During her time in hospital, Lizzy became frustrated about being unable to do creative work due to her illness. In response, she created Hospital Watercolour Club. 

“At the end of 2013 I was in hospital for 4 weeks. During this time I ran Hospital Watercolour Club. I asked my visitors to paint with me.” - Lizzy

The club involved Lizzy and her friends creating small watercolour paintings of the objects and equipment of the hospital ward. Watercolours were chosen as the medium as they were practical for the ward environment and Lizzy’s energy levels. Lizzy photographed these works on top of (and thus framed by) the baby blue hospital blankets on Lizzy’s bed, and shared them online.

Through Hospital Watercolour Club, Lizzy found a way to create a familiar communal experience in a medical environment, celebrate creative adaptability, bring her illness and her art together, and share her experience as a sick artist with the world. She made the secret world of the ward not only a subject matter for art, but also a studio of sorts where art could be made.

Read more about Lizzy, her work and activism

Submission guidelines

You can take part by sharing an artwork you have already created, or by creating something brand new. Any medium welcome and you don’t need any arts experience to join in! Once you have created your artwork inspired by your experience of illness or disability and Hospital Watercolour Club, take a clear photograph of it.

Upload your photo to social media and tag it with #SickArtistsClub or email kjh@thingsihavelearnedthehardway.com. We would love for you to share a small artists’ statement with your work, to explain to the world some of your experience as a sick or disabled artist.

Submitted artworks will be displayed and archived here, celebrating the life and work of Lizzy Rose. 

Help us to make the experiences of sick and disabled people - whether in hospital, bedridden, housebound, out in the world, or a combination of them all - visible, valued, and celebrated.

The deadline for submitting artworks is Sunday 30th April, though artworks submitted earlier may be celebrated on our social media channels as well as in the online exhibition.

View Lizzy's Instagram, where she documented her life as an artist with a chronic illness, here.

During her time in hospital, Lizzy became frustrated about being unable to do creative work due to her illness. In response, she created Hospital Watercolour Club. 

“At the end of 2013 I was in hospital for 4 weeks. During this time I ran Hospital Watercolour Club. I asked my visitors to paint with me.” - Lizzy

The club involved Lizzy and her friends creating small watercolour paintings of the objects and equipment of the hospital ward. Watercolours were chosen as the medium as they were practical for the ward environment and Lizzy’s energy levels. Lizzy photographed these works on top of (and thus framed by) the baby blue hospital blankets on Lizzy’s bed, and shared them online.

Through Hospital Watercolour Club, Lizzy found a way to create a familiar communal experience in a medical environment, celebrate creative adaptability, bring her illness and her art together, and share her experience as a sick artist with the world. She made the secret world of the ward not only a subject matter for art, but also a studio of sorts where art could be made.

Read more about Lizzy, her work and activism

As Lizzy found a sense of community from creating with others, we want to invite sick and disabled artists to do the same. Anyone can create art, and you don’t need a formal studio to be an artist. 

A biro sketch of hospital corridors on the back of an envelope while waiting for your test results; photography of the changing view from your bedroom window; a cross-stitch of the back of your medication packet; a watercolour painting of a hospital ward from your in-patient bed. We welcome sick and disabled artists to submit artworks that express your experience of chronic illness or disability. 

Submission guidelines

You can take part by sharing an artwork you have already created, or by creating something brand new. Any medium welcome and you don’t need any arts experience to join in! Once you have created your artwork inspired by your experience of illness or disability and Hospital Watercolour Club, take a clear photograph of it.

Upload your photo to social media and tag it with #SickArtistsClub or email kjh@thingsihavelearnedthehardway.com. We would love for you to share a small artists’ statement with your work, to explain to the world some of your experience as a sick or disabled artist.

Submitted artworks will be displayed and archived here, celebrating the life and work of Lizzy Rose. 

Help us to make the experiences of sick and disabled people - whether in hospital, bedridden, housebound, out in the world, or a combination of them all - visible, valued, and celebrated.

The deadline for submitting artworks is Sunday 30th April, though artworks submitted earlier may be celebrated on our social media channels as well as in the online exhibition.

View Lizzy's Instagram, where she documented her life as an artist with a chronic illness, here.