cara.lloyd
Member
Ah okay! Thanks so much for your feedback!
Ah okay! Thanks so much for your feedback!Lack of colour, rainbow colours would be a ideal choice
I have no problems lancing my fingers / thumbs.
Mod Edit: this is Approved!
Hi all,
I was wondering if I could have some feedback on these prints I have made for my university degree! More specifically, whether the image and the intent behind it resonate with you as a someone who has had to finger-prick test.
Description - I created this print back in January when I was still coming to terms with my diagnosis. I was struggling at the time with the finger-pricking tests and found it increasingly painful, especially with how it limited my ability to do printmaking comfortably. I chose lino print because I felt like it was an act of protest against the bruising of my fingers, facing up to the difficulty of using my hands by utilising a process that is so physical and requires a lot of your hands. The image itself highlights the three fingers that I prick and the repeated image represents the relentless nature of having to check your glucose levels.
Thanks!
Cara
Ooh, I confess, not Geordie. Though I am a Northumberlandophile, if there is such a thing. Partial to a pint or three of Workie Ticket, and a stottie with ham and pease pudding. Have Geordies in extended family. Love them to bits, hen.Howay! Nice to meet a fellow Geordie here
I would absolutely love to have your opinion! As I've just said to Mike, I'd mainly aimed this post at Type 1 diabetics as my project is mainly based on my own experience. However, your feedback would be invaluable! Especially, if you finger-prick test or have done in the past.
And thanks for suggesting getting approval! Thankfully the lovely moderators were able to give me approval as I am not collecting data / information from any users, simply their opinion to help me develop my work further!
Thanks
Cara
I get the meaning behind your design. Speaks to me of the repetitive, constant need to test, often tedious. monochrome suggests to me the darkness of despair at diagnosis. Not sure it would be understood by those who don’t need to test with finger stabbing, but art is all about interpretation.
Well I am feeling a bit pensive tonight, with a touch of reflective melancholy, but it is only a mere opinion. Quite flattered my interpretation resonated.Sorry but I didn’t get it at all til I read @pipp’s interpretation above. Perhaps made more so by the fact I don’t have those feelings about testing, nor do I find it damages my fingers (3yrs in) and I do it several times a day. Good tips for how to make it hurt above too. Making sure you are well hydrated helps too.
But then I don’t get a lot of art, I either like the image or I don’t and I struggle with the whole “interpretation” part til it’s explained. Now it has been, I can see it demonstrates what pipp describes quite well.
Sorry but I didn’t get it at all til I read @pipp’s interpretation above. Perhaps made more so by the fact I don’t have those feelings about testing, nor do I find it damages my fingers (3yrs in) and I do it several times a day. Good tips for how to make it hurt above too. Making sure you are well hydrated helps too.
But then I don’t get a lot of art, I either like the image or I don’t and I struggle with the whole “interpretation” part til it’s explained. Now it has been, I can see it demonstrates what pipp describes quite well.
Well I am feeling a bit pensive tonight, with a touch of reflective melancholy, but it is only a mere opinion. Quite flattered my interpretation resonated.
Hi Cara, T1 for 35 years so plenty of finger pricking in my history - though Libre's meant a major reduction in that! Has anyone suggested that to you? Afraid your image doesn't signify finger pricking to me. I like @Jaylee's suggestion of red dots, that would probably do it!Mod Edit: this is Approved!
Hi all,
I was wondering if I could have some feedback on these prints I have made for my university degree! More specifically, whether the image and the intent behind it resonate with you as a someone who has had to finger-prick test.
Description - I created this print back in January when I was still coming to terms with my diagnosis. I was struggling at the time with the finger-pricking tests and found it increasingly painful, especially with how it limited my ability to do printmaking comfortably. I chose lino print because I felt like it was an act of protest against the bruising of my fingers, facing up to the difficulty of using my hands by utilising a process that is so physical and requires a lot of your hands. The image itself highlights the three fingers that I prick and the repeated image represents the relentless nature of having to check your glucose levels.
Thanks!
Cara
Yes I definitely see what you mean! When I've shown it to non-diabetic friends they have the same insight. Thanks for your feedback!The graphic says three fingers and continuity to me, but doesn't show anything to do with pricking or diabetes. I think anyone without diabetes would struggle to understand it...just my opinion
(And I use 3 fingers on my right hand but only 2 on my left as that middle finger refuses to give up enough blood.. odd and annoying)
Hi,
It sort of reminds me of a moncrome Andy Warhol?
Got a little quality of some of the punk flyers from back in the 1980s for gigs ..? Possibly some of the protest stencilled graffiti from that era too..
I use more than 3 fingers on both hands. (I tend to rotate.)
The image on the subject matter depicted for me would have a little more impact if there was a red highlight.
The red "paint-balled" randomly, breaking up the uniformity of the 12 blocks with the hands?
Think the album artwork to Metallica's "Kill 'em all," & you sorta get the idea..
Ooh, I confess, not Geordie. Though I am a Northumberlandophile, if there is such a thing. Partial to a pint or three of Workie Ticket, and a stottie with ham and pease pudding. Have Geordies in extended family. Love them to bits, hen.
Sorry I was trigger happy asking if you have aporoval. I am a bit oversensitive and protective when it comes to anyone seeking to make use of members’ good nature.
So, now that is cleared up, and you do want opinions of those with T2, (even faux Geordies like me) here goes.
