Scars and All Collection

Scars and All, inspired by a lovely lady Laetitia, who contacted me requesting I make a painting of her following breast cancer surgery. This inspired me to create a series of paintings of women with scars from various health conditions

Laetitia De Guiche

Watercolour painting of fabulous model Laetitia De Guiche breast cancer patient survivor –

Pink October

For me, it was September last year.

A year ago.

I went to my appointment, the routine mammogram. There was nothing. I left with a sense of accomplishment. Six months later, by a lucky coincidence, my breast ended up under an ultrasound machine. A tumour. A biopsy. More mammograms. More tumours. One breast fewer.

Long and gruelling treatments followed.

A year of life if everything goes well.

I heard lots of boob stories since then. There are as many different stories as there are woman and these testimonies are invaluable to me, especially as those women are still alive!

Pink October

Im not a fan of the pink chosen for ribbons, but its a yearly musket blast so we dont fall asleep. Check your tits because you love them, because other people love them. Research continues, and I will never thank ‘Oncopole.’ and their restlessness enough so I could live. I speak to my daughter, to my sons, to my pupils who are growing up, to you too of course, to you too.

Show your boobs! Play with them! Have them fiddled with!

A lot of protests will take place all month (last month, it was blood cancer month by the way)

I would like to highlight Mylene’s action, who runs against cancer and who suggests this link to help research https://www.alvarum.com/marieheleneescarrat… and I invite you to discover Barbara, an artist who, in the last few months, has put scars at the forefront of her work

Keleigh-Marie Snelgrove

Latest painting is of the beautiful model Keleigh-Marie Snelgrove _ Keleigh’s scar story in her own words

“My scar story began just before Christmas 2016 when my left eyelid began to droop. Trips to and tablets from the GP did nothing and an eventual trip to the Eye Emergency Unit at Southampton General, led to a diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis.

To explain briefly, it’s a neuro-muscular condition where the brain and muscles have what I call ‘relationship issues’.

I began to see a Consultant Neurologist who arranged for CT scans and in May 2017, he called me to tell me I had a tumour of the Thymus gland called a Thymoma.

I didn’t really have time to think about it, only to prepare and make everything simple for my Husband if the worst happened. I had no hesitation about the operation. It was a no-brainer really.

The Sternotomy (open chest surgery) was done that July, where surgeons discovered the tumour had wrapped itself around my left vocal cord, my left lung and attached to my pericardium (heart lining). They managed to remove it all together with my Thymus gland. A later biopsy study revealed it was malignant (stage 2-3).

I then spent 12 weeks of recovery in a post thorax vest before 5.5 weeks of radiotherapy. I do still have Myasthenia and the surgery/treatments have taken their toll but I am cancer-free to date.

The Consultant, a specialist in Myasthenia, saved my life and with his team, has taken excellent care of me since.

Myasthenia is classed as a rare condition but it can have a dramatic effect on a life e.g. with swallowing, breathing, eyesight, speech, and muscles may function less effectively or not at all, in which case, it can be fatal.

Many day to day factors can affect a patient and

for this reason I want to raise money for Myaware, https://www.myaware.org/

Without them, there would be no Specialist Nurses who, required for people to receive the best and most efficient care for this condition.”

Barbara Hulme

I am the artist and here is My story – I have done paintings of two of my scars from having esophageal cancer. I had 3 months of chemo pre op and then I had a 10 and a half hour operation which I was 0.7mm away from them having to abandon. During the operation 2/3rds of my esophogus was removed, the top third of my stomach was removed and then the remaining stomach was pulled up into the chest cavity to create a dual function organ that now acts as both stomach and esophogus. This was followed by 4 weeks in ICU recovering due to lung complications, including pneumonia, collapsed lungs, and fluid in the chest cavity. I also have a small scar on my neck from being given a tracheotomy and put on a ventilator. 8 Years post op I had counselling for PTSD due to the distress caused by the intense difficulties breathing that I had post op. Ongoing issues are that I now have to sleep well propped up (cant lie flat) and also have post-pandrial hypoglycemia. I am incredibly grateful to the surgeons, surgical team and support systems within the NHS for saving my life and making this journey as easy as they could for me particularly Mr Ian Welch, Tina Foley and Barbarella. I now have good quality of life, especially following my counselling for PTSD. God Bless the NHS part Link to information about esophageal cancer https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer…/oesophageal-cancer

Barbara Hulme

Carole Thorpe-Gunner

This is my latest painting in my people with scars series and what they have been through. This is the regal and beautiful model Carole Thorpe-Gunner. Here is Carole’s story in her own words

“Positivity of Spirit,

Pacing & patience of Lifestyle plus a steady pursuit of all things Creative, help me go forward with my Dystonic condition.

