My Dad’s Apple
Amy South is a fine artist who, in collaboration with her Dad is raising money for his cancer treatment.
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/my-dads-apple
Polyurethane Resin and Mica Powder
Anthony has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer that has spread through his body, at this late stage chemotherapy is an unfavourable treatment and is more likely to have devastating consequences with a low chance of success in eradicating the cancer. Your donations will pay for Rick Simpson CBD treatment, which will ease physical pain and encourage sleep and a healthy appetite, building up his body strength. There is evidence of CBD treatment slowing the growth of cancer and so this is the treatment we have decided to pursue.
This is an ‘All or Nothing’ fundraiser, so if we do not reach our target, we will not receive any of your donations.
This is a story of an artistic collaboration between a daughter and her father, a collective fight to keep their heads above water using the only means they have. Amy South is an artist from Blyth, Northumberland.A northern lass, with all the baggage associated with such a title has worked tirelessly not to be defined by the misfortunes that have followed her, falling into the arms of art as a means of escape and healing. In 2013 she was given a place to study Fine Art at Chelsea College of Arts; in her final year she found herself homeless and fighting to keep herself afloat and in the midst of this she lost her Mum to suicide after years of battling to get mental health proper support. Amy completed her degree in 2016.
She has supported vulnerable people facilitating therapeutic art workshops and has continually strived to use art as a means of survival, therapy and healing.
Now is the time to help Amy on that journey, to encourage and support her in the same way she has always worked to support those around her.
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/my-dads-apple
Amy is working with her Dad, Anthony, creating both a series of sculptures reflecting upon their current situation and also unearthing a treasure trove of artistic output that he has created over the years.
Amy writes of Dad’s Apple
“‘Dad’s Apple’ is inspired by a small apple. It was gifted to me by my Dad this month after he had cleared away the dying trees surrounding one, now healthy apple tree. This year, it produced a single apple which, for me, is a symbol of hope, regeneration and determination in these dark and desperate times. Some of the casts glow in the dark, others come in a vivid spectrum of colours, my favourite are cast in Jesmonite, although strong, they look like delicate bone. I feel that this apple represents our shared fight to save my Dad’s life in the same way he saved the tree. If we cannot save his life, I hope that we can at least make sure that during his final days, he is held in comfort, love and dignity.”
Polyurethane Resin and Mica Powder with a wire stem.
The symbol of the apple takes on a new meaning in the context of Amy and Anthony’s relationship and situation over the past few months.
'Dad's Apple', Set of 3. Cast in Jesmonite.
Anthony is a beautiful man. Kind, giving and gentle, he is an artist of immense soul, painting the rich kaleidoscope of his being into all he creates. He has taught Amy from a young age the healing and insightful magic of art, colour, nature and music.
A mix of PVA and Sand, Lime, Pigment and Adhesive Plaster with layers of Coloured Biro, Acrylic Paint and Varnish, set in a wooden frame.
Amy recalls her Dad playing the guitar
“He would chime out a royal and harmonic pallet of colours that swirled and danced through the air, whisping out through the gaps in the windows and swimming up around the moon and back, it was, and still is, magic.”
...and each one of his paintings is a single whisp, encapsulated. A fibre of his soul embodied and present, and so, if he ever wondered if anyone could see the purity of his soul, I can assure him that I do…”
A mix of PVA and Sand, Lime, Pigment and Adhesive Plaster with layers of Coloured Biro, Acrylic Paint and Varnish, set in a wooden frame.
Amy continues
The body of paintings I am working on now, entitled ‘In-Sight’, began around the time that my Dad’s health began to deteriorate at an accelerated rate, as we struggled to access healthcare during lockdown. I could feel something significant flowing out through my hands as I layered glazes of paint and scraped them back - there is something unusually visceral and emotionally driven about these paintings. When I find the time, amongst the chaos of our current circumstances I go back to sit with them, maybe make a mark. They help me to process, they remind me of a wholeness within, a wholeness that my Dad and I share, as artists, as Father and Daughter.”
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/my-dads-apple
Anthony suffered a heart attack and was diagnosed with COPD over a year ago, since then he has faced financial difficulty and has fallen through the cracks of a health and social system already strained and teetering on the brink of collapse. A week ago he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
Anthony on painting
“This painting was made on July 13th 2006 and is made from a mix of PVA and Sand, Lime, Pigment and Adhesive Plaster, and is number 3 of a series of 30.
