was forced into self-isolation alone and scared.
However this story is not sad but very hopeful. In AMH I had been taught Mindfulness and a real appreciation of art so I began to meditate and paint.
This is my offering which I hope brings a smile to people’s faces and encourages them to do the same.
The work is entitled “And the earth breathes”. We through our actions over the last months have given our planet a much-needed chance to revive itself and through its resurrection we will do the same. There is a lot of symbolism in the painting such as the stones meaning the rocky road we are travelling, the wheat symbolises growth and the butterfly encourages you to keep faith.
Have some fun finding trying to figure out what the other animals symbolise – knowing that all of them are encouraging you to grow!!
Many thanks to Jackie for sharing her story and her incredible piece of art.
AMH New Horizons activities are operated through the “Working it Out” project, which is part-funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020, the Department for the Economy and the five NI Health & Social Care Trusts.