I am a teacher & an artist.

I have Dystonia, a Neurological condition which affect my movement & sometimes, speech. I have a Brain Pacemaker which helps my brain mask the “wrong” electrical messages which Dystonia creates.

Like Art & Life, it is a work in progress.

Carol Thorpe-Gunner.” https://www.dystonia.org.uk/what-is-dystonia link to information about dystonia

Jean Eveleigh

This is my latest painting of the fabulous model Jean Eveleigh in my Scars and all Painting series. Jean has Perthes Disease – This is Jean’s story in her own words “Perthes is a birth/gestation defect where the bones to the hips do not get/develop a good blood supply and so are weaker than normal bone is. The surgery was to try to correct the perthes disease they opened me up and cut the entire top of my thigh bone off, rotated it 180o and then reattached it so that the less damaged part of the ball was the part I would be walking/weight bearing on.” Jean had the operation on her hip at the tender age of 5. Jean also has other health conditions including EDS. Thank you so much for the lovely reference photies and modelling for the series. https://www.ouh.nhs.uk/…/condit…/perthes-disease.aspx… here is some info about Perthes disease

Tracey Cox

Awaiting a summary of Traceys story – she had had a brain anyeurism and her scar is under her hair, but I think its important to acknowledge that not everyones scars are on show – so you never know what someone has been through

Katie Kryzanowski

This is a portrait of the lovely Katie Krzyzanowski, here is her story in her own words

I’ve had scoliosis since I was four, by the time I was five I needed surgery to fit spinal rods as my curve was over 100° – I had them lengthened every six months until I was ten when I had my first fusion, which unfortunately failed and meant I needed another a year later. During those few years my curve turned into severe kyphosis.

When I was 12 the pressure of my curve crushed my spinal cord and paralysed me, I was told I’d never walk again after that but I defied the odds and can walk now. I get a lot of pain from my back but considering I wasn’t supposed to make it, I’m doing okay

Some charities for you to check out;

SAUK (scoliosis association U.K.)

The Back-Up Trust

Eloise Baker

This is my latest painting in my Scars and All series. This is the lovely model Eloise @emasda – who deffo has a feeling and eye for a good pose. Eloise’s Journey – in her own words “My scoliosis journey begins at 12 years old being an enthusiastic kick boxer, reaching a red belt grade and training to fight in tournaments. Sadly, during a time I was at my peak in kick boxing, I was diagnosed with Kyphoscoliosis. As the months went on, my surgeon advised me that surgery was the only option as the curve had progressed to over 75 degrees and I would have to postpone any physical sports. Hearing this news was very overwhelming, knowing that I was faced with a 9 hour surgery, a 2 month recovery process and completely stopping the thing I loved most, kick boxing. Fast forward 15 years, I now realise how important fitness is, especially for spinal health. My main practice is Qigong to keep my mental and physical health stable but recently, I’ve started taking up martial arts again but on a lesser scale.

Pauline Hatton

This is my beautiful, glamorous, very good friend Pauline Hatton – here is her story in her words.

It’s a sad, bad, lonely day when you’re given the Cancer diagnosis.

It is true that time stands still and you feel yourself going right in, there’s no way out just in and whatever happens to you now you’re not going to like it, you’ve got to give everything of yourself, your body, over to the treatment, whatever that entails, if you want to continue to live.

November 2015 after a couple of months of extreme pain I was sent for a CT scan where it was discovered I had lung cancer but it had developed on the outside of my upper left lobe and made itself a little home in my rib cage, but on the plus side I was taken seriously about my pain and now prescribed proper pain relief. A plan for 6 weeks of intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy running concurrently was set up for the Jan and Feb 2016. Surgery was set up for the April.

My surgery consisted of cutting through the collar bone and then removing some ribs and the nasty thing, and the upper left lobe, the reconstruction of chest wall was done by taking the Latissimus Dorsi muscle from my back and using that. It does all sound so simple but that lot took around 12 hours performed by two highly skilled teams consisting of thoracic and plastic surgeons and I am truly and forever grateful.

In the June part of the scar had to be reopened when a hematoma had to be removed which came from the original surgery… just injury.

