Sophie Corrigan

If there was one thing that I always wanted to be able to do, it was to paint and draw faces. At school, I was always involved in music so it just wasn’t possible to take art and although I didn’t realise at the time, being dyspraxic, hand-eye coordination was never my going to be my strong point.    Back then I thought art was about being able to replicate perfect form with fine motor skills and realism. To do art would have involved a huge amount of peer pressure and the need to be accepted as good, so it was never going to be the one.   

Back in 2010 I took a textile course at college, when I think back, I already knew how to sew, I was already a creative person and saw everything in glorious technicolour but I didn’t realise it. A few months later my arm was twisted into creating pieces for an exhibition and off I went.   

In December 2020 I found a lump and was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. With what would be more than a year's worth of treatment to get through, starting with 6 brutal months of chemotherapy and, with the backdrop of COVID, yet another year of isolating to look forward to I was adamant that I would make the most of things and planned to work towards a textile exhibition.    

Well, the thing is, as the weeks went by, I was just too exhausted to sew. Chemo not only batters your body, but it also exhausts the mind and I can honestly say I never knew what tiredness felt like until I started my treatment, but even harder was the challenge of trying to find a focus to each day and to stay positive no matter how bloody crap I felt.    

Back in May 2021, after a particularly miserable week of side effects and rain, I went down the slippery slope of watching daytime TV and after one too many episodes of Loose Women I urgently needed to find a way to fill my time so I figured that would be the perfect time to fight my nemesis.    

On the 23rd May, I drew my first face, and quickly drawing faces became my tonic. The way to deal with ups and downs, to find humour and also to spend precious time with my daughters who also drew wonderful faces. Together we got through the last 3 months of savage chemotherapy side effects (including what will probably be permanent nerve damage to my hands and fingers) through mindful and absent-minded creativity, helped by a whole heap of support via social media.