NEW ROUTES By Sandy Howarth

Sandy was born in Colombo Sri Lanka and studied Art & Design at Derby Lonsdale College, Interior Design at the Inchbald School of Design, London and Architectural & Interior Design at Parsons School of Design, New York

Having given up her career in interior design to care for her son who has autism, she successfully challenged the Local Education Authority for their failure to meet her son’s needs. She published her first book “No Matter What” as a guide for parents and educators to learn through her experiences. She developed her own teaching strategies and opted to single handedly care for her son at home.

Her life was full of unexplained challenges. She couldn’t sleep as there were many baffling questions that she needed answers to and in 2010-2018 she started to paint and write poetry at night as a form of seeking solace through her challenges. From 2010-2018 she painted her journey with her son in a collection of 55 paintings in oil and these will be exhibited together with a book launch of her poetry in November 2026.

Following 24 years of single-handed devotion to caring for her son, he moved into supported living in 2018. She returned to painting as a form of healing and had her first solo exhibition “Life & Recovery” in Ealing in April/May this year.

While working as an interior designer prior to the days of computers, she worked on architectural drawings, furniture drawings, perspectives of interiors and architectural models. Sandy currently works mainly in oil on canvas, and she hasexperimented with different styles as well as mediums such as ink, graphite, pastel, water colour, acrylic and marker pens

Her solo exhibition “NEW ROUTES” in August 2026, follows from her last exhibition “LIFE & RECOVERY” in May this year – looks for new routes to finding that ultimate mental freedom that we all need in life.

“To give up a life in pursuit of something I never knew anything about has steered me to reroute once again”