Nov 2016 further devastating news … I’m feeling really ill and procedures find lung cancer in my biliary tract but this is unheard of, strange even … I’m told we can try radiotherapy but it won’t get rid of it only slow it down for a while.

I said “ if it shouldn’t really be there it will go away because it would be like putting a palm tree on the North Pole it just wouldn’t grow.”

5 weeks of radiotherapy to the abdomen.

It did GO much to everyone’s amazement.

This is very much an outline of my personal story for the beautiful Scars series created by my special friend Barbs

who also was by my side and was a constant support on some of the darkest days.

SOLD

Helen Roeten

The wonderful Helen Roeten who very kindly offered to model for me for my Scars and All series. Thank you very kindly Helen. Here in her own words is a wee synopsis of her story
“My story
I had breast cancer 20 years ago. Part of my left breast is gone .
Operation and radiation. I decided not do do reconstruction of the breast and nipple because they said it could cause cancer to come back.
Now I am ok with how I feel about my breasts. The scars are a reminder to see the fragility of life. I lost many friends and family to cancer. So really greatful to be alive.
I also model for artists and get many positive feedback of artists. In my eyes all bodies are beautiful also scars . Each year I join the pink bra toss : throwing a bra in the air worldwide to get attention for breast research. Each woman should do the breast feeling each month to look for changes and knots .”
Helen is a wonderful life model and artist in her own right and organises fabulous zoom life drawing sessions which she hosts for other models too. The first time I drew Helen she had flowers in her hair and it struck me what a beautiful Alphonse Mucha muse she would make. So I have borrowed heavily from him for Helen’s portrait. Many of her zoom themes are inspired by other artists (I did the Klimt session of drawings at one of her sessions) We discussed how we both liked the use of gold paint in some of our works, so I have added that in here in the border. Really enjoyed painting and researching this.

Shantaya 2022

Painting of the beautiful Shantaya for my scar series. With kind permission from her Mum and Shantaya herself. Here is what Shantaya has to say about her scar in her own words “I remember I was very young, a toddler I think. My heart wasn’t working properly and I was tired and weak. The hospital doctor said I had a hole in my heart and I needed an operation to mend it.

I don’t remember much about the operation except the mask going over my face and then seeing the long scar on my chest. I think I was in hospital for a while.

When I look at my scar now I feel both happy and sad. Sad that I had to have it done but happy it saved my life.

Most of all I am proud of my scar because it means that I am a survivor”

Watercolour (25 x 25cm)

$526 US

Anna du Bois 2023

It was a routine mammogram in 2007 that showed “something”. That something turned out to be several small malignant tumours spread around one breast. Off it went, and the other one too, for good measure. And then the reconstruction started. I was in my 40s, and the unspoken assumption was that I would NEED two breast shapes on my chest in order to feel like a whole woman.

What followed was 13 years of repeated unsuccessful attempts to give me what the society expected of me: a regular female shape. I hated the implants. They shifted, they cut off sensation in parts of my breasts, and they felt like two hard tennis balls attached to my chest… And they certainly didn’t make me feel any better about my mutilated body. Only now it was both mutilated and distorted by those two weird lumps. Whenever anyone wanted to hug me, I’d hunch my shoulders forward, just to be sure that the person’s chest did not come into contact with mine…

And then, three years ago, I discovered that the implants I had, could cause a different type of cancer that would kill if left untreated. And the only treatment was to remove the implants. Off they went too, just like my own breasts 13 years earlier. Only this time I said, no more – no implants, no more reconstruction. I am done, I am going flat, and I am going to love my own body just like it is. Well, that was easier said than done. To have those strange shapes and asymmetrical raised scars where breasts should have been, was a lot harder to accept than I had anticipated. I could cope with the stretch marks left from pregnancies, with the middle-age belly spread, the wrinkles… But the ugly collection of mangled, raised scars on my chest? That was just too much…

It was the loving gaze of my partner that finally helped me find acceptance, but with it came anger at myself that I had spent 13 years trying to accommodate expectations of female bodies; trying to fit in; trying to be the girl I wasn’t… I am at peace with my body now, and am finally able to appreciate that it’s not the individual body parts or their absence that create beauty. It’s how we feel, how we are, and how we see ourselves in the gaze of those who love us.

