Mike Juggins

I paint, therefore I am...

With the help of my spell checker, I will fill you in a bit about myself.

My dyslexia is the source of my creativity and a massive part of who I am. Churchill, Bill Gates, Einstein, Darwin, Jamie Oliver, Di Vinci, Agatha Christie, Picasso, Branson, Tracey Emin, Warholl and Billy Connolly prove that dyslexics are very capable when they focus on their ability. Many of our top politicians are aslo dyslexic.

I have spent the last nine years campaigning for a greater understanding and awareness of dyslexia. I have lectured around the world… Cardiff, Belfast, London, New York, Washington, Hong Kong and even Swindon. These years of bloody sweaty tears has seen my words on the subject published, allowed me to have my say on radio 4 and have films premiered at places like the House of Lords.

Like most dyslexics my weaknesses defined me from the outset and School never felt natural. All that sitting about was difficult for me. I was a very active and sporty child with a tendency for daydreaming but an inability to grasp the art of reading.

A slow walker, I didn’t speak until I was 3, but by the time I started school I was running and chatting a plenty. Infant school was bearable as I was good at playing with sand and water. My problem with text-based education came when I started junior school. I can remember being told I was lazy, not trying and a total simpleton

Ironically my sir name Juggins means silly fellow, or simpleton according to old dictionaries. (Juggins by name Juggins by nature).

To make things worse my Mum was told that I was gammy handed; as I was a natural left-hander… they soon cured me of that. My mother only told me this, minor detail, two years ago and I guess it explains why I can paint with both hands.

Well, if primary school had dented my self-esteem then senior school totally obliterated it. I was placed in bottom sets with lads whose only interests seemed to be fighting and tattooing themselves with ink and compass. I didn’t take any O levels and left school broken and still unable to read or write to a functional level.

After several dead-end jobs I enjoyed a period of working for the health authority with people who have learning disabilities. The job was great but the pay frustrating and I knew I hadn’t finished my education.

So, I enrolled for an art foundation course at my local college, Swindon, before breezing my BA at the University of the West of England. I was the first person in the whole faculty to hand in my dissertation – Dyslexic Artist in a Word Based Education System.

Discovering that 40% of the prison population were dyslexic was a red rag to me. I had been lucky enough to have the support of my family and stayed on the straight and narrow. But I understood why a person might rebel from a society that denies them an appropriate education.

I have also worked as a community artist, educator and film-maker in many educational and social settings. Because I was that "slow learner" I guess I always aim to make things as multi-sensory as possible. I believe that accessable information motivates success and always encourage others to focus on ability. 

I continue to devote some of my time to these issues in the belief that the right intervention can help people turn their lives around. However, I went to University to develop my painting, the physical visual and emotional joy I get from painting is pure beauty to my soul.

Painting is my high place and at times I guess that I use it as a safety valve from the pressure of being a dyslexic in a text based society. It’s something I need to do daily.

The rules that apply to writing don’t exist in the world of painting. I love playing games with perspective, inventing new ways of expression and seeing. When I paint I am in the colour, I feel my gesture and find my balance. My painting is the real me and the paint needs to become my narrative.

As a liberal minded type of guy I have many social issues to explore via my art. Poverty, war, religion and the environment - to name but a few. I want to paint the world.

My ten-year-old daughter Jess is also dyslexic and wonders why I just don’t paint and make films all the time. She writes me little notes of encouragement saying… “You are a grate painter dad”. (spelt GRATE).

I am taking her advice and preparing to fly.

Going to WAR with the 3Rs

Published in the Times Educational Supplement 1999

I made this 4 min doc for channel 4 in 2005. I had started my Visual Jazz paintings but felt that I needed to break off and make this film. It was supposed to be one last attempt to Change the Shape of the wHOLE before I “made it” as a painter. Three years on and I would still jump at the chance of making THE awareness FILM that is soooooo very overdue (we prefer pictures over words. so let us inform each other - enough paper shuffling).

I have spent nine years on the issue now and I am proud of what I have achieved. I’ve worked as hard as I can to change things for the better and hopefully inspired many fellow dyslexics to believe in themselves. However, a real lack of understanding of what it is to be dyslexic still excists in society. I could do so much more if only I were to be included at policy level. Small changes in education, prisons and employment would save the country billions and transform so many peoples lives.

I have the key… will anybody let me use it? Mike Juggins 10 June 2008