Gillian Lever

House and Garden

Last month some of my paintings were featured on the ‘House and Garden’website in an article about a scheme by interior designer Sarah Walter Boyd. Sarah was trained at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, working for ten years under Wendy Nicholls, John Burns and more recently Philip Hooper (Managing Director at Sibyl Colefax and John Fowler). She has gone on to found a company of her own - Sarah Walter Boyd Ltd. 

Sarah chose several of my paintings for her ex-local authority flat in Stockwell, south London. Feeling that the work would sit well in the modernist space. She bought some of the paintings at auction, then tracked me down and commissioned another! It was lovely to work together on the commission.

If you would like to have a conversation about commissioning
a painting please contact me.

Different Strokes Art Workshops

Last month Lever Arts was delighted to work with members of the Different Strokes Birmingham group, to offer a ‘Creativity and Wellbeing’ session at the ‘Living Beyond Stroke: Community and Connection” conference at Irwin Mitchell in Birmingham. The event was designed to bring stroke survivors and their loved ones together to share stories, gain insights, and build lasting connections. 

Ingrid Ash, the Different Strokes Birmingham support group founder, was a keynote speaker at the event. Ingrid’s life changed dramatically in 2007, when pregnant with her second daughter, she suffered a multi-focal stroke. In addition to founding Different Strokes Birmingham Ingrid also serves on the Stroke Engagement Group at her local hospital and educates healthcare professionals on stroke patient challenges.

Different Strokes is a registered charity providing a unique, free service to younger stroke survivors throughout the United Kingdom. It is run by stroke survivors for stroke survivors, for active self help and mutual support.

‘Creative therapy is both hugely neglected and potentially massively beneficial. After a stroke a person’s sense of self-worth is immediately at risk and people find vulnerabilities in themselves that they had not previously known. The psychological and emotional fall out from an event like this is immense. Creative therapy therefore has a role in enabling re-orientation of an individual with a form of expression that doesn’t depend on verbal eloquence. It also has immense potential for stimulating neuronal plasticity and neural re-programming.’
 
 Dr SG Sturman - Consultant Neurologist

Greenbelt Festival 

Sew Far Sew Good

We joined our relatives Susie and Phill Hopkins for the annual Greenbelt Festival, held at Boughton House near Kettering for a weekend at the end of August. The theme of this year’s festival was Dream On, so our invitation to both adults and children was to create a personalised dreamcoat by upcycling cardigans and waistcoats that had been generously donated by people from church congegrations.  Sew Far Sew Good  is the family art collective created to organise these workshops which aim to encourage making of all kinds with needle and thread.   Susie (Gillian’s sister) is currently training in Spiritual Direction having worked as a primary school teacher and Phill Hopkins is an artist. Children loved making magical capes whilst others created lavender scented pillows for sleepy creatures, diving enthusiastically into our extensive collection of fabrics to create garments to wear around the festival site. The adults really enjoyed the opportunity to slow down and sew, personalising garments with stitch, layered fabrics and printed words.

AUGUST NEWS 2024

SAVE THE DATE! 

This Summer we are working towards an Open Studios event that will take place at our house in central Kings Heath, Birmingham on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th November 2024. (11.00am - 5.00pm both days.)  We have both turned 60 in the past year so the weekend will be a Birthday celebration as well as an exhibition. Please call by for a drink at a time to suit you. RSVP Lever Arts CONTACT  for exact location. We are collaborating with members of All Saints Youth Project who will be selling cards that they have created.  All artwork will be for sale, although it will be fine just to look. 50% of proceeds will also go to ASYP.  ASYP is a vibrant youth project in Kings Heath, Birmingham that believes in promoting inclusive practice and being accessible for ALL young people.