(22.9 x 30.5 cm)

$565 US

Maria Nicolette, 2024

Here is Maria’s story to accompany her portrait –

“I had urology problems at birth. By 8 years old I had 2 transplants for kidneys one failed immediately the other I had couple months off and lasted til I was 16. I had 8 years’ peritoneal dialysis which cause encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) a rare disease. At 24 I had my last transplant which was killed off 9 years later by the royal free hospital who didn’t protect me when I had a rare allergy to ciprofloxin. So at age of 33 I lost my last kidney, became 100% sensitised meaning it’s rare to find a new kidney and I’m stuck. I had a traumatising few year where the Royal Free forced me to do a fistula in my left arm for dialysis, they didn’t plan it correctly, last minute did a graft (plastic instead) and failed, I suffered for months until it clotted and lost my left index finger to necrosis. Took 6 opiates for 18 months to get through it. Last 3 years I moved to Guys Hospital as Royal Free left me “dropped” me

My chronic illness is renal failure and urology complications. So I had to have kidney transplant and I’m on dialysis now. Have done dialysis on and off for about 20 years. I’m one of the rare ones doing my own dialysis at home”

Materials – watercolour and gold ink ( 30.5 x 40.6 cm) unframed

Price – £639 plus package and postage ($814 US) plus package and postage

Prints £40 + £10 for hand painted gold ink + P n P

DM to purchase

Claire-Louise Pitman, 2024

Thank you very kindly for this wonderful collaboration Claire and here is Claire’s poem to go with her portrait

A strip upon my skin, it stays,

A story told in silent ways.

The skin is smooth, now bears a trace,

Of moments lost in time and space.

A “very rare condition”, a lasting mark,

A memory taken to the park.

But scars, they speak of where we’ve been,

Of lessons learned, and what we’ve not seen.

So here it stays, this subtle line,

A part of me, that has grown through time.

First words whispered: “What’s that?”

I still like to chat

The children’s ward, the blue team stands,

Holding hope in careful hands.

Breaths grew shallow, fears would crop,

Oxygen saturations drop.

A battle fought in silence where we all have a limits,

Marked by sub-clinical fits.

Materials – Watercolour and coloured pencil (22.9 x 30.5 cm) unframed

Price – £481 ($685) + P n P

Prints – £30 + P n P

DM to purchase

Danny Braverman – Scars and All Series, 2024

If you like you art inclusive, my art is for you

Thank you to Danny for this wonderful collaboration. Here is Danny’s story in his own words

On March 27, 2024, I was trundled into an operating theatre for what I hope will be my last bowel surgery. I had, literally, a pain in the arse. So, the NHS kindly removed what was left of my rectum. I realised the operation was more serious than I’d thought when the surgeon said there were 22 people in attendance. Mentioning this to a friend, he said, waggishly: “Well, that’s the biggest audience you’ve had in a theatre for some time”.

My bowels started playing up in my late twenties, which began my encounters with eccentric medics. One gave me a lecture on the fibre-rich diet of the Bushmen of the Kalahari. Another was excited I might use my colonoscopy videos for performance art. Yet another was fascinated that those of us with Ashkenazi Jewish heritage were four times more likely than gentiles to have inflammatory bowel disease. When I heard this, a voice in my head yelled, in dubious taste: “Haven’t my people suffered enough!”

At the turn of this century, my ulcerative colitis attacked me with venom. I was rushed into the Royal London Hospital and had an emergency colectomy to remove my large intestine. My Dad, an experienced physician, let me know, with an oddly reassuring directness, that I might not come out the other side. But I did, obviously. I came round to see my 13-year divorced parents at my bedside in friendly, heated discussion over the catering. There was Tupperware. It contained gefilte fish. The smell of fish was competing gamely with the classic hospital olfactory cocktail of disinfectant and sprouts. This scene, my resurrection – yes, it happened on Easter Monday, 2001 – became the opening story of my solo storytelling show Wot? No Fish!!

Since that moment, I’ve collected enough chronic illness loyalty points to cash in for a family pack of quality Tupperware. My 15-year use of steroids triggered diabetes (2011), shortly followed by an unconnected brush with non-Hodgkins follicular lymphoma, which was zapped by radiotherapy (2017). I’m now in remission. The tiny dot radiotherapy tattoos on my pelvis are small punctuations amidst the zip-like laparotomy scars.

If anyone says I’m “brave”, or adopts a sympathetic head-tilt, it doesn’t add up. I’m blessed. Blessed to live in an era of advanced medicine. Blessed to have a life full of learning and creativity. Blessed to have a loving partner, friends and family.

Materials – Watercolour (40.6 x 30.5 cm) unframed

Price – £639 ($814) plus P+P

Prints – £40 + P+P

DM to purchase