Results Depict Depression Art Competition

The wait is over! The results for my Depict Depression fundraiser Art Competition are out!

1^st PLACE – Georgina Henshaw

2^nd PLACE – Llinos Thomas

3^rd PLACE – Margaret Whittaker

4^th PLACE – Caroline B.

Congratulations to all our winners – thank you for giving of your time, effort and money (donations) to a worthy cause.

As you already know I’d organised this competition to raise funds for Depression Alliance, a leading national charity which provides information, support and services for those affected by depression.

DA has been key in my own fight against depression and I wanted to give something back, as well as help raise awareness. There’s still alot of stigma, misconceptions and negative attitudes towards people who suffer from depression. And while some people are understanding and supportive, many others aren’t and can’t seem to break their line of thinking unless they themselves have been affected.

This competition was intended to provide a forum for ‘discourse’ & expression. Talking about things isn’t only useful for raising awareness, it is part of the healing process and the way forward.

KEY THANKS

I’m pleased to say that so far with your help I’ve raised £221.52, the bulk of which were donations made online through my page: https://www.justgiving.com/Alisha-Nurse

My page will remain open for the next three months so you can still give if you haven’t gotten a chance.

SPECIAL, SPECIAL THANKS to the lovely Mrs Annette Alvarenga-Johnson and Estee Lauder Travel Retailing for their generous prize donations, as well as my friend, artist Vicky Scott for donating some of her artwork as a prize as well. It was very challenging getting the donations to come in on my own, and the help that both Mrs Alvarenga-Johnson and Vicky offered is invaluable and greatly appreciated.

To everyone who has donated, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANKYOU.

To all of the entrants, THANKYOU. The submissions were highly competitive and making a decision was no easy task. It was a very close contest for first place in fact! You are all winners!

Thanks to my friends and judges, especially Lynda Oakley, and to Dana Owen, and Tylah.

THE WINNING SUBMISSIONS

1^st PLACE

The winning piece is a photograph orchestrated by Georgina Henshaw.

She captioned it “Friends of depression, not friends with me.”

Senior judge Lynda rightly described it as a “powerful” photograph, and in it we see some of the destructive things and habits that are often adopted by people who get depressed.

 2^nd PLACE went to Llinos Thomas who penned a metaphorical masterpiece of the black dog.

She said: “In this poem I have used weather as a metaphor for how depression makes me feel.  I have tried to depict the loneliness, bleakness and intense symptoms of the illness.”

 The wind whistling through my mind.

Thunder cracking in my ears.

Lightning piercing my eyes.

Is it my destiny to go through this

Alone?

Snow clogging up my brain.

Rain lashing on my face.

Hail scraping my ears.

How will I find the strength to

Overcome?

Sleet creeping down my neck.

Drizzle misting up my eyes.

Fog steaming up my mind.

Looking for a way out of the

Hell inside my head.

3^rd PLACE was won by Margaret Whittaker who produced a well written creative passage illustrating a dark, but very real aspect of depression that faces many a sufferer.

“Looking down she wondered if this was the best way. It was an awfully long drop. What would her feelings be on the way down? Once her decision was made there was no going back. The black mist crept closer. The stone in her stomach grew heavier. Her head was bursting. Her chest tightened and she could hardly breathe. No one would know. The streets were silent, malevolent and the creature in the blackness was of her own making. It was a devourer of souls, a destroyer of all that made life worth living. It was an emptiness into which she fell at last. It was not a spiritual place. When it was accomplished she was not present to witness it. A dog passed by and sniffed at the broken remains of a human being at the foot of the bridge.”

4^th PLACE went to Caroline who whipped up one of my personal favourites. This beautiful blast of colours is descriptive, insightful and offers hope. Caroline explained:

“This piece represents a person in the thick of the depression bubble, where you can hardly see out and you definitely can’t feel anything.

All the natural beautiful things are visible but completly unreachable and untouchable, yet they are still there.

Other people can touch and see the beautiful natural things that are always all around us, but they can’t touch or see your thick misty bubble.

You are by yourself and all alone, no one can hear you shout and cry. Yet eventually, with help – you can learn how to break free.”

Prizes:

1st PlACE – Large Estee Lauder gift set

2nd PLACE – Small Estee Lauder gift set & book voucher

3rd PLACE – Vicky Scott artwork & book voucher

4th PLACE – Summer gift set & book voucher