In Brief | Art

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I had a breakdown

A large part of my recovery, starting in psychiatric hospital, was through making art.

I’d always wanted to be an artist, long before I became a writer.

When I was 14, I submitted a painting to an adult competition in London and won a special award.



Today, art is a major part of how I make a living

(Hurrah! Hurrah hurrah!)

It helps me make sense of what is difficult, and to find beauty in the everyday.


Philippa Perry
John-Paul Flintoff is the most
practical dreamer I know.
Philippa Perry, BBC Television

I particularly enjoy making pictures of people and places with stories.

Portrait of the Booker Prize winner Shehan Karunatilaka, drawn while he typed.

That picture I painted when I was 14? It was a seascape, but it was also about people: a couple stood on one side, and a solitary figure on the other.

I’ve never stopped being interested in connection / exclusion.


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