In a fortuitous meeting, Keith Jansz and Alan Titchmarsh were recently in conversation as part of the Mouth and Foot Painting (MFPA) Virtual Coffee Mornings series, which is where the two discovered that they share a mutual support for Horatio’s Garden.
The MFPA is a partnership of disabled artists run by the artists themselves. Since Spring 2020, they’ve been working on their Virtual Coffee Morning project, which was launched in November and involves various artists sharing their inspirational stories with special guests.
Each webinar is an opportunity for people to discover more about the artists’ lives and the fantastic Association to which they all belong, with the idea being that the Zoom events would bring a little cheer and optimism to everyone in lockdown.
Keith and Alan’s discussion has since been posted to YouTube, with the emphasis being on Keith talking about his life and his art.
To hear the two talk about Horatio’s Garden, listen from approximately 22:27.
Incidentally, both are wonderful supporters of Horatio’s Garden, with Keith regularly attending our events, visiting Horatio’s Garden Stoke Mandeville to creatively inspire others, as well as contributing his artwork to our Chelsea Secret Art Sale. Meanwhile, Alan is an ambassador for the charity, often visiting us at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and most recently shared his deep appreciation for our Grow to Give fundraisers as part of our Week of Thanks last August.
Keith spoke very fondly of the charity and it was lovely to see Alan immediately acknowledge us as he mentioned all that we do. The subject arose in connection with the various exhibitions Keith has sadly had to cancel throughout 2020 and 2021 as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, including one he has organised to raise vital funds for Horatio’s Garden Stoke Mandeville.
However, despite the year’s challenges, Keith and Alan both remain optimistic. Keith shared his hope that this exhibition, along with various others, will be able to go ahead later this year and as such he is continuing to work on plenty of pieces. As he says in the video, art has and is his “salvation”, enriching his life in so many unbelievable ways, which is why he loves seeing his work en masse and sharing it with the world.
We are so grateful to both Keith and Alan for their continued support and hope that the MFPA continue to enjoy great success with their thought-provoking series.
