How a drawing project is helping a young volunteer with autism
John Lake knows a lot about Viking warriors going berserk. Not literally, of course. The word ‘berserk’ comes from Old Norse, he explains.
“The Viking Berserkers were fierce, brave warriors who went into battle wearing only bear or wolf skins and decorated headdresses.”
John, 19, is a member of Prism Arts Studio Theatre West, a theatre arts company for people with disabilities based at Distington Community School in Cumbria. His drawings are for a Heritage Lottery Fund-supported arts project about the Vikings’ impact on West Cumbria, where they settled in the 9th century.
“Yes, they looted and raided, but the Vikings also made beautiful items from their rich pickings: jewellery, mead horns, calling horns, helmets.”
John, who has autism, has been fascinated by the Vikings since he was eight years old. “The Berserkers were forest dwellers,” he continues. “They lived close to the animals and nature but also wrote poetry and sagas about heroes and warriors and their wars and battles.”
His drawings are the work of imagination but also the result of rigorous research. As well as the headdress, he re-imagines mythical creatures and richly coloured jewelled brooches, scabbards and swords, and the embellished prows of longships.
“Yes, they looted and raided, but they also made beautiful items from their rich pickings: jewellery, mead horns, calling horns, helmets,” says John. “They were also brilliant navigators, sailors and explorers.”
The Norse Vikings arrived from Scandinavia and their heritage can still be found in placenames, cultural traditions and dialect. ‘Berserk’ is just one of many Norse words we use today; ‘ransack’ is another.
Studio Theatre West members are creating a new saga with the schoolchildren, to be performed around regional schools and theatres.
“What I’m doing in this project is very simple and eloquent,” John says. “I came in to help the children and talk to them about drawing styles and how the Viking culture mixed with ours.”
“John has improved immeasurably through the Viking project. It’s not just his drawing that has come on, but also his social skills. He is making more eye contact and his natural flair for working with children has been brought out.”
This summer John is set to leave Mayfield, his specialist school in Whitehaven. But instead of the uncertainty that faces many in the post-16 world, and especially those with additional learning needs, John will continue at Prism Arts as a volunteer.
“When I found out I was staying at Prism,” he says, “I felt three things: brilliant, excited, excellent. My mum is also chuffed because it means she won’t have to worry so much about me.” John will deliver workshops to show the children his method of building up a Viking drawing in stages.
“John has improved immeasurably through the Viking project,” says lead artist and mentor Ali McCaw. “It’s not just his drawing that has come on, but also his social skills.
“He is making more eye contact and his natural flair for working with children has been brought out. He can focus on a single child but still gauge where attention is needed around the class. Many teachers dream of having a roving eye like that!
“It’s no exaggeration to say that the National Lottery funding has been a lifesaver for us,” adds Ali. “Without it talented people like John would be destined to a much more uncertain, uncreative and unfulfilling future.”
Find out more about the Heritage Lottery Fund on our website www.hlf.org.uk or follow us on Twitter.
