Bursting With Pride!

Today we visited the open day at Bells Piece in Farnham where my daughter goes once a week to work in the Simply Unique art studio. She had several pieces of her work on show in their exhibition and I was quite taken aback at how good they were.


This is a clay sculpture of our dog - he is a saluki, and if you saw him, you would know that this is a very good likeness! She has the pose perfectly and the gangly long legs - the real dog is actually black on his back and top of his head but I think Stacie's problem was more a paint malfunction than making a mistake. I am so looking forward to the day she gets to bring this home - we are already thinking where we can display him to best advantage!


This is a silk painting - unfortunately the photograph does not bring out the richness of the colours, with or without using the flash.

I have seen such an improvement in Stacie's ability since she started at Bells Piece last September and really hope that in the future she will be able to go for more than one day a week - places are like gold dust as you can imagine!

Bells Piece Open Day

Bells Piece is a fabulous place - my daughter has been going there once a week for the past nine months and absolutely loves it. It is run by Leonard Cheshire Disability and consists of a beautiful old house with a large garden which is used to grow all kinds of produce, from flowers for sale to the most delicious vegetables and fruit. All the gardening is done by people with disabilities and a fine job they do too.

Within the grounds is the Simply Unique Studio where they produce arts and crafts for sale in their shop. This is where my daughter goes - you wouldn't catch her wielding a spade or mower! She looks forward to her Mondays here and has created some lovely pieces of work, from collages to sculpture to stencilling - I have been amazed! I know I shouldn't be, as I am an artist as is her brother and she has grown up surrounded by paintings, needlework, knitting and just about any other craft you can name. She spends most of her free time drawing too but I have seen such a progression in her ability since she has been going to Bells Piece.

This Saturday, 15th May, Bells Piece are holding an open day between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. where you can visit the grounds, see the shop and studio and they are also holding an exhibition - I believe my daughter has some work on show! I am greatly looking forward to seeing this and will try to remember to take photographs.

If you are in the Farnham, Surry, area on Saturday, try and pop in for a look - I promise it will be well worth it and a reaffirmation of what can be achieved by people with disabilities. It is just of the 3 Bells Roundabout, a little lane next to the 3 Bells pub.