Sarah Anne House
Area: Southfields
Type: Artist / Individual
Art form: Art, Craft, Design, Drawing, Painting, Print, Textiles
Biography / Artist statement
Sarah House is a talented and qualified fabric and watercolour design artist. Sarah had a stroke in 2009, and during her rehabilitation (2010–2020) decided to ask her husband (carer/appointee) Richard to design, develop and run a series of artistic field trips to the South Coast (Southdown National Park), in order to test out how this could be accomplished.
Also by bringing back the photographic and imagined images to her (art studio) adapted flat in West Hill Ward, Wandsworth. During the various stayovers, it was discovered that more could be got from the trips if we as a married couple, could extend and stabilise the trip events by closer management of the accommodation, meals and the like.
So we reached for our first (Proof-of-Concept) Disability Adapted Caravan Conversion. This was in 2013, and we are still at the very helpful Working Farm Partnership where we were encouraged to begin our testing of Caravans and Access / Touring Equipment.
This is now extensive and comprehensive. A Limited Company was formed, then invited to anage the commercial aspects of all this, and ultimately design and run concept and training courses for others and also other London Boroughs (Disability Access Teams).
We are in the third year of developing this training and consultancy project, with Sarah House central to the role of Principal Artist and Membership Secretary.
A large (S/H) PORTAKABIN Unit awaits refurbishment in Hampshire on the Working Farm, and close by the 2nd Adapted Caravan Demonstrator. In addition the ASPIRE Centre in Wandsworth has accepted our application to run Field Trip Induction Courses there when the Covid19 Epidemic gets under more control in hopefully the near future.
In closing here, the website will explain more of the timeline with pictures of the 3 x Disability Field Trip (Adapted) Caravans.
Wandsworth have been very supportive of this kind of activity, and Sarah is looking forwards to giving something back to the Disabled Community in the Borough over the coming years. Wandsworth also have invited Sarah House to apply for a Business Development Grant, to hopefully match and support the £50K+ already invested by us over the past seven years, in Caravans, Equipment, Travel, Accommodation and Disability Adapted Towing Cars.