Sheffield Remembers by Sally Wilson ASGFA
Graphite and watercolour on paper
Nine years ago Sally Wilson was team leader for art at Huddersfield New College when an accident left her with severe brain injury and a damaged dominant hand. Cognitive problems, spells of overwhelming fatigue and arthritic hand pain are part of the legacy of the accident. At first Sally feared she might never draw again. But in 2014 her art was selected for the National Open Art Competition, she was Overall Winner in the National Stitch Competition, and at DRAW 14, the Society’s 93rd Annual Open Exhibition, Sally won the Dr Ph Martin’s Award for a Highly Commended Work in Colour. Andrew Marr, author of A Short Book about Drawing, was at the DRAW 14 private view to present Sally with her award.
“Art is the thing that keeps me going and has sustained me through a horrible period in my life.”
Sally Wilson receives the Dr Ph Martin’s Award for a Highly Commended Work in Colour from Andrew Marr
Lauren Ballinger, social media editor for the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, tells Sally’s extraordinary story (see link below).
W1 Commemoration – Sally’s towering mixed-media work of art exhibited at DRAW 14
Like her other architectural drawings, the two artworks Sally created for DRAW 14 were time consuming. “Most of my work,” she says in Lauren’s story, “takes between a month and six months to complete”.
Years before the accident Sally had gained a first class honours degree in sculpture at Loughborough College of Art & Design. She went on to develop her textile skills through the City & Guilds Embroidery course. Sally now uses welded metal, free machine embroidery and hand stitching, found objects, and paint and photography to create two- and three-dimensional art.
Her sculpture Pigeon Palace was exhibited at Somerset House with the National Open Art Competition and will move with the rest of the exhibition to the Minerva Festival Theatre in Chichester from 17 Dec til 4 Jan 2015.
Sally was elected an Associate Member of the Society of Graphic Fine Art in October 2014.
If you would like to know more about Sally and her art, please visit her web site http://sallywilson.co.uk
Please read Lauren Ballinger’s original story here http://www.examiner.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/artist-sally-wilson-holmfirths-work-7878886
SGFA Journal 
Well done Sally, beautiful work.
Thank you cynthia for showing us the article.
Beautiful work – I will go and find out more about Sally’s artwork. Thank you for this introduction.