From Head To Toe

 My anatomy studies started as an exercise to understand medical jargon during my doctor appointments. My health affects me systemically, meaning from head to toe.  

A counter is covered in medical bottles and instruments. There are three hook like metal straws, tweezers and eye droppers. There are black gloves and gauze too.


How can having unusual health issues be inspiring?

 As I navigated finding answers for my complex health disorders, I began investigating and painting the parts I wished to heal. 

I balance almost a dozen specialists and have multiple diagnosed conditions. You can read more about my journey in my artist bio and in my words section. Multiple conditions means balancing a number of doctors who specialize in different functions of the body.

 

As I processed and learned to care for my body, I began to build a physical body of work. A body that could be defined, controlled, understood and predictable. I consider these bodies of work to be created in the spirit of art therapy. They allow me to better conceptualize and assign emotions to the memories and experiences I encounter during my walk as a caretaker who lives and rents space within a temperamental body.

 

“I call the intersection between emotions and my anatomical art, my Awareness of Recurrent Trauma or ART.” -S. Busler

Anatomical Heart Series

Action splashes of black ink with pink, purple and blue watercolor droplets surround a centered & floating anatomical heart. The heart is a deep toned pink, purple and cobalt blue. The arteries and veins are made up of hundreds of contrasting colored dots. A soft, white, cloud-like shape meets the edges of the arteries with small pink veins traveling the length of the heart. There are tiny flecks of sparkly salt adhered to the paper and dried paint.

Salty Heart, 2022​
Painting-Sumi Ink, Watercolor, Gouache, Kosher Salt 

I painted this while anxiously preparing for a new cardiologist. I’m a trifecta patient, I have Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and Ehlers-Danlos (EDS). My digestion, cognition, consciousness, temperature and heart and more are affected by theses syndromes. Salt and hydration help stabilize my conditions. I applied gouache, watercolors and kosher salt to wet paper to form patterns. My heart is centered and floating since my world revolves around its care. 

The process of using salt for pattern:

I covered sections of my paper in salt after applying paint. It’s left to dry and build a crusting that can be flaked off later. The salt draws the water and color towards it. The color becomes more saturated in these spots and it pools. This is how the somewhat spontaneous organic lines and gradation is achieved.

Frozen Heart, 2015

Glass- Lost Wax Casting

Bones & Skeleton Series

A skeleton with a bird on it's shoulder is drawn in pencil and taped with blue tape to a board. There are splashes of wet, black ink all over the page.

My brain plays tricks on me due to my perfection Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). So, I splash ink in an erratic pattern as a start. This act takes away the fear of making a mistake. I can only improve things & fix it from here.

A skeleton has its mouth wide open, revealing a floating vertebrae. The first rib is missing and a red-winged blackbird is in its place. The skeleton is holding an opium plant. There are colorful dots making up the skeleton bones and black ink splashes all over the background. There is a pink heart with muscle revealed.

Removing The Rib, 2023

Painting- Gouache, Gel Pen, Sumi Ink

This painting symbolizes a surgery to remove dangerous pressure from my artery. A lung was collapsed to remove a rib and muscle. I was in and out of consciousness in the ICU and had tubes stitched to my body. I had to leave my full time job as a glass artist to heal. I was severely depressed, in blinding pain, and I had lost my identity.

All The Rest Series

A blue octopus like creature is pictured with one large yellow eye in the center of his face. His arm is wrapped around his mouth to suggest he is covering it to whisper a secret. His arm is pink with tentacles lining it.

Gary The Nasal Polyp, 2022

Early painting stage of Gary the nasal polyp. Sumi ink makes up the outline of the figure

Painting: Sumi Ink and Watercolor

 

This is Gary, he was named by my Nurse Practitioner when she found him while doing an exam. Gary is a nasal polyp who lives on the left side of my nose. I painted this as a gesture to honor him… So he would leave.

Is it In Your Ear or Head?, 2023

A surreal ear and head is pictured facing forward but the face is missing. Instead of a face there is a blue head with a mowhawk that is facing sideways blowing a bubble from the inside of the ear out. The ear turns into an orange and black butterfly wing.
Painting in early stage of Is it in your head or ear. There are kosher salt flakes in the back ink areas

Painting- Sumi ink,  Kosher Salt, Gouache, White Gel Pen

 

I was medically gaslit for months and told my ear was normal. Was the pain, vertigo and muffled hearing all in my mind? I painted my pain & pressure to externalize the invisible. I felt blue in the face from repeatedly asking for help. When a test showed my eardrum was not moving, it felt real.

A person lays on a reclined medical chair with a pillow under their head. They are in a medical office and there are disposable gloves, ear canal tips and other supplies.
The right testing for my issues was the step needed to get a diagnosis and treatment plan. I needed a tube to be inserted into my eardrum. This photo shows me trying to relax and meditate before the tube insertion. I was awake for the procedure that would equalize the pressure throughout my ear.

Radioactive Breakfast, 2022

An egg is outlined in thick black ink. The edges of the shapes are offset in a vibrant red, yellow, blue. trippy haze. The center of the egg has a hazmat symbol.

Painting: Sumi Ink, Watercolor, Gouache.

My strangest and most costly breakfast was at Nuclear Med. I had a Gastric Emptying scan which was a timed, measured and rather small breakfast that included 4 oz. of egg whites with a tracer called Tc99m Sulfur Colloid. Scans were taken over a several hour period after consuming this “breakfast”. 

That day, I did in fact set off a Geiger Counter afterward. The tracer has a fast half life of 6 hours. So, by the next day I was not ticking or glowing.

Eye Twisting, 2024

A painting of a hyper realistic cheek and eye. The eye is brown, looks teary and is red with irritation. The face closeup is in the center of the page with black inky circles surrounding it. There is brown hair around the closeup of the face.
closeup of the eye painting that shows eyelash details

Painting: Sumi Ink, Gouache, White Gel Pen

An eye doctor gas lit me, made me feel ashamed of my symptoms and told me to stop focusing on my pain. I took a close look at my eye in the mirror to paint the pain as a reminder the invisible is real. I traveled out of state to see a Neuro-opthalmologist who found a cranial nerve palsy, binocular vision dysfunction and hyperacusis. 

error: Content is protected !!