Talented artist Valerie Chambers is continuing her love of art while living at a Norwich care home.
Valerie, 89, has lived at Laurel Lodge on Ipswich Road in Norwich since August 2023, where Black Swan Care Group provides short-term care and longer-term support.
She always had a love for art and studied at the famous Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts in London in the 1950s, where she received a Diploma in Art from a 4 year course. She went on to teach in schools and evening classes in Buckinghamshire. She was also in the Red Cross where her husband drove the ambulances, while Valerie ran the Youth Club for children aged between 7 and 15, teaching them art in between learning their First Aid duties.
Valerie fondly remembers her time at Art School; “There were some really famous artists at the college, people like Clifford Frith, Martin Bloch – a German-Jewish artist who fled Germany in 1934 and Susan Einzig, the illustrator of children’s book Tom’s Midnight Garden. They were all such an inspiration to me. The school was heavily involved in the Festival of Britain in 1951 and there was such a buzz at the time.”
Valerie’s artwork adorns the walls of her bedroom at the care home, dominated by a large oil painting of horses at the River Yare at Harford Bridges in Norwich painted over 20 years ago. She says that she took a quick sketch of the scene which would have taken her about two hours, then the final painting would have taken around two months to complete.
These days, Valerie carries her sketch book and pencils around the home, capturing the scenes of life at the home, including portraits of other residents and staff, drawings of animals as well as colourful images of entertainers who have visited the home.
“It’s just like keeping a diary really. Pretty much every day I can find something to draw with my pencils and pastels as there’s always lots of things going on at the home and the staff encourage me to continue to do it.”
Laurel Lodge provides short-term, respite care or longer-term care support at the home on Ipswich Road, close to Norwich City College. The home can be contacted on 01603 502371 or by visiting https://www.blackswan.co.uk/our-homes/laurel-lodge-care-home.
