I've lived in Scotland all my life, working for the NHS for the last 26 years. I have twin sons who are 22 years old and my daughter is 18. I have had alopecia areata since I was 11 but it got much worse when I turned 35 becoming alopecia totalis, meaning I have virtually no hair on my head at all, hence the wig. It gets too cold in Scotland for me not to go out without it!! Plus, I prefer to see myself with hair.

The art came about because I wanted to portray how Alopecia made me, and I'm sure many others, feel for a long time. The condition affects your head and all those negative feelings are labelled and are at the forefront of your head, causing stress. This becomes a catch-22 situation, as in any disease stress does not help alopecia. Acceptance with the help of family and friends then brings about the more positive feelings portrayed on the back of my head, which have always been there but were buried for a long time, especially while navigating through life in general!! I am in a much better place now and have accepted the lack of cure and the physical consequences of having alopecia totalis. However, I don't think I will ever totally emotionally accept the loss of my hair as a part of me will always be grieving for how it was.