Sussex mother with autoimmune disorder builds successful new career as contemporary abstract artist
A Chailey resident has found a fulfilling new career as an artist after a health condition forced her to leave her previous job.
Contemporary abstract artist Holly Higson, 34, was previously a supervisor for after school clubs and holiday schemes for children with learning difficulties.
But about five years ago she was diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder myasthenia gravis while she was pregnant with her second child.
This meant she had to give up her ‘fantastic’ but ‘physically demanding’ role because her unpredictable condition meant there was no way of knowing when or if she would get better.
“It left me a bit out of sorts,” said Holly, who lives with her husband Charlie and their two children.
But Holly became interested in painting about two years into her diagnosis.
She said: “I just felt very lost and still wasn’t quite coming to terms with the condition.”
So, to cheer her up, her husband took her on a date night to a casual painting event in Brighton where people could just paint for a few hours and have a glass of wine.
“I was really into it,” said Holly who was amazed that she had not thought about her condition or felt bad at all while she was painting. She said: “It was so meditative and the joy it gave me I hadn’t felt for years. Then I came home and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”
Holly was proud of the work she had done so she decided to buy some art equipment and supplies and continue painting at home. After honing her new craft a friend came over and saw her paintings. Holly said: “She asked ‘did you do these?’ and I was like ‘yeah, but don’t look at them’ because they were just for me. It was my own sort of sanctuary.”
But Holly’s friend was impressed and recommended showing them to more people and maybe trying to sell them. After about a year – and after building up ‘quite a collection’ in her home – Holly tried selling some paintings and was ‘blown away’ when they started selling immediately. She said: “It was something that was just for me and I didn’t think other people would resonate with it.”
She continued: “I felt so lost not having a clue what career I could possibly do with such an unpredictable disease and suddenly I just thought ‘wow, maybe this could be something’.”
She said: “It kind of gave me the kick and push and drive to pursue it as a career.”
Holly said people have become interested in her work mostly through word of mouth and social media and she recently sold one painting to a buyer in Australia.
She explained that myasthenia gravis symptoms vary for everyone, which makes it hard to diagnose. But Holly said her neurologist ‘pieced all of her symptoms together’ to arrive at the correct diagnosis. She said: “For me, how it started was I was not able to swallow very well. It was kind of like if you have an allergy or your throat’s swelling up. I just couldn’t swallow but this was progressively getting worse each day. And I’d just found out I was pregnant and not being able to eat was a bit worrying. The swallowing just got worse to the point where even my voice changed and sounded very nasally. I found it very hard to talk.”
She also found it hard to move her tongue and said one of her eyes was drooping. Around the time she received her diagnosis, her symptoms got worse and she could not use her arms. She also needed a feeding tube because she was unable to eat or communicate.
Holly said she is now managing and controlling her symptoms with medication. The main symptoms she experiences involve swallowing, talking and arm weakness, which can pose a challenge when painting.
But she said: “What I have found is I don’t just want to stop doing something that I absolutely love just because some days I’m just not able to use my arms. So through a lot of trial and error I have worked out my pace and I’ve worked out how to manage if I’m having a bad day. I kind of figure it out pretty early in the morning. One day I can be absolutely fine and one morning I can wake up and I can feel in my arms that they're not good, so I just know for that day no painting. Or I just try to do a tiny bit where I have props, where I prop my arm up or make sure that I don’t use too much of my arm. My hands can still work, which is great. But some days I can paint for hours and I don’t feel it.”
Holly said she likes working with acrylic paint because it is quick. She said: “I know I don’t always have a long term painting period where my arms might be working so I can get the results that I want fairly quickly so that’s generally my thing.”
Holly sells original artwork and bespoke commissions that explore colour, texture, and mood. Her website says each piece aims to create a sense of calm, inspiration and beauty. People can find out more about her creations at hollyhigsonart.co.uk and follow her at www.instagram.com/hollyhigsonart.