A rainbow cascades through the window onto the bed and then flows across the pillow and under the bedcovers before dropping out at the bottom of the bed.  A simple, but powerful image.  The bed is empty – is the rainbow a force of hope for a child who will come back and sleep there, or does it connect a terminally-ill child who has left this world with a better place out there in the ether?  Whichever it is, this image which Patrick Hughes created specially for WellChild is a powerful image of hope and of spirituality.

The ‘Rainbow Bed’ was one of over forty artworks donated by a splendid cast of artists including as Antony Gormley, Eileen Cooper, David Mach, Adam Ball, Tracey Emin, Glen Baxter, Anish Kapoor and Ian Davenport for the auction at Christie’s this week for the charity WellChild, which started with a moving introduction from one of the parents whose family had been supported by a nurse from WellChild while her child was dealing with serious and life-changing illness.

Among the works on show was a series of the best photographs taken by these young people, as young as 6 years old, showing amazing talent, with the winning submission ‘Resuscitation’ by 13 year-old Jake from Doncaster which could be of a brilliant star out there in space, but in fact is of the chandelier he sees at home when he is on the floor looking up having life-enhancing interventions. The chandelier has a myriad of different positive meanings and perhaps takes us out into a new optimistic future, while other photographs show incredible creativity from these young people whose lives may well be cut short.  Amazing talent!