Artist · Author · Voice for ME

WendyBoutilier

Stories. Art. Hope. For ME.

I write and paint from inside the illness this book is about. Living with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis reshaped my life — so I turned to colour and to words, to tell the truth about ME and to leave a little light for the millions who have gone too long unseen.

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Book cover: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis — The Devil Is in the Details by Wendy Boutilier
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“
Illness took a great deal — but it could not take my voice, my colours, or my hope.
— Wendy Boutilier
Illustrated portrait of Wendy Boutilier
Hello, I'm Wendy ✦
A little about me

Where lived experience
becomes art & words.

I’m an artist and author living with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), a serious, chronic neurological illness that changed the shape of my days. Rather than let it take my voice, I leaned on the two things that have always steadied me: painting and storytelling.

I create artwork using self-made inks, acrylics, and mixed media. Some pieces have a soft, watercolour-like appearance, achieved by blending acrylics and using a blow dryer to move the paint. My artwork carries the softness of hope, while my writing carries the weight of truth. Together, they are my way of speaking for the millions who live with ME and are too often dismissed, misdiagnosed, or unseen.

3Creative callings (artist, author, advocate)
1Published book
∞Reasons for hope
Book Feature

The Devil Is in the Details

✦ New Release · Non-fiction

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

The Devil Is in the Details

The Devil in the Details takes the symptoms of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and examines them individually, explaining them in language that patients can understand and, more importantly, use to help explain their illness to family, friends and healthcare professionals.

I’ve been advocating for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis since I was diagnosed in 2009. I understand what it means to have your life radically changed by ME. I understand the losses, the adaptations, the desperation, the uncertainty, and the enormous effort required simply to live within the limitations this neurological disease imposes.

It is a disease that too few people truly understand. That is why I wrote this book. Not simply to write another book about ME, but to give patients something they can use.

Something they can point to when their words are lost. Something their family can read when they don’t understand. Something they can take with them into the doctor’s office when explaining their illness becomes too difficult. This book is for the patient. But it is also for everyone who needs to understand the patient.

Get Your Copy →Look Inside
Available In Paperback Hardcover eBook
Inside the Book

What you'll find within

Open notebook and writing “The details are where the truth lives.”

“The details are where the truth lives.”

Woven from lived experience and careful research, the book moves between the personal and the practical.

  • ✶ The science, made human.
    What ME actually is — and why “chronic fatigue” was never the whole story.
  • ♡ Living the reality.
    Honest accounts of the symptoms, the crashes, and the quiet strength of daily life with ME.
  • ☼ Stigma & the system.
    How dismissal and misdiagnosis compound the harm — and what must change.
  • ➜ A tool for advocacy.
    Clear information and references readers can take to doctors, labs, and insurers to be believed.
Praise

What readers are saying

“

So, today I visited my new GP “armed” with an ICC definition, details of this group and Wendy’s book. I had a list of my current symptoms typed out as well for him to read. My wife explained that it had taken me many hours between rest periods and that I wasn’t able today to communicate very well.

He was absolutely brilliant! He was grateful for the information and was going to do some reading up. He was gentle and caring and at last I have a prescription to try. My sleep issues are horrendous at the moment.

This group and the work Wendy has put into it has transformed the way I manage and live with my ME. Everything is “easier” to deal with when I understand why. Thank you Wendy.

Anonymous
“

Thank you so, so much for these important, and “importantly repeated”, reminders. I wish I had encountered you (or someone like you, if such a person exists) years ago.

I had very mild ME/PAIS years ago — 70–90 on the Bell scale: scarcely ill at all — and was able to manage running even. “And if I can ‘manage’ it, I must do it! Exercise is Good!! Push it!” I just didn’t realise the consequences involve more than paying — only a bit, for me, back then — for exercise with slightly swollen glands, fatigue, weird body temperature fluctuations, and so on, for maybe a day or two; there is the likelihood that one is doing long-term damage.

Thanks to you, I’m finally taking pacing seriously. (Better late than never.) Total sea change for me. You may have rescued a life here. Thank you!

Group leader in Ireland
“

We are delighted to share this wonderful news from one of our global community’s dedicated and highly respected ME advocates in Canada.

Wendy’s new book is the result of many months of hard work, careful research, and an unwavering commitment to improving understanding of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME). It is a remarkable achievement and a valuable contribution to the ME community.

For anyone living with ME, supporting someone, or wanting to gain a better understanding of this complex disease, this will be a book well worth reading.

Congratulations to Wendy Boutilier on the publication of ‘Myalgic Encephalomyelitis — The Devil is in the Details’ 👏 We hope it reaches everyone who can benefit from the knowledge, experience, and dedication that have gone into creating it.

MEAI
The Art

A gallery of hope

Original Acrylics inspired by wildlife, peaceful landscapes, old architecture, and quiet moments of resilience.

Blue dragonflies in an expressive mixed-media artwork Mixed Media

Dragonfly Dance

Original artwork

Snowy owl flying through a winter forest Wildlife

Snowy Flight

Original artwork

White fox standing in a snowy woodland Wildlife

Winter Fox

Original artwork

Expressive artwork of an old stone church Architecture

Old Stone Chapel

Original artwork

Mountain lake and pine trees reflected in calm water Landscape

Mountain Reflection

Original artwork

Waterfall flowing between green cliffs and rocks Landscape

Hidden Waterfall

Original artwork

View Full Portfolio
The Journey

A story still being written

From a life reshaped by diagnosis, to finding the brush, to becoming a voice — the path that led here.

Voice preview

Advocacy & awareness

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis affects millions world wide yet remains under-researched, under-funded and gravely misunderstood. I use my advocacy to try and change that and my art to escape what I cannot change.

Finding the brush

Painting through it

Acrylics became a daily practice — soft, patient, and honest — turning hard days into something hopeful.

Raising the voice

Becoming an advocate

Sharing the truth about ME — through essays, art, and community — for everyone who feels unseen.

Today

The Devil Is in the Details

The book arrives — a testimony and a call to action, and the next chapter of a story still being written.

Voice for ME

Advocacy & awareness

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis affects millions worldwide, yet remains under-researched, under-funded, and misunderstood. I use my art and words to change that — one story at a time.

Sunrise over hills

What is ME?

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis is a serious, chronic neurological disease marked by Post Exertion Neuroimmune Exhaustion. Symptoms vary greatly from person to person and can fluctuate in severity. 25% are very severe and live in dark quiet rooms for 90 - 95% of their lives.

~17–24MPeople affected worldwide
75%Unable to work full-time
25%Housebound or bedbound

Truth-Telling

Sharing the honest, lived reality of ME — the symptoms, the setbacks, and the strength — so no one feels invisible.

Recognition

Pushing for ME to be seen, believed, and taken seriously by medicine, media, and the wider world.

Hope & Action

Turning awareness into momentum — funding, research, and community for a future where ME is understood and treatable.

"Every story shared is a small act of resistance against being forgotten."

Events

Talks, readings & appearances

02
Oct

ME Awareness Panel

Community Hall · Advocacy conversation with clinicians & patients
Panel discussion audience
20
Nov

Art & Words Workshop

Studio Session · Creativity as care for chronic-illness communities
Workshop session
Invite Wendy to Speak
Journal

Notes on art, hope & ME