Pain In The ..........

I've been laid low with a severe case of Sciatica, which is, for those of you lucky to be in functional health, a condition where, due to age or injury, your vertebrae start to erode and press upon the sciatic nerve - the BIGGEST nerve of our bodies - and causes huge amounts of pain. Yowzer amounts of it in fact and until it all decides to calm down and behave you must assume position of dead salmon and take many little pills that make you loopy and sleepy.

Sitting makes it worse.

Ah joy.

Anythebodyiscrappingoutway, I've been mostly horizontal since my last post but was feeling pretty good yesterday, so I actually did the dishes, vacuuming and laundry all of which were resembling an art project in the hovel and then also worked on my sculpture. As a result, I have a hot water bottle planted firmly to my ass today.

Ah, hot water bottles.

What a brilliant invention. It's been around for some time which just adds to the testament of a great design. Originally made of zinc, copper, glass, earthenware or wood, somewhere around 1903, Croatian inventor Slavoljub Eduard Penkala made them in rubber. They disappeared a bit when the electric heating pad came out but in this day and age of 'going green' they are having a comeback.

And just what does this have to do with Art, you query?
Not too darn much except it had me thinking about Frida Khalo (in between the zoned out times). Frida really had pain. So much so, that my little problem pales in comparison. She had polio for one and then in her teens was in a horrific tramcar accident where a tram rail actually pierced her back and led to a lifetime of surgeries and special braces and myriad amounts of bed rest. But she still painted and created some of the most memorable work by a woman artist to date.
I shall endeavor to emulate this personal icon and soldier on.
But first, another little pill and a snooze.
With my hot water bottle.
Painting is, of course, by Frida Khalo, titled " The Broken Column ", 1944. The other thing I love about Frida is how she painted herself with the giant 'uni-brow' and mustache. It really wasn't that exaggeratedly obvious on her real self but it obviously loomed large in her eyes. Makes me feel reassured that such a fine artist was plagued with body image issues just like me. And also makes me want to shake us both as being ridiculously caught up in the idiocy of that.