Five Favorites from an Artist with Chronic Pain

Not merely an artist’s favorites, but SPECIFICALLY an artist with chronic illnesses and pain. There’s a difference. I spend a lot of time propped up with pillows in my bed with people fanning me and feeding me grapes and I have ADVICE ON WHICH GRAPES. (Kidding. No one feeds me grapes or fans me [taking applications on that currently–go to my contact page to apply.] I actually rarely see other humans some weeks.) But I DO have some recommendations on a few things. So let’s get on with that.

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• My beloved lap desk. My parents bought this for me and it’s been completely fantastic. I love that it’s sturdy and has the option of raising up at an angle for when I want to use my iPad instead of my computer. Or for when I’m drawing or painting with it!

• These blue-light-blocking glasses have been such a life-saver! Not only have they fulfilled my life-long dream of wearing glasses, but they’ve saved my eyes and and head from the effects of many long days of computer-gazing.

• I love this Winsor & Newton Sketcher’s Box for on-the-go painting. And sometimes on-the-go means “anywhere not in my studio”. Which sometimes means “in my bed”. Or “on the couch”. Or “at my parents’ house”. It’s a great little workhorse and I’ve had mine for ages and have chugged out many paintings with it. It’s definitely a favorite staple.

• Similarly as the item listed above, this is a staple for when I need to paint but need to not be in the studio–whether that means it’s because I’m on an airplane headed to somewhere delightful and warm and named “San Diego”, or whether it’s because I’m in loads of pain and in somewhere named “Bed”….this Pentel Water Brush is a must. It removes the need for random cups of water and keeps it all contained right in the handle of the brush! It may take a bit of getting used to how to control the water flow, and I always keep tissues with me (whether in the studio or not–they’re part of my painting kit!) to help staunch any extra water flow, but once you get the feel for it, having a water brush is SO handy.

• This book. The end. Okay, not the end. Because I have SO MUCH TO SAY about Paris in Bloom by Georgianna Lane. A picture is worth a thousand words, and this book is cram full of intensely beautiful pictures, and somedays? You just need to look at beautiful pictures. And I didn’t even realize the truth of this until a dear friend sent me this book out of the blue and it showed up on my doorstep and I wept over my cup of tea after work that day as I flipped through this gem of a book and bathed my soul in the beauty. I usually don’t give my friends the same gifts….but this is one book that I have gifted to multiple friends of mine. Because it is just a little sparkle of beauty that brings such a ray of sunshine and light into any day, and whether you’ve got chronic illnesses and pain or not, you need bits of beauty in your days–you just do. Now the end.

And I’ll end on that note, because that kind of beauty can’t be topped right now. <3

Drop YOUR favorite recommendations in the comments! I’m always curious what tops other people’s lists.

Love!
Grace