...I started making fresco paintings before studying Fine Art at Northumbria, the use of materials came naturally to me, having been a plasterer my whole life. I made a lot of frescos… or when you paint on top of dry plaster, that’s Secco painting, I'd mix pigment with lime. Even my Degree Show work was Fresco.
This one I used a perforated drawing and powdered it, because I only had a short time to paint it and I wanted to get it down before setting so I had time to paint the pigment in and scribe out the plaster to make marks. I shaved all around the outsides of the flowers, stems and leaves.
My work has changed a lot through the years, but it’s all interconnected.
A lot of my work is about the interplay between two or three different colours, one of them might be neutral, like the greys, or that ochre leaf - It’s trying to jump out at you, but softly.”
PVA and Sand, Lime, Pigment and Adhesive Plaster
This artistic collaboration is a means of survival.
A unified fight.
An enlivened cry.
We will not be rendered powerless.
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/my-dads-apple
In 2015, while Ken Loach composed his film, ‘I, Daniel Blake’, Amy was working with a group of social justice organisations as an artist in residence, a few doors down from the set in Broadacre House, Newcastle. Little did she know that the restroom on her floor would become the place where Daniel died.
Amy recalls
“I remember going to see ‘I, Daniel Blake’ with my dad. Despite being repeatedly denied his benefits and with no other social or financial safety net to catch him, the main character, Daniel, soldiered on in the only way a working class man of his age would - with love, light and dignity, confident that the system which he spent his whole working life paying into, would support him in his hour of need. Up until the moment just before he dies of a heart attack in the loo at the job centre, Daniel stood tall with self respect. At the end of the film my dad turned to me and said, ‘That’s me.’”
I AM NOT A CLIENT, A CUSTOMER OR A SERVICE USER. I AM NOT A SHIRKER, A SCROUNGER, A BEGGAR, NOR A THIEF... I'M NOT … A BLIP ON A SCREEN. I PAID MY DUES, NEVER A PENNY SHORT, AND PROUD TO DO SO...I DON'T ACCEPT OR SEEK CHARITY. MY NAME IS DANIEL BLAKE. I AM A MAN, NOT A DOG. AS SUCH I DEMAND MY RIGHTS. I DEMAND YOU TREAT ME WITH RESPECT. I, DANIEL BLAKE, AM A CITIZEN, NOTHING MORE AND NOTHING LESS.
These are the fictionalised words of Daniel Blake. Words that hit very close to home for many people. Words that offer insight into the endured reality for many in the UK right now.
Just like Daniel Blake, neither Amy or Anthony seek charity or require pity.
By supporting and investing in the collaboration between Amy and her Dad we can begin to usher in light that is both healing and illuminating; This is not a story or a project that stops with Amy or with Anthony.
How the money will help
All donations will go directly to paying for all aspects of Anthony’s palliative care and treatments, providing a basic and comfortable quality of life. This will also cover bus travel costs for Amy so that she can provide care and support.
Amy writes
“Our initial goal is to raise £9000. This will cover 3 months of CBD treatment. If the treatment is successful in slowing the growth of or even shrinking his cancer growths and we continue to be blessed with his presence we will aim to raise further funds for the following months. I have gone into debt to pay for the first round of treatment which will last until this fundraiser ends.
Alongside the CBD treatment it is important that we create an alkaline environment in my Dad’s body to ensure a heightened receptivity to the treatment; this means avoiding processed foods, sugar and meat, and eating a fresh and good quality vegetarian diet. Foods that will inevitably cost more.
In the North-East we are currently in Tier 2 coronavirus restrictions meaning no indoor visits allowed from other households. Since I live alone I have bubbled with them however, any other family or friend support has to be practiced following physical distancing guidance. For this reason it is important that they have a laptop capable of video calls to reduce their social isolation.
The funds will also cover travel to medical appointments and my bus travel to ensure I can provide care and take care of the all round organisation.”
But perhaps even more importantly it can also mean illuminating a community of care and love in a moment that feels as if there is nobody there to fight your corner.There are thousands of people in comparably unjust situations right now and so I hope that this fundraiser can also raise awareness and perhaps inspire others to fight for the changes we need. 