Introducing ‘Twisted’ - A Personal Journey Through Invisible Disabilities, Chronic Illness, and Material Transformation

Hello and thank you for joining me. It has been a difficult 18 months, i don‘’I mind telling you. In this time i have been diagnosed with Age-related Type 2 Diabetes, I already had degenerative hearing loss…I had an ache that just kept getting worse and i have now been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and potentially chronic pain syndrome after I slipped on the front door step…and today I have had the results of my latest eye screening and I have early onset retinopathy…

Yeah, marvellous…deep breath Rosie. It does feel as though every time i go to the doctors they find something else. I will be honest, I’m having trouble coming to terms with everything that’s going on with my body.

At the beginning of 2026, I was working hard to establish the infrastructure behind being a working artist, you know the website, the social media accounts, the inventory database etc.; but I was having a severe lack artist direction and living in constant pain does have an effect on creativity…unless of course, as an artist, you use it_

‘Twisted’ is my latest series of work, definitely born out of a deeply personal journey living with the realities of invisible disabilities and chronic illness. This collection is my attempt to make visible what often goes unseen, unspoken, and misunderstood. By working through the interplay of materials and motifs, i wanted the ‘Twisted’ series to convey the complexity of vulnerability and de-humanising nature of may ch disabilities and yet show the continued resilience and found inner strength (with the occasional wobble) inherent in these experiences—I am inviting viewers to witness the fragile balance between confinement, disruption and endurance.

Initial Image Creation and Sketches

This body of work is not just a personal exploration into the realities of living with invisible disabilities and chronic illness. It’s about raising awareness too. Both mine and the world! My process begins with photography and mixed media, which I use to create sketches, informative works and studies. The work before the work.

Central to my imagery is the recurring motif of contorted bed sheets. These sheets, twisted and strained upon themselves, become powerful symbols of both physical and emotional states. They evoke the restless nights, moments of vulnerability, and the intimate painful and often despairing landscape shaped by chronic illness. In their tangled forms, the bed sheets reflect the disruption and distortion of daily life, acting as visible traces of invisible, but very real struggles. Their undulating surfaces and intricate creases mirror the unpredictable nature of pain and recovery, suggesting both confinement and a longing for comfort.

Final Works: Oil and Glaze on Paper

For the final pieces, I work in oil and glaze on paper, seeking to render the richness and layered depth that oils uniquely provide and why of love them, The contorted bed sheets are painted with care, their textures amplified by the luminous glazes, inviting viewers to sense the tactile and emotional resonance behind each fold and shadow.

The Deliberate Choice of Paper as a surface

Paper, chosen for its associations of it being a transient, dismissed and devalued material; it becomes a metaphor for the experiences by those with these invisible conditions. By elevating paper through oil and glaze—and by focusing on the motif of contorted bed sheets—I aim to challenge perceptions of worth and visibility, transforming what is often overlooked into a porthole strong image that, I hope, is profound.

Mounting and Presentation

Once complete, the works are adhered to wood panels gesture. This act not only grants permanence to the paper and its imagery but also symbolises the journey from hidden resilience to visible strength—an invitation to see, feel, and reflect on the unseen realities.

What‘s next and what’s new

These paintings are currently submitted to various open calls and I am continuing to work on further pieces and i will continue to update you what is happening with this series. I have a new piece of work on the easel at the moment entitled ‘Bound’ which will be finished by the time this blog is published. It is due to be submit it to the Visual Arts Open this week, so wish me luck.

In the near future, there will be limited edition prints made available for some of this series. That is something I plan started work on this week (yes, it is going to be busy.) I have also bought a large black baking tray and some black ink…as there are some image creation days in the schedule too…and what am of going to use a large black baking tray and black ink for? There are two ways to find out, you can either subscribe to my newsletter which will be out at the end of every month, or if you want to know sooner than later you can follow me on Instagram and Linkedin.

Have a great Flaming June everyone!

Love Rosie 💐

 Image 1

Twisted

20 inches by 16 inches, oil and glaze on paper, adhered to wood panel

Image description: Oil painting depicting cloth tightly twisted to resemble a crouched figure, using hues of pale yellows and blue-greys with highly contrasted dark lines to show the folds and creases in the fabric, on a dark brown-black background, that shows vague impressions on further dark folds beneath the main image

Image 2

Flare

20 inches by 16 inches, oil and glaze on paper, adhered to wood panel

Image description: Oil painting depicting cloth twisted in a tight knot with the end of the fabric flaring out across the top left of the image, using hues of pale yellows and blue-greys with highly contrasted dark lines to show the folds and creases in the fabric, on a dark brown-black background, that shows vague impressions on further dark folds beneath the main image

Image 3

Rag

20 inches by 16 inches, oil and glaze on paper, adhered to wood panel

Image description: Oil painting depicting cloth gently manipulated to resemble a figure in the fetal position, using hues of pale yellows and blue-greys with highly contrasted dark lines to show the folds and creases in the fabric, on a dark brown-black background, that shows vague impressions of dark folds underneath the image.