Beauty Versus the Beast

Beauty Versus The Beast

This is Madelainä's first solo exhibition and covers her first ‘Year In Art’. It is a celebration of overcoming the ‘Beast’ of infirmity through the ‘Beauty’ of self expression.

Madelainä discovered art through her illness – Fibromyalgia which was diagnosed in February of 2007. As a result of this her career as a teacher of English was cut short.

As a palliative to the pain of her illness she was determined to develop a new interest and started experimenting with a recently acquired digital camera. Having taken a portrait of a friend she thought she would try a new challenge and see if she could copy it. She discovered that, although her illness had reduced her control of a pen, she could use a pencil effectively, as shading didn’t require as much precision. Her father’s instant recognition of the person in the portrait inspired her to further efforts.

After a couple of months she had put together a small portfolio of work and it became clear to her friends and family that she had a significant talent, particularly for portraiture.

She has had work selected for the Williamson Art Gallery spring show,l had work auctioned for the Fibromyalgia Merseyside Group and had one of her portraits used by KPJ to extend their product range. We selected her ‘Green Ringo’ portrait for inclusion in our website for the August ComeTogether 2007 exhibition, which she says gave her even more encouragement.

Below are some sample images from the exhibition - just click on the image to see it full size in our viewer. Click on Madelainä's self portrait above to go to her 'myspace' site.

The exhibition is open until the 11th July, Monday to Friday between 12 and 4 pm.