The finger pricking does get tedious. At first I tended to use the same couple of fingers, and got a bit lazy with changing the lancet regularly. It is recommended after each use. After getting a nasty infection in the favoured finger, I started to change lancets, if not after each use, at least after a couple. I also rotate digits used by starting with thumb on left hand, using that from fasting test in morning until end of day. Then move on to index finger on left hand, for just a day. Then middle finger, etc. Using each digit for 24 hours. That way each digit has 9 days to recover before using again. It eases the discomfort.
I get the meaning behind your design. Speaks to me of the repetitive, constant need to test, often tedious. monochrome suggests to me the darkness of despair at diagnosis. Not sure it would be understood by those who don’t need to test with finger stabbing, but art is all about interpretation.
Incidentally, are you aware that the finger stabbing is less uncomfortable if you have warmed your hands, only use a depth of lancet to make a small piercing, use the side of finger rather than tip, and don’t squeeze to get a drop of blood, it just needs a gentle massage stroke towards the end of finger to get a drop of blood.
Best of luck to you.
Hiya Jaylee, thanks for your awesome feedback! I'm fascinated by your observation of testing being a "dirty little secret", something I hadn't considered before. I definitely remember scurrying off to the medical room at Uni to test as I didn't want my peers to know at first, so I can definitely identify with this idea! I feel inspired to pursue this 'controversy' idea too.I feel it's halfway there..? (Unfinished.) I see a more "underground" element needs adding..
It shouldn't be...However, Testing for some (as well as injecting.) can be ike a "dirty little secret?"
The piece should convey some "controversy."
"Eye of the beholder." A message for those who practice testing & those who missunderstand the act.
Hey! I'm so glad the work was able to speak to you following some further explanation. I'll definitely look into how the print could better communicate my intent without any supplemental information. I also think your approach to art is something to aspire too, after all, some of my favourite pieces of art / design are simply just aesthetically pleasing to me (irrespective of their meaning)!Sorry but I didn’t get it at all til I read @pipp’s interpretation above. Perhaps made more so by the fact I don’t have those feelings about testing, nor do I find it damages my fingers (3yrs in) and I do it several times a day. Good tips for how to make it hurt above too. Making sure you are well hydrated helps too.
But then I don’t get a lot of art, I either like the image or I don’t and I struggle with the whole “interpretation” part til it’s explained. Now it has been, I can see it demonstrates what pipp describes quite well.
Just a thought, you could make a succession of works, showing your journey. I think it would become less monochrome as time goes on. New diagnosis is a shock, life changing. It doesn’t need to dominate though. As you get more experienced you will possibly change how you see things. Not going to give advice as some old lady with T2 to a recently diagnosed younger person with T1, but there are so many long term T1 folks on here who don’t let their diabetes get in the way of anything. Seek them out, stick around, read, learn and pass on the knowledge.Hiya Pip, thanks for the great feedback and Northumberlandophile should definitely be a thing!
I'm really glad to hear the the tedious nature of finger pricking resonates with you in the image...and I was totally the same with being too lazy to change lancets sometimes. And thanks for your advice for finger pricking more comfortably, I'll definitely have to give your 9 day rotation a try.
It's interesting to hear how the monochrome has instilled a sense of despair, something I definitely was trying to recreate when I made this print. In some ways I want to revisit the work and use more vibrant colours instead, after all, even though it is an annoying process, it's amazing how it can help us stay healthy and keep our levels stable. Technology is a brilliant thing eh.
Take care and thanks again!
Hey, thanks for your feedback! And yes I've just started using the Freestyle Libre recently (feeling very lucky that I was able to get a prescription so quickly). I can totally see how the finger pricking isn't evident straight away, and I agree that maybe adding some red would do the trick!Hi Cara, T1 for 35 years so plenty of finger pricking in my history - though Libre's meant a major reduction in that! Has anyone suggested that to you? Afraid your image doesn't signify finger pricking to me. I like @Jaylee's suggestion of red dots, that would probably do it!
Hiya Mike! I'm really intrigued by this composition you've described, and I like how the finger prick image would mix in with 'daily activities / hobbies'....maybe a depiction of how our diabetic rituals are just a small part of our lives! Thanks so much!@cara.lloyd
Maybe a nine square collage, the central one targeted to testing for a condition that most people don't have.
The surrounding eight, our fingers in close up engaged in all of the daily activities / hobbies which are second nature to everyone. Placing a last jigsaw piece, fingers on a leaf, a warm handshake, etc etc.
Draw the parallel between the eight and the one.... and make the central piece larger to draw the viewer into the entire theme.
Yes absolutely! I think it would be really powerful to display the positive journey you've described. I remember feeling so daunted by the idea of having diabetes, but now it feels like something I can have control over. You're totally right about how time and experience can change your perception of the situation...even recently I've been considering how I've never been more in-tune with the processes within my body and that it's such a gift to have this knowledge. I have to say that reading the forums on here (from both T1 and T2 people) has been such a blessing in getting used to it all!Just a thought, you could make a succession of works, showing your journey. I think it would become less monochrome as time goes on. New diagnosis is a shock, life changing. It doesn’t need to dominate though. As you get more experienced you will possibly change how you see things. Not going to give advice as some old lady with T2 to a recently diagnosed younger person with T1, but there are so many long term T1 folks on here who don’t let their diabetes get in the way of anything. Seek them out, stick around, read, learn and pass on the knowledge.
Hiya Jaylee, thanks for your awesome feedback! I'm fascinated by your observation of testing being a "dirty little secret", something I hadn't considered before. I definitely remember scurrying off to the medical room at Uni to test as I didn't want my peers to know at first, so I can definitely identify with this idea! I feel inspired to pursue this 'controversy' idea too.
Thanks!
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