- Me and PTSD -
An Artist's Healing and Recovery Through Art and the Painting Process
I am currently putting together an art show that will reveal the progression of my recovery process from Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder through a narrative that will include paintings, writings and video. If you would like to know when this will be done please contact me through my contact form to be put on a mailing list to be notified upon it's completion. Below I am including one of my works that I completely this July for you to see and experience.
The Way Through
A luminous being floats through the celestial night skies, stars surround it and words of inspiration and awareness give it strength to soar. One would never suspect that just months before it's wings were destroyed and it was completely immobilized by a terror it could not explain nor force away. Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder had come crashing down upon it and left it little hope of survival. But all was not lost for inside the light still burned in the overwhelming and hideous darkness and would not be extinguished.
This painting started as a rework over a painting I was never really happy with. I had no plan or idea for what it would become and commenced by applying dark colours first with acrylic and watercolour coloured pencils which I utilize through out the painting. Words act as a pattern and give weight to the colourful rainbow like areas that illuminate from the weightless being, or that support it from behind. The words, sentences, phrases and thoughts are all those that have come as a result of working through PTSD which hit like a tsunami last summer. I used controlled spattering to give the illusion of stars or orbs of light and energy and continue that below as well to give continuity. I leave the being itself with less pattern so as to give the eye a rest and act as a point of entrance and exit. I have included close ups of the finished work so you can see the words, lines, implied textures and luminosity and also included the work in progress.
The process of painting and everything entailed with art and the running of a studio and art business is helping to heal me of my PTSD. I just want to say to anyone who views this and is dealing with it or depression or GAD that there is hope, some really good help out there and that it can be overcome. It just takes time and work. Remember, you are magnificent and you are loved.
This painting started as a rework over a painting I was never really happy with. I had no plan or idea for what it would become and commenced by applying dark colours first with acrylic and watercolour coloured pencils which I utilize through out the painting. Words act as a pattern and give weight to the colourful rainbow like areas that illuminate from the weightless being, or that support it from behind. The words, sentences, phrases and thoughts are all those that have come as a result of working through PTSD which hit like a tsunami last summer. I used controlled spattering to give the illusion of stars or orbs of light and energy and continue that below as well to give continuity. I leave the being itself with less pattern so as to give the eye a rest and act as a point of entrance and exit. I have included close ups of the finished work so you can see the words, lines, implied textures and luminosity and also included the work in progress.
The process of painting and everything entailed with art and the running of a studio and art business is helping to heal me of my PTSD. I just want to say to anyone who views this and is dealing with it or depression or GAD that there is hope, some really good help out there and that it can be overcome. It just takes time and work. Remember, you are magnificent and you are loved.
