Living with dementia magazine July 2010

Sarah Jane Szikora is a Gateshead-based artist best known for her colourful, quirky paintings of 'fat ladies' and gingerbread characters. Here, she talks about her mother's dementia, why she is supporting the Society through her work, and humour in her art.

Sarah-Jane Szikora's mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease five years ago. She says,

'We lost my dad ten years ago. Mum lived on her own for five years, and around the time she was diagnosed she met someone else who's now her main carer. Steve's in his 70s and he drew the short straw really.

'It's so unfair on him as he came into her life and I feel is burdened with her care. He lives with her and cares for her 24/7. I moved in with mum for six months a year ago to help care for her on a daily basis, and it makes you realise just how difficult the condition is.

'Steve has also had a stroke, which I believe was triggered by having to cope with this. He doesn't like asking for help. I try to help out where I can, but I'm working full time and more, and there's all the guilt associated with mum's illness.

'I've tried to organise respite for them but it's not working terribly well as the woman who comes isn't trained in dementia care. We've avoided using services we haven't needed at certain stages, but the situation is changing now and we've been in touch with Alzheimer's Society locally.

'I don't think it should fall to charities to provide care and support for people, but it does. Thank God for Alzheimer's Society. I thought I may be able to help the charity in the course of what I do.'

Sarah-Jane kindly donated a print which was auctioned for £3,000 at a fundraising event for the Society, and most recently created two limited edition designs for our 2010 Christmas card collection.

Speaking about her work, she says,

'I mostly draw my ideas from simply observing people and human behaviour. There's a lot of depressing art out there. Artists will respond to social difficulties and I do the same, but there's still humour in them.

'I think you have to see humour in situations. Life has so much misery and tragedy, I like to search out the good bits and make people laugh. If I'm struggling with a blank canvas, I take myself off to a local town centre. Often I need only see a mundane scene such as the purchase of a bag of chips and I am on my way.'

Sarah-Jane recently spent a week working with the senior nursing team at Bradford teaching hospitals as part of a King's Fund project called Enhancing the healing environment, aimed at improving the dementia wards.

We will be writing more about the project in a future issue.