Brushing off disease to affirm the art of living

Cambridge Evening News
25 July 2007
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news...3cdc13.lpf#top

WHEN Jenny Grant found out she had Parkinson's Disease, aged just 56, it came as a terrible shock.

"It seemed unreal," she says. "My grandfather had Parkinson's. He lived with us from when I was seven-years-old until I got married at 24, and all I could remember was his tremor and his false teeth going round and round in his mouth . . ."

A progressive neurological disorder, Parkinson's can affect everything from talking and walking to swallowing and writing. About 1,100 people have the disease in Cambridgeshire alone; it affects one in every 500 people nationwide.

Dealing with the disease can be a disheartening business: as yet, there is no cure. But Jenny, who still works as a senior receptionist, has found a brilliant way to relax - and give her confidence a boost.

A keen photographer, the 60-year-old explains: "I can lose hours with my photography and it is one of the areas of my life in which I feel successful. That's what you need, especially if you have a bad day because your Parkinson's has given you problems."

Jenny is, it transpires, far from alone: she is among 11 members of the Cambridge Parkinson's Disease Society (PDS) currently showing their art, crafts and photos at the city's Michaelhouse Centre.

"I had always wanted to paint," explains fellow exhibitor Cecilia Gordon, who was diagnosed with the disease in 2003.

"The sense of urgency which Parkinson's imbues in one (to do as much as one is able to, while one still can), combined with the strong need to be creative, led me to take the plunge - with embarrassingly awful results at times! But who cares? I find it totally absorbing."

From oil paintings and watercolours to photographs and embroidery, the range of work on show is impressive. Titled The Shaking Brush Paints, the exhibition marks the 25th anniversary of Cambridge PDS; part of a national charity, the group works to promote both quality of life for people with Parkinson's and public awareness of the disease.

Group chairman Adrian Pettit, who coined the exhibition title, says: "It's not precisely true, as not everyone with Parkinson's has a tremor. Sometimes slowness and rigidity are the symptoms.

"Relief comes in the form of drug therapy, which means you have a limited time frame in which muscles are sufficiently relaxed to paint. It's a frustrating disease.

"There are 130 members in the Cambridge branch of the PDS. And, out of that number, 10 or 12 of us met one day, at a committee member's house in the Fens, all armed with a plethora of canvasses and framed pictures and photographs.

"I make that 10 per cent of the branch; quite a high proportion I would say. This shows the value of art not only as a means of self-expression, but also as a therapy."

Many of the artworks on show are for sale and 20 per cent of proceeds will go to Cambridge PDS.

Since it started, the group has been instrumental in securing specialist nurses at Brookfields Hospital in the city, has paid for dedicated welfare visitors and provided help, advice, fitness classes and social activities for its members.

PDS member Alison Pegrum, who helped organise the show, said: "One of the purposes of this exhibition - in this, the 25th anniversary year of our branch - is to raise awareness of the disease which so cripples man.

"But we are also trying to show that having Parkinson's is not the end of life: there is still a great contribution to be made by people with the condition - as this display of creative talents shows."

The Shaking Brush Paints is showing at the Michaelhouse Centre, Trinity Street, until Saturday. It is open every day, from 9.30am-5pm, and entry is free.

For more information about Cambridge PDS, visit www.parkinsonscambridge.org.uk or call (01279) 816293.

darn! I was hoping this was Cambridge, Mass!

Thanks for the post.