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Continue reading →: Day 70/366 Happy 1st birthday to this blog!
A year ago, I set up https://athompsonartist.com I started this blog to share my story and art and reflect on the journey I am experiencing with PMDD. Over the last year, I have written 6 blog posts. I am very pleased with that. My writing is improving, and I am getting more confident. It’s, like anything, it’s all about practice! Reflecting on my past posts, I can see how much I’ve grown in my art practice, my understanding of PMDD, and my journey toward menopause. After all, with knowledge comes the power to choose how to live and experience life.I…
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Continue reading →: Tearing Tears and Other Stories – Day 2 of 366
My life as a queer, sober artist navigating the menopause journey with PMDD. It’s been a challenging time. I wanted to post sooner; unfortunately, my PMDD and menopause had other plans. After 187 days, just over six months, I started bleeding again, back to day 1! Scrap that, it’s 27/11/2024 and this morning, I am bleeding again! So, it is back to day 1 again. I am gutted it was only a short 45-day cycle, processing how I am feeling right now, and as I type, I cry; I have had enough, and there is nothing I can do; I…
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Continue reading →: Day 134/366 – Rollercoaster of emotions!
Firstly, this is a blog post of 2 halves, honesty and celebration. I had planned to post in July after the Interim Show; unfortunately, my mental health plummeted; it took me by surprise and knocked me off my axis. Secondly, this is the longest I have gone without a bleed, over a 1/3 of the way to post-menopausal freedom from PMDD! Thirdly, on the 1st of September 2024, I will be 5 years sober! This blows my mind! No matter how challenging the journey may be, if I had still been drinking, life right now would’ve been a shit show. …
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Continue reading →: Day 54/366 – “Reflections on My First Artist Residency”
“Exploring my Relationship with Drawing.” 7th, 8th, and 9th of May 2024. Edward Street Gallery, University of Brighton In my last blog post, I discussed being asked questions in a mentoring session about how I see my drawings. Do I see them as art in their own right? Do they deserve to be exhibited? I answered NO! This led me to think about how I could change this and why I had never considered taking my drawings from my sketchbook and putting them on the wall. It was time to re-evaluate my long-term relationship with my drawings. Being on…
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Continue reading →: Day 20/366 – Embracing the darkness and coming out the otherside!
For a few weeks, I had felt something wasn’t right; I had a feeling or many feelings. Then, After 111 days, I woke up, and I was bleeding. I cried and wailed; big tears rolled down my face. The past few weeks now made sense; what I experienced was PMDD! The very dark thoughts and being plagued by various scenarios made me question myself and my abilities. Despite my efforts to acknowledge these thoughts, recognise them for what they were, and let them go, they seem to be coming at me from all sides, leaving me very unsettled. It felt…
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Continue reading →: Day 97/366 – The Other Side of Fear is Freedom!
PMDD & Menopause, Uncharted Water. Today is the longest I have ever gone without a bleed, 97/366! I don’t have a regular cycle, my monthly living with PMDD, tracking so I could see when she, (an alter ego called PamD!) was coming. Now it’s very different, I wake up in the morning and open my eyes and only then will I know how I am feeling! It’s untraveled territory, scary at times, with new experiences, and very empowering too. This is one of those new experiences, a 6-week depression. (when my cycle was regular it would normally last just over 2…
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Continue reading →: Day 66/366 – Welcome to Menopause, PMDD & Me – An artist’s journey.
The title of the post refers to where I am in my cycle. Welcome to Menopause, PMDD & Me – An artist’s journey. I am amanda a 53-year-old artist living in Brighton. I am 4 1/2 yrs booze-free, have come out as queer, and have lived with PMDD since I was 14. (Diagnosed at 48.) I am currently in menopause. And 6 months into a life-changing Part-time MA in Fine Art at Brighton University. I live in Brighton very close to the sea, the beach is my sanctuary it feeds all the senses. I work from my Studio in the…
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Menopause, PMDD & Me - An artist’s journey 