Blackbutt artist Janet Skinner shares battle with end-stage multiple sclerosis, therapeutic power of painting

“My brain changed about five years ago. I’d never been a writer, but all of a sudden I woke up and was able to write four illustrated books.”

Blackbutt artist Janet Skinner. Photo/Tina Torrens

Painting from her bed or reclining wheelchair, Blackbutt artist Janet Skinner refuses to allow her diagnosis take her from her passion.

“Life is very precarious for me. What I can do in life one day, I don't know for sure if I’ll be able to do it the next,” she said.

Mrs Skinner’s creative journey has been somewhat tied to being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in recent years — moulding and shaping her brain and transforming her into an author and then into an autobiographical artist.

“My brain changed about five years ago. I’d never been a writer, but all of a sudden I woke up and was able to write four illustrated books,” she said.

“People ask me why I didn’t write before, but I actually didn’t have the ability.”

Blackbutt artist Janet Skinner. Photo/Tina Torrens

But as her MS progressed, Mrs Skinner’s newly realised literary talent disappeared along with all recollection of the books, which had sold thousands of copies.

“I was an author, but that’s now gone. If you were to ask me the storyline of each of the books, I couldn't actually tell you what the stories are about,” she said.

“So I've gone from writing brilliantly to not even being able to remember my own stories.”

However, as her short-term memory began to fail her and her writing career became a thing of the past, Mrs Skinner’s long-term memory intensified and her mind became alive with vivid memories from her childhood.

While those were tough times as a child she found solace walking through the Medway towns in England - which she has recreated in a collection of artworks drawn almost exclusively from memories formed between 1957 and 1970.

Mrs Skinner previously owned the Janet Skinner Gallery in Blackbutt, and now exhibits her work online via bluethumb.

Mrs Skinner has been very open about her struggle with MS and depression, opting to inspire people with her journey rather than keep her experience hidden.

“In 2011 I died. My heart stopped completely. Luckily there was somebody with me who resuscitated me,” she said.

“Wherever a lesion forms on your brain, it will kill off whatever function that particular part of your brain is making work.

“I've have been through periods where I haven’t been able to swallow, chew or eat - and then the lesion will heal a little bit. But for about three months I was choking on everything I put in my mouth, and even choking on water.”

Mrs Skinner said after suffering from severe depression for most of her life she later discovered this too was a symptom of her MS, caused by a large lesion sitting on her right frontal lobe.

Her depression also prevents her from being able to take pain medication for the “electric” pain shooting through her limbs at night.

Blackbutt artist Janet Skinner. Photo/Tina Torrens

Looking through many of Mrs Skinner’s paintings, magical looking pink mushrooms often draw the viewer's eye - a powerful symbol of happiness that’s lived in Mrs Skinner’s imagination since she was a child.

“As a child I would sit at the end of the garden under this small tree that was about four meters high. In England we get what we call rambling roses and they would actually take over a whole tree and intertwine like a giant rose weed,” she said.

“The tree would turn completely pink and look like an enormous pink mushroom. I would sit under this tree and it was my place of meditation.

“So when I incorporate pink mushrooms into my work it's a way of saying this is a happy memory.”

Having been a self-employed artist since she was a teenager, Mrs Skinner now mentors others and shares with them the therapeutic benefits of creating art, which said has been “vital to (her) existence”.

A group of ladies visit her home each Thursday, where they feel free to just paint and discuss whatever they like in a safe environment.

You can view Mrs Skinner’s digital art gallery and purchase from her collection HERE.

Originally published as Blackbutt artist Janet Skinner shares battle with end-stage multiple sclerosis, therapeutic power of painting