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Holly Higson found her life was turned upside down when doctors diagnosed her with a rare and chronic autoimmune condition during her second pregnancy. Forced to give up work and completely reconsider her life, she turned to painting as a personal therapy when her world was at its lowest ebb.
Little did she know her new-found talent would redefine her career. Now a successful contemporary abstract artist, who balances motherhood with running a business and living with myasthenia gravis, her heart-felt works are being sold as far away as Australia.
‘It crushed me,’ admits Holly, 34, who was born and brought up in Sussex and lives in Chailey with her husband Charlie, their five-year-old daughter and son who is four.
‘At the time I had a 16-month-old and a newborn, and I’d just been told I had a disease that I’d never heard of.
‘It was a really, really challenging time for me and for everyone around me. I suddenly needed people to look after me as well as my little babies because I couldn’t hold them. Our whole world flipped upside down and I lost my job and had to rethink my path.’
Myasthenia gravis is a long-term condition that causes muscle weakness. Symptoms include having difficulty swallowing, and Holly now realises she probably had the disease for years before it was finally diagnosed when she was admitted to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath and had to be fed through a tube while she was pregnant.
Unable to return to work as a supervisor for holiday clubs and after-school clubs for children with learning difficulties – a job she loved – Holly sought comfort in the art that became a personal and professional turning point.
‘Painting became my sanctuary, allowing me to express myself, reconnect with my body and mind, and transform challenging moments,’ she says. Painting has become both my creative outlet and my way of reclaiming some control in a body that doesn’t always cooperate. Every piece I create is shaped, sometimes literally, by learning how to work around the limitations my condition brings.’
Growing up, Holly enjoyed art classes at school but never took the subject very seriously. ‘I knew I could do art, but I wasn’t fully invested in it at the time, it was definitely something that came later in life,’ she says.
Her interest was reignited in adulthood when Charlie treated them both to a date night ‘sip and paint’ art class.
‘You go along and copy a painting with a group of people and have a glass of wine,’ she recalls. ‘I just found it so therapeutic and I was completely lost for those three hours and wasn’t thinking about anything else, just the painting.
‘My husband got completely bored and within half an hour he was done and finished. Whereas I just didn’t want the time to end.
‘So, from there, I thought I might do a few bits at home in the evening as a form of meditation.’
Completely self-taught, Holly watched many hours of art tutorials and through ‘lots of trial and error’ began to hone her technique for creating acrylic paintings that explore colour, texture and mood.
In the aftermath of her diagnosis, painting became her salvation and she reevaluated her life through art.
‘What started as a personal form of therapy has grown into something larger,’ she says. ‘I now sell my work, take commissions and share my process openly online. Through this I’ve found that people connect deeply with both the art and the honesty behind it.
‘I’m also trying to raise awareness for myasthenia gravis, a condition many people have never heard of until it affects someone close to them.’
The family were living in Hove when Holly was diagnosed and they subsequently moved to Chailey, where she has turned a spare bedroom into a studio. ‘I just found Hove was a bit too busy and I needed some more space,’ she explains. ‘We have a dog and I love walking him in the countryside. It’s so beautiful here and really brings me peace.’
Initially, Holly never considered her art to be anything but a therapeutic pastime. It was only when a visitor spotted one of her paintings that she realised there was much more to them than simply a hobby.
‘They happened to see one of my paintings and were amazed I had painted it,’ she says. ‘I was so embarrassed that they’d seen it. I had quite a few paintings hidden away and they wanted to see all of them.
‘Then they said I should sell them, and I completely dismissed it.
‘I thought about it for a while and it was only really in the last year that I thought I would try and do it professionally and see if anyone was interested in buying, or even looking, at my paintings.’
Any initial doubts proved to be totally unfounded. After posting a picture of her work on Instagram a friend bought two large paintings and other orders soon started coming in.
‘I was absolutely shocked, but in the most incredible way,’ she says. ‘It felt so amazing that people would even be interested because although I loved them, I didn’t think anyone else would like them.
‘The first time a member of the public bought one it really gave me clarity, and I realised it wasn’t just me and they were resonating with people. That was a beautiful moment.’ Since then Holly has sold her works throughout the UK and as far away as Australia through her website (hollyhigsonart.co.uk) and Instagram page (@hollyhigson art), with small works starting from £45.
‘I primarily work with acrylics and with a lot of texture,’ she says. ‘I’m not saying I will never experiment with something else, but at the moment it’s just acrylics. They dry very quickly and I like that.
‘A lot of my artwork is based on what I’m feeling in that moment, and I just like to get it out onto the canvas really fast.
‘Texture is really important as well, as I feel I can’t express everything through just a blank, clean canvas. The texture brings people in and makes people want to touch it.
‘Each piece is designed to bring calm, inspiration and beauty into homes and spaces – and often features layered compositions, metallic accents and natural tones.’
While most of her work is abstract, more recently Holly has started painting local landscapes, beginning with a scene very close to home.
‘I am very lucky that from my window I have the most beautiful view,’ she says. ‘Since I posted one of my landscapes I have had some commissions.
‘One was from a person whose dog had sadly passed away and she wanted one of the places where they used to walk on the Downs. I recently gave it to her and she started crying, and that made me cry.’
A fellow dog-lover, Holly’s constant companion when she’s working is the family’s labrador, Wilson. After taking the children to school, Holly normally starts painting when she returns home and paces herself according to the fluctuating effects of myasthenia gravis.
‘I say it’s like a battery life,’ she says. ‘I start every morning with half a battery and never a full battery. So, I have to decide how I’m going to spend my energy depending on how I feel, and pick and choose what activities I’m going to do. But it will always involve painting, even if it’s only for 30 minutes. It makes me feel that I’ve been productive, because sometimes I feel I haven’t been very productive for the day because my conditions will not let me do anything.’
When Holly accepts a commission she always explains that the time it will take to complete the project will depend on how she feels. ‘One of the hardest parts is learning my limitations,’ she says. ‘In your mind, you feel you can do everything but my body can’t do everything. My clients have all been lovely and very understanding and patient.’
For 2026, Holly’s goal is to start talking to galleries and put on exhibitions to promote the work that has provided her a new future.
‘It has been so transformative to find that what you think could just be a hobby can actually give you such a purpose,’ she says.
‘I genuinely believe that painting is what’s helped me get better and healthier, because your mind can control so much of your health. I hope my story will also help raise awareness about myasthenia gravis and show that when you’re feeling completely lost, you can find something you didn’t even realise you had.’.
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