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A local artist and art teacher has used his skills to highlight the dedication of a nurse who came out of retirement to help during covid following a 50-year career – and is continuing to work to plug staffing gaps today.
Kevin Pallot, Head of Art at De La Salle College, took his inspiration from the artist Tom Croft, who painted NHS key workers for free and got different artists to do the same, compiling the results in a book. Mr Croft received a British Empire Medal for this work.
His next-door neighbour, Pat, had worked as a nurse at the General Hospital for years – and she was even present for the birth of Kevin’s cousin, who is now 50.
“There's a lot of people that she’s helped,” Kevin said.
“She’s just a very thoughtful person and goes out of her way. That’s just who she is and I just wanted to do the portrait as a thank you in that way.”
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Kevin, whose work focuses on portraits, has had “a good few years” working on projects around the island – a new mural at The Tipsy, a mural at the Old Station Café, a portrait of L’Horizon Hotel’s resident pianist Collette Channing, and several series of stamps with Jersey Post.
Pat and her husband Ray are Kevin’s next-door neighbours.
Pat said she had been due to retire from her role as manager of the medical day care unit in April 2020, but, when the pandemic hit, she stayed on for another six months.
Pat described how there was “no question about it... We just all came together and did what we could", adding: "I love my job."
Pictured: Artist Kevin Pallot said he was “really inspired" by nurse Pat's selflessness.
Kevin said he was “really inspired by her selflessness", and that the portrait was "a way of me saying 'thank you'".
Portraits are Kevin’s preferred medium, so a tribute to Pat learnt itself to the situation – even though Pat says she normally prefers to stay “in the background”.
She added that she was glad Kevin worked from photographs of her, as sitting for a portrait “would have been difficult”.
Throughout the process of creating the work, Kevin explained that it had served as a teaching tool.
As he was working on the piece, he used it to demonstrate the process of creating a portrait, “showing them how to do a portrait and the meaning behind it”.
He brought photographs of Pat to school with him and created a series of drawings to make sure he was happy with getting the facial expressions and proportions right.
Pictured: Kevin worked from photographs and used drawings to get to exactly the expression he wanted. (Kevin Pallot)
In the piece, Pat looks slightly away from the viewer – “almost like remembering certain things that happened at the time," Kevin explained.
“I had her deep in thought, thinking about what she went through and people she helped”
The base of the painting is made with acrylics, with oils in the upper layers. “There is a lot of work that goes into it before you actually do the painting," Kevin noted.
Seeing a portrait with “a very special reason, as a tribute to someone” was useful to the boys, who came up with their own ideas for moving, personal portraits.
One, Kevin explained, made a portrait of his mother holding a photo of him as a baby.
He gave the final version to Pat two weeks ago, on 12 August, after adding some finishing touches.
“When I finished it, I took it around to her and her husband. She knew that I was going to do it and I was using it as a teaching tool for Year 12 students, showing them how to do a portrait.”
He described Pat as “moved” and “very appreciative”, adding that she was planning to frame it and give it pride of place.
Pat confirmed that she had the portrait in her lounge, and that she was waiting to get it framed.
Pictured: The finished portrait of Pat. (Kevin Pallot)
“It’s quite strange seeing a portrait of yourself!” she laughed.
The portrait is testament to commitment and dedication to helping others - something which continues to this day.
Pat herself is still working a few days a week as part of the nurse bank for medical daycare.
With nursing staff shortages, she finds she still gets “quite a lot of work”.
“It’s four years in October that I actually retired and I’m really pleased that I did carry on working. I think I would have really missed it if I hadn’t," she reflected.
“I think when I went into nursing, I never would have imagined I would still be nursing 51 years later."
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