Liz and Mike Fraser:
“Being a patient or visiting someone in hospital can be a challenging and worrying time. Like many people, we know this from personal experience! The hospital environment, by its nature, can be very clinical and intimidating. Having paintings and other artworks on the walls makes the corridors, wards and waiting rooms much more homely and less daunting, as well as creating a more attractive work-place for staff.
For this reason, we jumped at the chance to ‘adopt’ a painting through the Art in Healthcare sponsorship scheme. We chose ‘Turn of the Season’ by Victoria Crowe, not just because she is one of our favourite artists, but the painting itself is so beautiful and moving. The flowering of paper-white narcissi also always marks the turning of the season for us and heralds a fresh start to each new year.
We’ve had the good fortune to sponsor this painting for over a decade now and we hope that everyone, whether a patient, visitor or the staff who work in the hospital will enjoy Victoria Crowe’s wonderful artwork and feel uplifted by it.
Mike went through a course of radiotherapy at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh just before we became aware of Art in Healthcare. While waiting in consulting rooms or walking through the hospital we did notice the lovely artwork hanging on the walls. It gave us something else to focus on and talk about. Having a painting to look at and take your mind off why you’re in hospital, even for a few minutes, is so valuable.
We were both so impressed by the wonderful skill, kindness and support shown to Mike by the staff in LA7 that we donated two of Liz’s original botanical paintings to the unit. The experience also prompted us to find out more about the paintings already hanging in the hospital and this, in turn, led us to the magnificent work undertaken by the Art in Healthcare team. We’re delighted to be part of your sponsorship scheme and sponsoring Victoria Crowe’s “Turn of The Season” is the cherry on the top.”