Orphans and the power of colour
Marita
I first met Marita Forss, artist and illustrator in 2003 as students at university in Aberyswyth, Wales. We have both grown up outside our passport countries and share with other“Third Culture Kids” the same feelings of never being able to settle. Our similarities became more apparent as we spent many hours in each other’s company painting and listening to music. We also discovered that we both have synaesthesia and process information and feelings through colour, believing in its healing power. At that time I was unaware how colour would shape my friendships, the decisions I make and even my career choices.
China
I moved to China at 21 to teach English at Quzhou University. There, I set up a Drama and Art Club. Following a student’s idea, the group began to visit a local orphanage to sing to the children. The experience of finding children abandoned and living in dire poverty was distressing for all of us. Working with a Chinese colleague I set up a student volunteering charity. I saw firsthand that by using creative and holistic therapies abandoned and disabled children are able to engage more easily and naturally with each other and their carers. We renovated their orphanage in warm soothing colours as well as providing nappies and other items to meet the children’s basic needs. We also set up two schools, one for children who would otherwise be unable to attend and another for deaf children. The volunteers were able to gain valuable experience and skills, in a culture where organised charity is uncommon.
Orphans before the participation of the voluntary group
Yvonne
On graduation, one student volunteer, Yvonne Ye, defied her parents wish to return home to marry and went to work in Foreign Trade in the city. Appalled at being paid far less than her male colleagues, Yvonne sought my help to set up her own company, offering brokering and translation services between Chinese jewellery producers and Western buyers. She now employs working mothers who find it too difficult to work the long hours in factories due to family commitments. She is committed to women’s working rights in China and paying them a fair wage. At 25 she earns 8 times more than her university lecturers’ salary of 2000rmb.
Yvonne Ye
When I left China I still wanted to support the student volunteering charity so, using materials supplied by Yvonne’s company, I make jewellery with a sales outlet in Woodford. After graduation Marita and I went our separate ways, but we reconnected quite by chance in London a few years later. We rediscovered our love of colour and successfully organised an exhibition, Summer’s Hiding Light, which embraced colour and invited friends to perform poetry and music. We are also holding a Private View in London celebrating colour on 7th September 2012. Drop by!
Plan B
Unfortunately some serious health issues in March 2011 caused me to rethink my career and come up with a Plan B. As an Art Psychotherapist I am familiar with the value of holistic and creative techniques. It was this “creativity” that gave me the idea to set up my own art studio. Here, I will not only offer drawing and painting classes, I will also offer expressive and creative workshops, planned to start in January 2013. Watch this space!
I strongly believe that images should not be seen as “good” or “bad” but as a way of being able to express an inner spirit. Art can be a way forward for someone who wants life coaching, healing or therapy in a non-verbal way, opening up the opportunity to a new way of being and self-belief.
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