Dyslexia no barrier to achieving dreams, says artist exhibiting at Goodwoof

Dyslexia isn’t a disability. It’s a superpower. Thankfully children with dyslexia today can get diagnosed much earlier. Like earlier generations, artist Tricia Findlay’s diagnosis was only at the end of formal education but her becoming a professional artist is a great example of how dyslexia can be a superpower, even after years of struggle in more conventional careers.

She now specialises in wildlife and animal portraiture (equine, dogs, cats) using the medium of pastels. People are amazed when they see her artwork and are even more surprised when they learn how short a time she’s been a professional artist! In less than a year she was producing work that had people thinking she had been painting for decades. You could say that her dyslexic superpower has finally been discovered. She would like younger people who get labelled dyslexic to know that it doesn’t have to be a disadvantage, no matter how challenging it may feel. There will be a superpower there. You only have to trust yourself and find it.

Due to her late diagnosis, the majority of her school reports said ‘Must Try Harder’. She found lessons difficult, stressful and uninspiring, simply because she couldn’t relate to the teaching methods being used which were always focused on the mainstream pupils. She's such a visual person that unless she could see something it just made no sense to her! School taught her to be frightened of being wrong and she would sit at the back of the class, avoiding eye contact & praying the teacher wouldn’t pick on her to answer any questions.

Words and numbers have never come naturally but she’s found that painting is more like breathing. It’s much more of an intuitive process. It’s as if she’s finally found what she was born to do. With the benefit of hindsight she can see her dyslexia as an advantage - her superpower.

Pet portraiture is incredibly rewarding because of the relationships owners have with their pets. Tricia’s heart was in her mouth when she handed over a recent commission for a lovely Münsterländer dog called Dexter. The commission was a surprise gift for the client’s son but when she started crying Tricia thought she must have got it wrong! Actually she was moved to tears because Tricia had captured Dexter’s spirit perfectly! It’s such a pleasure to capture the essential nature of an animal so the owner always has something on their wall to remind them of their companion.

Wildlife is a different challenge altogether. For example, horses, dogs and cats don’t have the wrinkles elephants have! Nor the drama delivered by big cats or a kingfisher exploding from the water.

So for anyone with dyslexia out there, be confident that you’re so much more than this ‘disability’ you’ve been labelled with. You have a whole different sort of advantage that ‘normal’ people can only dream of.

If you want to see Tricia’s artwork, she will be exhibiting her both her wildlife and pet portraiture at Goodwoof 20th & 21st May 2023 at Goodwood House. Tricia lives and works in Lindford, East Hampshire. triciafindlayart.com