Saturday 9 January 2016

JOINED UP THINKING ....

 
One lesser known aspect of having Fibromyalgia is the effect on memory and concentration - known as "Brain Fog" by the community of sufferers!  I've always claimed a double whammy since I'm also affected by Menopausal Brain Death.  I used to be quite clever, but you'd never guess ...

I began with a nice bright painted background, and then added the lined shape on the right.  It was cut out of a magazine and I just sort of liked it.  Then I painted on the pink shape on the left, and decided that they both looked like worms.  Since it is a family joke that "worms have eaten my brain" some days, well you can see how I got where I went!  So this was me on a "foggy" day sort of trying to communicate how it feels visually.
Then I added a bit more collage - the little circle shapes are brain cells, can you tell?  I joined them up only to realise that that's exactly what DOESN'T happen, so hence the writing.  The fed up face is ... well its me feeling fed up actually.  And misunderstood.  It wasn't one of my better days.

The writing and black lines/doodles are all done with a Posca paint pen, which writes over pretty much anything with a nice strong black result.  I know I say this just about every week, but they really are fantastic and I can't recommend them enough.
I liked the little red brain cell with spiky edges (top right) and decided to add more - they're sort of repelling each other rather than attracting!  There are groups of bits of cells that ought to work together but don't, and of course black holes where nothing is happening!  Hope this is making sense to you?
The page is a bit whimsical for me, but SO heartfelt.  You can't imagine what its like when you can't think straight - or perhaps you can, but not EVERY day, right?  At least this way I can laugh about it, even when its not very funny.

Himself is finished with chemo and its lovely to see him getting back to his old self again.  Surgery in about a month, and then a longish convalescence.   If it saves his life we're up for it!

3 comments:

jinxxxygirl said...

Love this Rosie. I Love that you show all your steps and explain. Its hard to imagine it going from a blank page to what you have here. Thanks so much. Hugs! deb

Anonymous said...

Rosie, your pages are always an inspiration. I love seeing how you make them and what they mean to you. Because of you, I've started using the Posca paint pens and agree with what you say about them. I think you're very brave to expose your feelings to us as you do and I very much appreciate it. JM

alexa said...

Your wry and accepting humour, along with your detailed explanation of how you arrived at such a delightful final result has made this such a life-enhancing post, despite all that is happening for you both. I smiled at the reference to the worms - and it has only just occurred to me the connection between 'slug' and 'sluggish'! (You can see my own mind has lots of black holes too). I love all those circular decorated "'cells'. And the reference to RAM. I recently saw a card which said 'I'm shutting down now. I have too many tabs open.' :). Sending you both warmest good wishes for the weeks ahead.