Artists

"'migraine-aura.org'?!? Omigosh, I never thought I'd see the day. Thank you ... So .... that's it, I think my work is done here. I'm kidding. Seriously now: I really don't want your comment to get buried in another sea of comments! The next time I get an SS attack I think I'll start a new thread and feature your link in the body of the post so people won't miss it? The funniest part of your site is this: Etiology (the cause of a disease) [PENDING] ...ha ha. The suspense is killing me! - When that page gets filled in, that will be HUGE news for all of us? Again, thank you Dr. Podoll for sending the link over, it's quite amazing."

"Please know how much I appreciate your kind attention to the issue of migraine aura. I never thought I'd live to see the day that describing visual and other sensory disturbances could be discussed openly and without shame. 'I know this sounds crazy but...' is such a heavy load to carry."

"I think the website is coming along nicely, and I am delighted to be a part of this 'outlet' for creative migraine sufferers."

"I have put together a short survey of my life as a migraineur with the Lilliputians as well. I have looked at your website and am fascinated, I must say. The art connection is particularly interesting to me, and I have long wondered about the neurological links to both painting and writing. I have long felt that my neurological vulnerabilities can't be separated from my personality or from my work. I am also attaching an autobiographical piece that deals in part with my migraine experiences... I am delighted to be a part of your remarkable work. Sincerely, Siri Hustvedt"

(Siri Hustvedt, Email to Klaus Podoll, July 23, 2004)

(Sherry Miller Hocking, Experimental Television Center, Newark Valley NY, Email to Klaus Podoll, August 27, 2004)

"I was very excited to find your information 'Migraine Art on the Internet' on the web yesterday. I am a part-time fine art student in my 4th out of 5 years. About 18 months ago I decided to embrace my migraine instead of fighting it and to base my art practice on it. Since then my results have been good & I am also about to start on thesis on Migraine Art. Part of my excitement was finding a list of contemporary artists, because before I could not seem to get beyond van Gogh (& I see from your writings that this has not been proved anyway)."

"I received an email this morning from Klaus Podoll, an MD at the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Aachen, Germany. He is doing research on symptoms and migraine art. We had a fascinating communication, culminating in a questionnaire designed to explore the relationships between migraine experiences and art-making activities, used for the scientific study which accompanies the project of building up a Migraine Art website. He is including some of my comments and reflections upon the creative process involved in my paintings, together with images of 'Triumph of the Human Spirit' and 'Vertigo,' both related to the migraine headaches I experience from time-to-time."

"I checked out your website, and I am really interested in your research. The relationship between migraines and the creative process is definitely worthy of investigation."

"I have looked at my revised webpage on www.migraine-aura.org and am well impressed, as I am by the whole site. The Migraine Art section contributes greatly to the understanding of migraine as well as making the site more dynamic − well done."

"Hi, my name is Melanie van Winkle. I found my art on the migraine art website. I had never heard of such a thing, and was just e-mailing that yes, I have migraines, and yes, I did that photo when I was having one. There are other pieces I have done with a migraine. I never thought of a connection between the headaches and the art being a huge deal, so I was surprised to find my art on the website. Weird."

"I just want to let you know that contact with you, with your site, has been enlightening, educating, and fun."

"I have visited you site and found it to be extremely interesting, educational and enlightening. I consider your use of my material a compliment; thank you!"

"I have found your website very useful and am grateful for it as it is the best site I have found on persistent migraine aura ... Thanks for all your work!"

"Of course you can reproduce my painting, if there is anything else I can do for your organization, just ask. And thank you for ... the great work."

"I thoroughly enjoyed touring your website. I'm fascinated with the information and images that you presented and will need to spend more time absorbing the information."

"I have seen your website and am impressed by the range and thoroughness of the information you have collected. Thank you for sharing this material with such a wide audience. I wish you every success with this project."

(Randy M. Vick, MS, ATR-BC, LCPC, Chair - Art Therapy, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Email to Klaus Podoll, July 30, 2005)

"Your website is very well constructed and interesting! I am amazed that there are so many artists out there who have rendered an expression of their migraines!"

"I have one Poem that I would like for you to consider for your web page. It was written during a migraine and I find very apropos to my pain...

The Monster Within

There is this monster I cannot see
He lurks deep within inside of me
I know he's there, hiding deep
Waiting, watching without a peep
Sometimes I feel him, creeping inside
Stirring like an ocean tide
And I wonder is this the day
Or will he simply go away
There is this monster I cannot see
Waiting to be set free
The pain he will unleash I know
Will only steadily continue to grow
Until the moment when he's released
With each passing moment the pains increased
There is this monster inside of me
Please oh please just set me free

"Actually, I'm being inspired by you & your Migraine Aura website, to keep a notebook of any migraine related (or even possibly migraine related) events, dreams, and the migraines themselves. I think maybe if I document it, it'll feel less overwhelming & random. I just need a small notebook I can carry with me, to get started!"

(Mella Wyrden, Livejournal for Support Group for Migraine Sufferers, Subject: migraine-o-rama, October 27, 2005)

"I searched on the web for information and your website was the first one that I came across. You can imagine my surprise when I saw the images that others has painted that are so similar to my experience. Thank you for creating a place where people can express themselves through art. It is incredibly helpful to see the similarities between the artwork and certainly helped me to feel like I was not going insane."

"I'm just getting my head around Adobe Photoshop, and am hoping to make some pictures for the site as well. Seems as if one could recreate the whole experience of all our vision problems in Adobe. When I first realised I was having classic migraines I was really blown away by the fact that I was seeing zig-zags which led me to believe that geometry is part of brain's chemistry. I had thought that we (humans) had invented geometry, but I think we just use what is hard-wired in our brains. So it is interesting that Adobe Photoshop seems to be an attempt to splice our brains and take vision apart (all in a very mechanical way). Unfortunately and fortunately for us aura status sufferes, we do not need Adobe Photoshop to break down vision into all its parts. Just a thought."

"Thank you for asking to use my image! You may certainly reproduce it. Your site appears to be very organized and I'm grateful for the attention given not only to all migraine sufferers, but those of use who use our art as an outlet for them."

(Sarah Collins, Email to Klaus Podoll, March 28, 2007)