HENRY FRASER

On 18th July 2009, everything changed for Henry Fraser. 17 years old, on a beautiful day with blue sky and sunshine Henry was with friends in Praia da Luz in Portugal. Henry ran into the sea thinking it was a good depth to dive, however the hidden raised sea bed meant Henry collided head first underwater and momentarily blacked out. He opened his eyes and expected to stand up, walk out the sea and join his friends. When Henry opened his eyes, he was floating in the sea completely unable to move. It’s amazing to think that one little thing, one brief moment, can change everything.

The dislocation of Henry's neck now meant he was paralysed from the shoulders down. From that moment Henry had a new life to live. New circumstances to accept and adapt. He spent three weeks in a Portuguese hospital and Henry remembers they were incredible. He had surgeries to realign his dislocated fourth vertebrae, then spent two weeks in intensive care in the UK and five and half more months in hospital before he was back in the real world again. In that time, he experienced so many things.

In January 2015, Henry taught himself how to draw and paint by holding the utensils in his mouth. He had a sore on his back that meant he was bed bound for several weeks. Getting bored sitting in bed for days on end, Henry found an app on his iPad that he could use for drawing by holding a stylus in his mouth and could touch the screen. He loved it. When Henry’s health had improved he was able to get out of bed and taught himself how to draw and paint with actual pencils and paint by attaching the utensils to a mouth stick. As a young child Henry loved art, but as he grew older he fell out of love with the subject. He had lost his enthusiasm to create. ‘Without my accident I never would have found that love I had as a kid’. ‘Adversity has given me a gift’.

ART

Henry and his 3 brothers were all very sporty when they were young. At 17, Henry was on the books at Saracens Rugby Club. When he first started to draw, his pictures were of his sporting heroes including Jonny Wilkinson, David Beckham and Chris Robshaw to name a few. Over the years, Henry has used paints to produce amazing paintings of a wide range of subjects including animals, portraits, nature and abstract work. Henry is also known for painting motivational phrases such as ‘Everyday is a good day’ which is testament to Henry’s outlook on life. You can purchase A5 and A3 limited prints, merchandise and original artwork by Henry. To view Henry’s catalogue please CLICK HERE

BOOKS

Henry Fraser has also written books about his life. The Little Big Things, with foreword by J.K. Rowling, is a unique and inspirational book about embracing life through adversity. The Power in You, with foreword by Fearne Cotton, explores the transformative power of acceptance in this motivational guide. To view Henry’s books please CLICK HERE

HAND 2 MOUTH ART BOOKS

At the end of 2020, to mark a full 5 years since Henry started mouth painting/drawings, Henry released an A4 size hardback book containing 53 images of his work as well as a description of each piece. In October 2024, Henry released his Hand 2 Mouth Volume 2 book showcasing his new artwork of 55 images. Henry wanted to celebrate colour and how much the background colour influences what he paints again with descriptions of each piece. Hence the colour matching arrangement in the book. The book is high quality and in hardback. To find out more or to order your copy please CLICK HERE

For all enquiries please email: info@henryfraserart.com