On Thursday 27 March we hosted a special edition of our supper club called The Lemon Squeezer.
We welcomed our guests with fizzy, refreshing lemonade served with crispy tofu and Filipino banana ketchup. We then invited them to explore an exhibition of vibrant paintings, often depicting elegant women in bold colours and with thick, expressive brushstrokes.
What brought together this joyful blend of bold flavours and vibrant creativity?
We were celebrating our long-standing member and Submit to Love studio artist Jon Barry!
Food and Storytelling
During the evening we had the opportunity to learn about Jon’s story by listening to his brother Mark and our art studio coordinator Hannah.
From working as a chef, to becoming a filmmaker and photographer, Jon has always pursued his creative passions.
Before his brain injury Jon was an avid traveller and explored South East Asia, where he learned to appreciate the local cuisine. He even opened a cafe in London, serving dishes inspired by his adventures called The Lemon Squeezer.
It was at Headway East London, however, that Jon discovered his talent for painting in the Submit to Love studio. Because of his limited range of speech and motion, each painting evolves as a close collaboration with the art studio team, resulting in their own unique style. Sometimes the team use gentle physical support of his hand and help guide him to the page. At others, he is more independent in his movements and they will simply support the canvas whilst he works.
Choices are very important when working together: his colour palette, image references and materials are always offered up to Jon to choose. Through spending time together, they learn to read his facial expressions, and noting what makes him smile, and can get an understanding of what Jon would like to create. As you can see from the image gallery below and his portfolio, fabulous women are often his desired subject choice!
“My favourite part of working with Jon is the fantastically generous thick paints that he uses. Watching as the paint lands on the page and slowly creates the most beautiful artworks is nothing short of extraordinary and personally, I am very grateful to learn from Jon, as I am sure everyone else who is lucky enough to work with him would agree.” – Hannah, Art Studio Coordinator
The celebration continued with a special chicken or tofu Massaman curry served with rice and Thai salad and ended on the sweet notes of apple cake with salted toffee sauce.
“The evening was fantastic! It was really enjoyable to see all these people and Jon so happy.” Mark, Jon’s brother
Meals from the world
Inspired by Jon’s adventures, we asked our guests to share a meal from their travels that they’ll never forget. Here is what they said:
- A meal at Bangkok floating market
- In Norway we ate some kind of pickled reindeer and whale!
- Fried cheese snacks on a beach in Rio
- Malaysia – I had the most amazing curry on a banana leaf
- Dim sum
- Kebabs!
- Carbonara in Rome
- Monkfish curry from India
- Banana pizza in Spain – a little bizarre!
- Greggs vegan sausage roll at a Motorway Service Station
- Lamb tagine in Morocco
- The most comforting hot chocolate and croissant at 3am in Argentina
- First bowl of pho eaten in Vietnam at a small, non-descript cafe, with fresh herbs
- Florence made a delicious fish and salad in Mallorca
- Fish and chips on the West Coast of Scotland
