Art 'like medicine' for accountant turned artist after brain injury

Cheryl Blacklock says creating art has been part of her recovery after brain surgery. (ABC News: Emma Siossian) Link copiedShareShare articleIn a backyard studio, surrounded by plants and birdsong, artist Cheryl Blacklock is bringing to life an abstract image of a young woman's face. Eyes brimming with emotion gaze out from the canvas, as Ms Blacklock's hand moves as if on instinct, a vision clear in her mind. The art studio has become a refuge and place of calm for Cheryl after her brain surgery. (Supplied: Cheryl Blacklock) She lives with an acquired brain injury after surgery for brain aneurysms in 2019 and says art is "like medicine". "At the start of my recovery the art was like an addiction … if I didn't do art every day, it was a bad day," Ms Blacklock said. Life as an artist is a new chapter for the 62-year-old from Bonny Hills on the NSW Mid North Coast, who was previously a busy accountant, a career that was central to her identity. Cheryl Blacklock says she often sees faces in her mind, and feels compelled to paint them. (Supplied: Cheryl Blacklock) That changed one afternoon in April 2019 when Ms Blacklock suddenly felt very unwell and drove herself to hospital in Port Macquarie. She discovered she had brain aneurysms and a rare disease of the arteries, known as fibromuscular dysplasia. "I had to have brain surgery to clip the aneurysms, because of imminent danger," she said. After a haemorrhage during the surgery at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital, Ms Blacklock faced a long recovery from her injury. Cheryl Blacklock has used art to put a face to her emotions. (Supplied: Cheryl Blacklock) During her recovery from the Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), she noticed things changing. Her ability to process information was reduced, leading to slower decision-making. Processing numbers and reading forms had also become difficult. "One time I emailed a client … and told this man he was getting a $10,000 refund. The next day, I realised he had to pay the $10,000, not [get] a refund," she said. Cheryl Blacklock about six weeks after her brain surgery in 2019. (Supplied: Cheryl Blacklock) Meanwhile, she also felt compelled to create art, something she had enjoyed in high school but had pushed aside in favour of a more "stable" career. "I hadn't touched a paintbrush or pencil for decades prior to my surgery," she said. "I had never created any artworks apart from my major work in high school and some folk art flowers on a pot in the 90s. After resigning as an accountant, Ms Blacklock devoted herself full-time to her art, taking part in exhibitions and regional art competitions. "The things that used to come so naturally to me as an accountant … it's like my brain is going, 'I can't do that anymore, I don't want to do that anymore, I want to do this,'" she said. Cheryl Blacklock says her artworks are often expressions of her feelings, in the form of portraits. (Supplied: Cheryl Blacklock) Her main subject matter is portraits of faces that appear as visions in her mind. She honed her artistic skills as part of a mentorship program led by Port Macquarie-based artist Vivianne Hazenveld, who also focuses on art as therapy. "For situations such as Cheryl's, art can be very much almost like a vital need … it can really calm the nervous system down," Ms Hazenveld said. A black and white abstract charcoal that is Cheryl Blacklock's interpretation of the brain’s vascular system, including her artery disease. (Supplied: Cheryl Blacklock) Professor Fatima Nasrallah is a neuroscientist and Director of the Queensland Brain Injury Research Centre with the University of Queensland. She said she had seen many cases where a person's brain had forged new pathways after injury. "For example, where you've got brain cancer and you take out a huge lump of the brain, the brain has to adapt and overtake that area which is no longer there," she said. Cheryl Blacklock uses muted colours to create abstract images and says creating art has been a vital form of self-expression. (Supplied: Cheryl Blacklock) Professor Nasrallah said you could drive the brain's networks in different ways, depending on interests at a point in time. "We know … there are functional connections in the brain … your speech network, your motor network, you've got cognitive networks, which are responsible for counting numbers … and these networks change over time, and they change even in response to environmental stimuli," she said. "What you find is networks in the brain rewire themselves and, depending on where they rewire to, it comes up with new ways of thinking, new ways of executive function and possibly new tasks. Cheryl Blacklock in her garden studio at her home at Bonny Hills. (ABC News: Emma Siossian) Ms Blacklock said in some ways she felt she had evolved into her true self. "I think sometimes the universe tries to tell you to stop and slow down and see the roses," she said. Copy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)Promotio

Art 'like medicine' for accountant turned artist after brain injury

Key takeaways

More in international