Unseen: Show celebrates artists who have been homeless

"I was one of those children who was allowed to draw on my bedroom walls," said artist, Mark

The artistic talents of people who have experienced homelessness are being showcased at an exhibition at The Brewhouse in Taunton. Named "Unseen" the exhibition shows "there's so much more to them than their homelessness", one of the organisers said.

Some find life easy as bread and butter.

While others end up living it in the gutter...

The one thing we want you to take, that in this life it's ok to make a mistake.

That is part of a poem called That Life by Tom, who is a client of the Arc homeless charity in Taunton and one of the artists behind a new exhibition.

"About 15 years ago I just started writing, picking up a pen and writing poems and short stories and stuff," Tom said.

He credits his father, an author, for passing on his "creative gene" to him.

"I've had a bit of a colourful past and it [poetry] is just another way of expressing that.

"Showing that you can go through stuff and maybe come out of it the other side with a bit of positivity," he said.

The pieces are being displayed in the corridors of The Brewhouse until Saturday

Tom said he hoped displaying his pieces would warn others not to go down the same path, but if they did, it would let them know there was a way back.

"I feel like I've pulled myself out of a bad place in life and I've come out the other side of it," he said.

"Hopefully in the future I'll be able to help other people do the same."

Organised by Arc, the exhibition consists entirely of artwork created by those experiencing, or who have previously experienced, homelessness.

Mark has a piece on display called "My Mouse Ate My Pad".

"I was given a pad to draw on and a mouse managed to eat part of it so I just drew around it," he said.

"I thought it was cute, it gave me inspiration."

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Mark, who has been homeless for a year and a half, explained that suffering with OCD meant every other aspect of his life "has to be exact" but art had allowed him a bit more freedom.

"When it comes to art I can make so much mess it's unbelievable, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest, and I can enjoy myself," he said.

As a child he said he was allowed to draw on his bedroom walls and normally does "quite big art", so it is unusual for him to do something quite small.

Mark said he had been with Arc for the past two and half months and "they have been phenomenal in helping" him.

He added that he was currently feeling "absolutely wonderful".

"Three months clear from alcohol, been offered a flat and really happy at the moment," he said.

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Rosie Hather, from Arc, said: "Quite often, sadly, people don't look past people's homelessness and they don't really see them as people.

"There's so much more to them than their homelessness. They're very talented people in many different ways.

"Through offering tailored support for each of our clients, we get to know the person behind the homelessness, building on the unique traits and skills of the individual to inspire them to take positive steps forward."

The charity said it had provided art supplies to people they house and support for "therapeutic reasons".

"Through that we realised we had lots of really talented artists in our service, so we wanted to give them an opportunity to exhibit that artwork," added Ms Hather.

Unseen is on display to the public until 8 October at The Brewhouse in Taunton.