CHRONIC: An Artist's Story Breakthrough

The first painting created with this theme, last summer, in 2025, I just got through a horrific 2-week migraine episode, that I hadn't dealt with in a long time, a flare-up. So getting it all out on canvas, channeled the frustration I was feeling. Something inside clicked, and I realized I loved the feeling of these types of artworks. What they make me feel, whether uncomfortable or not, being surrounded with this type of visual environment, pulls a person into a different world. It also feels amazing expressing myself, in this way. ¶ So on I went after a few fall hiking vacations, into my tiny studio at home to express my chronic migraine pain all I could, being a part of my life, since I was 5 years old. All of winter and into early spring, I have been seeing where this journey would take my paintbrush, trying to plan nothing along the way. I realized my migraines were really broken down into phases of pain, and the visual pain they evoked from my imagination are visually very different. The fun but challenging part of this show was that I tried to find some language that would tie them all together, so the audience knew they were from the same family of artworks. ¶ When the migraine strikes, the eye series is what came to mind, or my minds eye. Lightning pulses start behind the eyes, throbbing, there is no way out. The brain starts to feel like it's exploding from the inside, with much unpleasantness. ¶ The tornado series shows what it's like in the thick of it, like a real storm, it's hard to feel like it will ever be over, the extreme environment blinding all reality. It feels like being swept up inside a twister, nothing makes sense, everything feels challenging, just wanting to drop everything, and hang on. ¶ The next stage I call "the migraine hangover," with a full blown fog effect. The haze over every decision, every move your body makes feels hard, like you are moving through quicksand. ¶ Finally, the moment the fog lifts, and everything feels amazing. Where joy becomes so much easier to find, after going through that pain. The closing and/or opening painting of the show I made a few years back, but I also wanted a cleansing piece for the viewer, to bookend the fact that the sun WILL come out and blast away the pain. Every day is different, and tomorrow is another day.

ART SHOWSABSTRACTART RECEPTIONSOLO ART EXHIBITIONINTUITIVE ARTWORKABSTRACT PAINTINGSSURREALISM