pain

On a good day…

| Anna Cull
‘On a good day, the soul within sings’ – ink and watercolour on paper, 280 x 185 mm, 2012.

Here is my completed entry for the Chronic Pain Awareness Month (New Zealand) charity auction/competition. As mentioned in my last post, this year’s theme is ‘the soul within’.

The competition is open to anyone who has a relationship with chronic pain and I suffered from monster migraines when I was a child. Doctors and specialists told me that I would ‘grow out of them’ and I have to admit they were right. It took more than twenty years (!!!) but they did eventually, slowly, bit by bit, diminish over time. The headaches I get now simply don’t compare. I’ve also had RSI/OOS in my hands. With rest, therapy, and a complete change of lifestyle, the condition is now under control. I still have bad days but it’s something I can live with. And I am very, VERY thankful.

An ordinary sparrow

| Anna Cull
‘The soul within sings’ sketches – ink on paper, 2012.

Here are a few sparrow sketches for a painting I’m working on at the moment. I plan to enter it in a local art auction/competition which is held annually to promote awareness of chronic pain conditions. This year’s theme is ‘the soul within’.

The brick represents chronic pain (in my case, migraines and RSI/OOS) — enduring, exhausting, crippling pain. The sparrow represents hope of the soul — ordinary, everyday, garden-variety hope. On a good day, the soul within sings.

I may be wrong but I think my last — and only — art competition was when I was a teenager (maybe 13 or 14). It was a chalk drawing (on a sidewalk) of The Wizard of Oz. And I won. The prize was two tickets to see a live version of the musical. Ironically, I couldn’t use the tickets because of a monster migraine which hospitalised me.

Funny old thing, life.