Beauty Through Strength

What is beauty anyway?

When the MS Society asked me to pose naked for Melissa Mailer-Yates I didn't know what to say.

I'm 36.

I'm not pretty.

I'm not tall.

I'm certainly not slim.

I don't have good skin.

I always look tired (I always am tired).

For about three seconds I panicked.

I wanted to say 'yes'.... I know a once-in-lifetime opportunity when it presents itself.

But me? Naked?? Couldn't the MS Society ask me to do something a little less... challenging?

There are some opportunities you know you should grasp with both hands before they get away from you.

So I said 'yes' before I could say 'no'.

And here we are, four months later. Naked before the world.

I knew this project was going to be an emotional roller coaster ride. It hasn't disappointed.

Thanks to the support and encouragement of the amazing group of people whom I count as my close friends, I have managed to keep my head up and have made it to launch day, this blog and my chance to share this experience with you.

This blog includes video interviews with a number of my friends and footage from the day I first saw the paintings in real life and from the opening night of the exhibition.

I would love to know what you think about this exhibition, about the paintings and about what you think about what I've done here. Please post comments. I will try to respond to them all.

Now the show is over...

...but the publicity machine rumbles on

I gave a live radio interview to InSight Radio this morning. Hello to any listeners who tuned in!

InSight Radio is broadcast in the Glasgow (Scotland) area on 101.0 FM. It is Europe's only radio station dedicated exclusively to blind and partially sighted people.