Where lived experience
becomes art & words.
Hello, I’m Wendy.
I’m an artist and author living with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) — a serious, chronic neurological illness that reshaped my world. Much of my writing and research was done lying down, with an iPad propped on my abdomen, on the days my body would allow it. That is the honest shape of this work, and I own every word of it.
Rather than let the illness silence me, I turned to 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.
Every piece I make begins from the same belief — that honesty and beauty can live in the same frame, and that stories can change how the world understands invisible illness.
“Illness took a great deal — but it could not take my voice, my colours, or my hope.” — Wendy Boutilier