Tranches de vie C'est le lundi 9 septembre 1985 que j'ai volontairement commencé à utiliser la partie droite de mon cerveau. Je souffrais de migraines du côté droit uniquement, et je décidai de défier ce côté de ma tête en dessinant de la main gauche. Cela devint une activité quotidienne comme se nourrir, se brosser les dents ou dormir... Chaque jour un dessin. Ce fut la prescription artistique que je me suis imposée afin de me libérer d'une souffrance. Je possède à ce jour plus de 100 carnets de croquis, soit plus de 5 000 dessins. Comme une sorte de journal intime artistique... Dessiner rompt avec la routine quotidienne, c'est une source de réflexion et de méditation. Je suis toujours surprise de constater avec quelle force ces dessins me restituent chaque moment. Mon crayon ou mon pinceau fixe les instants. Je poursuis ce voyage chaque jour. J'ai ainsi une vaste collection d'objets, d'événements, d'amis parfois disparus et de tendres souvenirs. Je ne les signe jamais, ma main gauche en est le véritable auteur. Fragments of time It was on Monday September 9, 1985 that I first started, "consciously" using the right side of my brain. Having suffered from migraines, only in the right lobe, I decided to put that side of my brain to work by drawing with my left hand! Ever since then I've put this simple idea into practice. A drawing a day with my left hand became a self imposed necessity as are eating, the brushing of teeth and sleeping.... it was a prescription for a pain free life! I have over 100 sketchbooks of various sizes... which means I must have close to 5,000 drawings. They are not all great by any means. After all, the objective was not to produce a work of art but to take this "daily pill" against migraines. My left hand drawings have become an artistic diary of sorts. My drawings, for the most part, are simple but when I have the time they become more elaborate. When I draw it is a "time out" from my daily routine. It takes the form of meditation and inner reflection. It's amazing how vividly the event returns to mind when I open a particular page. It's as though my pen, brush or crayon became a recording device. From 1989 - 1998 I stopped drawing as I was otherwise engaged with my then newborn daughter Anna. However, in 1999 I started having violent migraines again. I decided to resume my auto treatment - my crayons, pencils and watercolors which are now always with me. My migraines have subsided but are not gone. To this day I continue this daily personal voyage through time. I have acquired a diverse visual library of past events, friends - some gone - and many tender memories. I never sign my name, after all, the left hand did it!