Art is 'therapy' for St Luke's Hospital mural painter

Lynn Smith, 47, from Thornton, is in the process of creating the artwork on the ground floor of St Luke's Hospital's Horton Wing.

The 47-year-old painter is probably best-known for producing colourful murals in subways around the city.

She said: “I feel proud to have been asked to paint a mural at the hospital – it’s a real honour.

“I wanted to help because I love the NHS, and staff deserve to look at something nice.

“I’m painting a mural of bubbles in rainbow colours but I have received lots of ideas from staff, based here at St Luke’s, about what else I should paint, too.”

Art became Ms Smith's "therapy" after she was left with long-term injuries following a serious crash in 2014.

She suffered a broken neck, jaw and spine, and blood clots on the brain, after colliding with a car while crossing a road in Bradford city centre as she made her way to an underpass to continue working on a mural.

Ms Smith said: “Art is my therapy because it’s when I’m at my happiest.”

The 47-year-old, who is a trained artist, has also painted murals at Daniel Yorath House in Leeds, after receiving treatment at the specialist neuro-behavioural rehabilitation centre for people with acquired brain injuries.

She said: “I was at Daniel Yorath for a year after having three metal plates fitted in my skull, and started getting into drawing patterns, trees, flowers and butterflies.

“Since then I’ve gone on to paint a mural for Mind in Bradford and others, and have become a semi-professional artist. People on Facebook keep recommending me.”

Ms Smith is a fan of the work of Georgia O’Keeffe, Aubrey Beardsley and Wassily Kandinsky.

She has already completed one panel section in pop-art style primary colours at the hospital and is now working on more.

Helen Sutcliffe, Head of Corporate Affairs, said: “I would like to thank the team from Repaint in Bradford for kindly donating the paint but huge thanks to Lynn for all her hard work.

"We cannot wait to see the finished mural.”