Diabetes Art Day 2012

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'Diabetes Overwhelm' is my contribution to Diabetes Art Day this year. Just looking at it is a bit overwhelming. Click on photo for larger, and readable, image.

I drew this at a time when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed with my blood sugar levels and nothing seemed to work at keeping them down. Using pencil, pen and marker I started playing with an 'over' and 'under' technique to express the variety of symptoms and emotions that I have and do experience as I manage this chronic illness. One thing I could see when I finished the drawing is that living with and managing diabetes is sometimes extremely stressful. And of course I tend to think that I am the only one enduring this struggle, but I know that is not true.

I welcome your comments. You can see the art that other people with diabetes have shared by visiting the Diabetes Art Day 2012 site.

Here are some links to some of my favorite DOC (diabetes online community) places to visit:

Diabetes Mine
Six Until Me
Texting My Pancreas
The Butter Compartment - the art therapist with diabetes who started D Art Day

Work in Progress (WIP) Wednesday

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Progress. Is sometimes slow. But steady. 

That’s what living is, yes? My life is a work in progress. And I usually have works in progress, usually more than one. Here are a few shots of the WIP from two weeks ago. I have actually had some time and felt good enough to do some stitching on this yellow piece. I like to experiment so you’ll see more of this. It will not remain yellow.

The plan is to paint after quilting.  I layered two layers of cotton batting with the inted of getting more visible/obvious texture. I think that is working. I basically made up the design - I find that I like making it up as I go - no rules, just right. Hah!

I have only tried this once before, right after I got a copy of The Painted Quilt by Linda and Laura Kemshall. Great book!

I am also very inspired by Lynda Monk and the work she shares on her blog Purple Missus! Just scroll down through her older posts and enjoy. Her work is intriguing and inspiring to me. I don’t know what color I’m going to paint it yet, but I trust that it will come to me. So, I am on another quilting adventure – doing things I’ve never done before to see what happens.

 

Other work in progress is me. Ha. This is never ending right. I am always grateful to wake up every morning. The last six weeks or so have been very stressful physically. My diabetes numbers started to get way out of control, we’re talking upwards of 350.

This was triggered by the need to stop one diabetes med that was causing me to gain weight. Found a new endocrinologist who gave me a different med, which unfortunately just didn’t lower the blood sugar numbers like they needed to be. So, we switched to insulin. What an adventure that has been. It has taken weeks to get even close to the right dosage. It is starting to work and we still have a ways to go. But I do feel much better.

I have actually never had really high numbers until this year, especially numbers in the 370-420 range. It is a very scary and frustrating thing and it zaps energy and makes it very hard to focus. I’ll keep you posted. I’ve also been making myself attempt drawing a lot more so here is a sketch of my testing supplies. They're a little light but you get the idea. Next time I'll sketch on new paper, not recycled paper.

Work in Progress (WIP) Wednesday

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So I have 20 minutes before Thursday is over. No problem. I have the beginnings of two WIPs this week. First up is a piece of scrap fabric that I layered with two layers of batting to increase the texture. All of those rectangles you can see will be filled with quilting or other items/techniques. I am making it up as I go along. One thing I am sure of is that it will be painted once I'm finished with the quilting lines. This work was inspired by 'The Painted Quilt - Paint and Print Techniques for Color on Quilts' by Linda & Laura Kemshall.

I think the shadows give you a good sense of what it looks like so far.

Second Up are some photos of items I am collecting to use on a quilt, or a series of quilts, about type 2 diabetes. After 12 years of managing this disease, I find myself struggling with numbers out of control. I decided that since these are symptoms I have not experience before and they are having such a hugh and mostly negative impact on every single area of my life, I am going to use this series to work thru and express some of those emotions, challenges and frustrations that other people with the disease could also relate to.

My nightime, long acting insulin pen.

The doc and I monitor the blood sugar results 8 times a day and then decide what dose to raise it to since we have yet to reach the right level of blood sugar numbers.

Of course these pens are easy, easy, easy to use and the needles are fine and go in with no pain at all.

So the 'Diabetes' quilt that I create with these are other accessories and important parts of diabetes management should be quite interesting.  We shall see.

What are you working on?