I'm sure many of you are familiar with Canadian artist Lucky Jackson but in case you are not - she creates the most stunning appliquéd/embroidered artwork, and is currently working on a very impressive 365 project.
I'd admired a portrait Lucky did of Tim Gunn prior to this project for a long time - I think he's hilarious on Project Runway, and really loved the fabrics she'd used - I wanted it on my wall! A couple of months ago I finally decided to enquire about purchasing the piece, and find out what shipping would cost to send it to New Zealand.
When Lucky got back to me after getting a quote, she said she had looked at my blog in the meanwhile and come across this video I did about my disease, ankylosing spondylitis, and the injected medication I take to treat it, Humira.
I was pretty amazed when she revealed in her email that she not only has the very same autoimmune disease as I do, but she is also prescribed Humira.
She went on to say how helpful she had found my video, and that she wanted to gift me the portrait as thanks - needless to say I was blown away by her generousity, and ridiculously excited to receive it! It also happened to be the day before my birthday when I got that email, and while I had a lovely birthday, it was very difficult to top that!
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| Thrilled. |
So this post is mostly to say a huge thank you to Lucky for her generosity, and to encourage those of you who are uninitiated to take a look at her gorgeous work.
What I love about this exchange, almost as much as the artwork itself, is the fact that discovering Lucky shares my struggle with ankylosing spondylitis clearly illustrates what a hidden disease it is - it gives great weight to the 'but you don't look sick!' mission. Lucky's creativity, and particularly productivity, in her 365 project was already so impressive to me as an artist but now - knowing first hand what a hurdle AS can be - I am floored.
Thanks Lucky, for such a wonderful gift, and for giving me permission to share this information about our AS. To say you're an inspiration for me to persevere in my creative endeavours is a massive understatement!
