A group of people with the same “debilitating” illness have created a “joyous” art exhibition.

Our creative journey was put together by eight people with Huntington’s disease in Gloucestershire.

The Huntington’s Disease Association (HDA) said the event will highlight “the importance of art in improving the well-being of people living with debilitating and incurable diseases.”

The five-day exhibition is held at St John the Baptist Church, Cirencester from Tuesday to Saturday.

This disease is caused by a faulty gene and results in progressive loss of brain cells, affecting movement, mood and thinking abilities. It can also cause aggressive behavior.

The exhibition is a joint project of artists Bert and Elise Holland, Charlotte, Clair, Evie, Kate, Spencer James and Steven Hart.

Carol Dutton, specialist advisor at HDA, said: “The initial idea for an art exhibition came about during the Covid lockdown during one of our online Huntington’s disease group meetings, when we discovered how many accomplished and talented artists we had in the Huntington’s disease community. in the locality.

“For some, art is a way to focus, distract themselves from symptoms, or find purpose and joy.”

Among the eight artists are father and daughter, Bert and Elise.

Bert has Huntington’s disease and his daughter suffers from the rarest form of the disease, juvenile Huntington’s disease, whose symptoms appear before the age of 20.

“Elise gets to spend time every week creating her artwork and she gets such pleasure from it,” said her mother, Alison.

Another artist, Spencer James, quit his job when his symptoms worsened, and for a time he recycled broken furniture.

Parents Phil and Charlie said: “As time passed and he could no longer use a paintbrush or sander, he found other ways to express his need to create.

“Using an iPad, he now creates abstract images using different palettes and brushes and manipulates them with his fingers, which we print on canvas and velvet.”