STUDYING for a degree can be difficult at the best times, but Blackburn College student Holly Riding battled through her fine art course despite being diagnosed with a brain tumour.

The 21-year-old used her illness to help her studies, creating a series of installation pieces which showed how her brain tumour affected her experiences of the world.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Holly, from Darwen, is now on the mend and has just finished her three-year BA (Hons) Fine Art (Integrated Media) degree, despite being diagnosed with a condition called Neurofibromatosis early in her second year.

Holly originally started working with portraiture until she found out about her condition. It had a huge affect on her life, so she decided to incorporate her brain scans into her work.

She said: “I was quite ill which made me very off balance and I was always in bed.

“I worked using black sheets and bleached out the colour as I wanted to portray that distortion in my work.”

Holly, who has had a part-time job at Blackburn Ice Arena for the past five years, said she gets a huge release doing art and has particularly enjoyed watching people’s reactions to her work.

She is hoping to take a year out and get a full-time job, while carrying on with art at home.

“I thought people would have mixed feelings about it, and it’s amazing watching their reactions to it.

“I would love to carry on with my artwork and see where it takes me.

“I do feel better now than when I was diagnosed. It’s mostly my balance and headaches, but I don’t let it affect me. I’ve got tablets to take every night but I don’t always need to take them.”

She said her time at Blackburn College has helped her through the worst times.

“I’ve had amazing support from all the teachers and we have regular tutorials so they are always here to help,” said Holly.

“It’s a lovely atmosphere to study in, which has really helped me and given me lots of inspiration.

“I have really enjoyed my time at Blackburn College, and I really don’t want to finish.”

Holly’s work is on show at Blackburn College’s annual Art and Design degree show, which runs until June 5.