I could live quietly by myself as long as I did not take psychiatric drugs or drink alcohol. 
                     Though the day centre found me part time work in the hospital shop and library I found the attitude of some of the staff and patients intolerable so I left. While roaming the streets looking in charity shops for second hand books and records to sell on I called in at Bexleyheath Mind where I joined the art group. Here I met John Excell who invited me to join Centrepieces art group at the Crayford Centre, a day centre for the long term mentally ill in the community. For the first time I was able to show my work, first at the yearly open exhibition at Hall Place, then at the yearly exhibition held by Centrepieces artists at Hall Place, and at the exhibitions the art group held in the local libraries. I had my own exhibition at the Chapel Gallery at Hall Place in 2OO3. I attended the symposium for outsider art in 200  and took the advice of one speaker who said that if an outsider artist wanted their work to survive they had better get in touch with the museums and galleries, as ignorant relatives and landlords still throw work away when artists die, not appreciating the value of outsider art. Having encountered a poor attitude towards my work from the psychiatrists, it made sense to look for a museum or gallery. I visited the Bethlem Museum who suggested I visit the art therapy department where the staff, Beth Elliott and Karen  Risby immediately had a positive attitude towards my work, letting me  take part in exhibitions at the Novas Gallery and at the Croydon Clocktower, and I held my own exhibition at the Bethlem Gallery in 2008. I also had my own exhibition at the Institute of Psychiatry. Over the years I have enough prints to contribute but not cover the cost of materials and frames. I have been grassed up to the social security who after visiting me at home  recognise and approve of my art therapy. I keep a record of sales and materials as they have instructed.
I still meet with other negative attitudes toward my art work by some mental health staff who still are not aware of the therapeutic value of art and see art through mass media  conditioned eyes associating art with the recent celebrity artists that we now have to endure. I was painting and drawing as a child encouraged by teachers at school