The Walls We Build - Mandala (Original)

I drew this not long after our first camp for home-educating families. Being there was a revelation: sharing circles, singing, dancing, people showing up as themselves. Strangers, and they felt safe — nobody arriving with an idea of who I was. I came home able to see my own walls more clearly.

They're the stories you tell about yourself, layer on layer. They don't hide the real you. Given long enough, they become the real you. The mandala holds all of it, walls included, because that's the whole of a person. But once you can see them, you get to choose: which stories to put down, and which to bring to the front.

It wasn't drawn about miscarriage, but that's where I've seen those walls at their highest — the silence, the shame, not telling anyone you're pregnant in case you have to untell them. I told everyone. Those walls kept me isolated and in pain, and reaching out was hard, but it brought connection, understanding, and solidarity from people who'd been through the same. That's why this piece went to the Zephyrs auction, a charity supporting families who've lost babies and children.

Black ink and watercolour on 300gsm hot-pressed watercolour paper. A4 (21 × 29.7 cm). Signed by me.

Auctioned for charity, now in a private collection. Prints to follow.