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COURAGEOUS Peter Rushton is utilising his love of art to help him recover from a devastating stroke which left him partly paralysed and unable to use his right hand, the one he used to paint with.
Determined to use his creative talents, he has mastered using his left hand to sketch and paint a new collection just five weeks after leaving hospital.
Alongside tough physiotherapy sessions and therapy to help him fully recover his speech, Peter, 57, has set himself a goal to unveil his work in an art exhibition at Moda Mall in October.
“My main focus currently is to concentrate on my recovery and therapy to get back to being 100 per cent fit – this I am told by the doctors, will take time, patience and perseverance – like any journey you have good days and bad but what is important is to have a vision and an end goal,” he said.
“Due to my right hand still lacking movement and any feeling, or sensation, I have had to use my left hand for painting recent pieces of art which I have never done before.
“While I was painting with my left it proved to me that you can still be creative and that creativity comes from within and not from the limb that is used to execute it.”
Peter, from the Welsh city of Swansea, is head of corporate communications at Kuwait Finance House (Bahrain) and is married to Julia, client services director and acting general manager of marketing company Gulf Marcom. The couple live in Saar with their son, Digby, 11, who attends St Christopher’s School.
Peter has been in Bahrain for 14 years and originally came out to join a newly-formed advertising & marketing agency as creative director.
Incidentally, he was planning to stage his first exhibition in Bahrain after the summer holidays before he suffered his stroke.
Peter had studied Industrial & Fine Art at Swansea University and his successful business career, happy family life and blossoming plans to stage the art show were suddenly dealt a massive blow.
“It was very sudden and happened during the night,” he explained. “I have little recollection of when it actually happened, however, I woke up feeling totally confused and uncoordinated.
“I remember my son, who was still on school holiday, coming into the bedroom to say ‘good morning’ to me and I was unable to speak to him coherently – he was visibly upset and confused himself and he went off to find his mother who was already awake and in the kitchen.
Peter continued: “My wife found me sitting on the side of bed and my understanding is that she knew instantly from what she saw that I had suffered a stroke and she called an ambulance immediately.
“I was initially taken to the International Hospital whose medics were incredibly supportive and quick to recognise the symptoms of the stroke and took the necessary action immediately by giving me a CT scan with the recommendation of a transfer to Salmaniya Medical Complex where I was admitted for a week for observation and treatment.
“The staff members at Salmaniya were very efficient and supportive. Since leaving hospital now only five weeks ago I have had to undertake some serious intense physiotherapy for my right hand which was paralysed as a result of the stroke, in addition to working with a speech therapist four times a week.
“It has been a slow and long process but I am told that day by day I am improving. However, I am finding it difficult and frustrating because I know what I want to say but I’m unable to communicate so others can understand.
“It’s all about learning new pathways in the brain in order to do something that we all take so much for granted, which is the ability of speech. I have a great speech therapist and she’s being incredibly patient with me.”
Peter says a fabulous summer holiday to Australia has inspired him and his first work using his left hand has been acclaimed by art lovers after Julia posted a copy of it on her Facebook page.
Although, untitled as yet, it hangs in a prominent position in the family living room.
Peter had staged extensive exhibitions earlier in his painting career in the UK, however, this took a backseat due to work commitments in the Middle East. Instead he turned his passion for painting and art into a means of relaxation.
Over a period of years it became evident that due to the volume of work that he was producing in his spare time that an exhibition was needed to share his creative outlook and expression with others.
Originally his creations were stored in a studio set up at home but they soon started to spread around the family’s home and his collection became so extensive that his paintings had to be stored off-site.
He said: “While we were in Australia we visited a number of art exhibitions as well as experienced beautiful scenery with an extreme sense of open space that inspired me at the time. I promised myself then that I would pick up the brush again when I returned to Bahrain - unfortunately four days after our return I had the stroke.
“A key part of the rehabilitation process from a stroke is to keep your mind positive, active and determined to succeed and my way of being able to do this was to turn to my first passion which is art and creativity.
“I have finished two pieces since the stroke which are of an aborigine-style which is something very new for me.
“My influences are first and foremost everything I see, feel and experience, but I’ve always loved the unexpected. I love the rhythm of life and how it can be represented.
“The artist I most admire is Salvador Dali. For me, he was a genius ahead of his time in conceptual thinking and technique. I grew up wanting to express art in various ways, allowing the subject matter to dictate which technique I adopt.
“I am also hoping to exhibit some of my art work at an upcoming exhibition taking place in Moda Mall during October as part of its ‘Back to Elegance’ Festival.”
During his painstaking journey to recovery the Rushtons have received ‘amazing support’ from the community and in particular Peter’s work colleagues and senior management at Kuwait Finance House (Bahrain) which has touched and comforted them greatly.
Peter said: “It can be hard being an expatriate living overseas away from family during a difficult time such as this, however, our friends and colleagues in Bahrain have been so unbelievably supportive and kind it has made this blip in our lives a lot easier to handle and we cannot thank people enough for their kindness and love.”
Julia, has been a tower of strength too and is proud of her husband’s gritty spirit in adversity and his artistic talent which to date has been hidden from the people of Bahrain. She explained: “I met Peter in London when we were both working at the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi back in 1994 - he was Creative Director and I was a young account executive trainee.
“Peter inspired me with his creative talent and outlook on life in his professional capacity which also translated into his art and paintings which were unique and showed amazing talent.
“He continues to amaze me every time he starts working with a blank canvas which then turns into a creative expression of a mood, place or thought.
“I am so pleased that he has found solace and comfort in his art during this recovery period and I really believe it has helped him through what could’ve been a very dark time for him.
“Both Digby and I are so proud of what he has achieved to date in his recovery and how he has kept his humour and creativity despite the odds.”
