Artist's giant lockdown tribute to Doncaster NHS ward nurses

Mark Kelsall, aged 55, who was born with spina bifida and needed a kidney transplant 10 years ago, spent over 200 hours creating a huge portait of a group of nurses who worked throughout the pandemic at Cusworth Ward, at Tickhill Road Hospital, Balby

His picture of the nurses is his biggest artwork to date – a 5ft x 4ft oil painting.

On it, he has painted 22 frontline NHS staff from the ward, run by Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber Foundation Trust (RDaSH).

Looking out from behind one of the facemasks is his niece Natalie Lowe. She is on the painting on the second row fourth from left.

Natalie is Cusworth Ward manager, and asked Mark to take on the epic canvas.

Mark said: “Natalie asked everyone to take a selfie pic for me to work from. My first big challenge was to get them evenly spaced out on the canvas and each portrait took up to 10 hours to complete.

"Because of the drying time involved between each coat of paint, which can take up to four days, I was constantly working on different part of the painting, sometimes up to 10 hours a day with 4.30am starts, as I got so engrossed in it.

“All the nurses sent photos with a mask on, apart from one called Holly, who had hers pulled down, which I think adds an extra bit of interest to the painting. It took about seven weeks to complete and I’ve called it Team Cusworth.”

Mark’s work will soon have pride of place on the ward, which cares for people with mental health problems, with RDaSH arranging for it to be framed first.

He said: “I’ve added a couple of symbols for people to look for which relate to mental health awareness – a green ribbon which is carried by butterflies and a semicolon, which indicates the overcoming of depression, addiction or suicidal thoughts.”

Natalie said: “I can’t thank him enough for his time and dedication in creating something that will not only be a lasting memory of the pandemic but a snapshot of the great faces of Team Cusworth in 2020.”

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