The inspiring story of a 15 year old artist with Autism 

15 year old Daisy Holland has a passionate talent for painting and drawing. However, Daisy’s story isn’t quite so simple. The teen suffers from high-functioning autism, a diagnosis in which places additional challenges to her day to day functions. Despite living with this challenging disorder, Daisy has not allowed its onerous effects to dissuade her from following her passion of art commission. Holland finds a refuge in the creativity of her interest, describing it as her “happy place” and a shelter from feelings of anxiety and stress. 

Her older sister Jess helped Holland come closer to achieving her ambition of becoming a professional artist in November 2021. With the help of her sister, Daisy set up a y page, ‘Daisy’s Artwork’, in a bid to help showcase her talents to a wider community. On the platform, Holland invites her followers to send her photos of their pets (or indeed any subject matter) and commissions works of them for an extremely modest fee. Daisy’s media presence has allowed her legions of followers to remain updated with her works of art. Within the first few days of her Facebook platform being created, Holland amassed an impressive 500 followers, the news of her artistry spreading quickly. The encouraging reaction provided the plucky teen with a well deserved boost of courage, making her dreams become slightly more tangible. 

The teen has managed to balance the unprecedented levels of demand with her school and home life, managing to rack up an order book waiting list running to months. Initially, Holland modestly set herself the goal of raising enough money to fund her purchase of a new trumpet. When this goal was quickly achieved and surpassed in the space of two months, Daisy knew she had found her way. Her followers are not only treated to displays of her art milestones, but Holland also allows them an insight into her note-worthy musical talents. 

 Besides her role in spreading joy to her customers and followers, Daisy has also raised awareness and positivity surrounding autism. Holland enters competitions to showcase the talents of young people suffering with autism, as well as donating her commissioned pieces to Steam House Café (a boutique coffee shop specialising in adults with autism, mental health difficulties among other disabilities). Daisy has also donated her work to Macmillan cancer care and raffled her pieces to raise funds for the hospital treating her father’s cancer diagnosis. 

Daisy’s success continues to grow exponentially, brining a glorious and honest glimpse of what customers hold near and dear. Regardless of the request behind the commission itself, each piece Holland makes provides something of immeasurable value. Seeing Daisy’s continual success reignites a sense of true hope and inspiration in the pursuit of a life-long dream, of which Holland is ever nearing.