Accord artist celebrates 90th birthday

18 Apr 2019

18 April 2019

Mary Hemingway, who is the service’s oldest client, has been attending St John of Accord’s Greensborough Community Campus arts program since the 1990s where she creates ceramics and paintings typified by her use of bold, bright colours.

Mary’s birthday celebrations extended across two days with St John of God Accord hosting a party following her private celebrations.

Support Worker Barbara Torma, who has worked with Mary for 10 years and was invited to both celebrations, said it was wonderful to see Mary’s support network come together to celebrate.

“She has such a great circle of support. There were three generations of a family of a former support worker, who Mary was close to, who came to her celebrations as well as her church group who made a photobook for her to reflect back on,” Barbara said.

Barbara said Mary’s works reflected her happy and bright personality and her love of animals and nature.

“The wonderful thing about Mary is that she is just so imaginative, you can put anything in front of her and she will interpret it in her own style,” she said.

Mary’s works have been recognised in a number of prestigious awards and St John of God Health Care has commissioned her work to be added to the organisation’s art collection.

Support Worker Greg Fullerton said Mary’s works could fill their entire art room, many times over, and she showed no signs of slowing down.

“She makes these amazing, very colourful decorative works with mythical figures that fill the entire page,” he said.

“They are very cheery, endearing and lively, and very busy – reflecting her happy and sprightly nature.”

Mary first attended St John of God Accord services after the Janefield Institution, where she had been living since she was a child, closed.