A bit about my work…
Michelle Kelly is a Freelance Illustrator based in Leigh-on-sea, Essex, England. She is 28 years old and living with bipolar II. Inspirations include Tim Burton, Edward Gorey, Grayson Perry, Paula Rego and Francis Bacon.
Using a mixture of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, she creates Illustrations for books, magazines and business, as well as personal illustrations (just because she loves to draw!). Continue reading
In this blog I would like to talk about the Native symbol known as the Medicine Wheel, the concept of the Seven Directions and how I use them to make daily adjustments.
Do you see things? I do. Seemingly incoherent and random shapes become images. I can sit outside for an hour and watch the clouds drift by seeing dozens of animals…but only animals. When I look for rocks on the Arctic Ocean shoreline, I keep the ones that have faces…and again, I only find faces. Driftwood can also be fascinating, the curving forms molding themselves into strange beasts, some pleasant and some scary. Nobody else sees them, until I point them out. Continue reading
Born to artistic parents it was no surprise that I was naturally drawn to creative expression. After gaining a 2:1 BA Hons in Fashion and then working for 6 years as a personal shopper, styling thousands of people, I quit a few years ago to concentrate on photography and art and write about things which fascinate me. I have nurtured a deep need for creative expression through photography, painting, drawing, collage and textile work. I love finding ‘hidden treasures’ to photograph and working out the best composition and angles to record the beauty I find in surrounding environments. Disliking obviously Photoshopped images, I prefer to keep my work true to life, only using software to crop photos. Continue reading
Occasionally, I’m asked whether or not my medication is working, or whether or not my bipolar disorder has gotten better (or worse) over time. Having tried to answer this question a couple of dozen times, I’ve realized that the answer is actually quite complicated. My moods don’t just “improve.” Rather, there are different ways in which bipolar symptoms can change, some of which are more important than others. Continue reading
I am a 45-year-old mother of two wonderful kids, my daughter is 14 and my son is 8. I live in Medicine Hat Alberta, Canada. We have two Beagles, a cat, a toad and two horses, so animals play a big part in my life. I was diagnosed with bipolar shortly after my son was born after a few doctors misdiagnosing it as post-partum depression. Although I always had my suspicions about what may have been “wrong” with me. I have been an artist pretty much all my life; it was always a place for me to “be” when things were too overwhelming in my life. I used my drawings and sketches as a way to recharge and release my energy at the same time. Continue reading
One of the most important films in my own experience of bipolar disorder was the film The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, which is about actor Stephen Fry and his experience with the disorder. It is an interesting film, which first traces Fry’s own experience with the disorder and then interviews a number of people who also are bipolar.
The film has a unique approach that is not found in other documentaries. It interviews not only ordinary people, but also celebrities that have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. This has both its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, we get to see some people whom we sorta know and learn about their experiences. On the other hand, we encounter a group of people that don’t really share our ordinary experiences. Continue reading
Bipolar Today columnist Hazel Butler joins us again today from England to share her work with us. Hazel is an artist, blogger and archaeologist who runs the fascinating website Aädenian Ink.
You are probably thinking I meant to say, the Tortoise and the Hare. True this is a very useful tale, however I was not mistaken… I meant to say Hippo. Continue reading