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ckp — Reworked carers

Published: 2017-08-23 16:08:32 +0000 UTC; Views: 369; Favourites: 23; Downloads: 1
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Description oil on canvas 800mmX1000mm

In continuation of my series - The Marginalised - whether in the developing or the developed world.
I have been wanting to do a painting on this theme for a few years now, since I began the series.

This is about the lives lost of carers who care for the ill in the family. By a very rough and under-estimate, in Britain alone, there are some 175,000 children [18-minus] who care for their either parent. Like Gemma Gingell, 13, who goes home from school to shower and feed her father who is nearly blind, has multiple sclerosis and housebound. She and her mother have been caring for him non-stop for ten years.When her dad is in the hospital, she has to miss school and is called a skiver, taunted...

Besides, that it may not be right for a 13 year old to shower her father as it affects child-parent relationship, her whole life is distorted.

There are many such instances.

And, it can only be imagined what the state of affairs is in the Third World where there is no Government Health support, no special care expertise, no council flats and no compulsory education...

For example, the front girl in the painting shows Evangeline Uwanyiligira, 14, keeping vigil by the side of her mother Judith, suffering from AIDS in Rwanda. Evangeline already has her younger brothers and sisters to look after.

There is no reliable statistics available for carers as such, including adults, though I personally know of a few who have forgone marriages/having children to care for bed-ridden relatives for the whole of their lives.

The number can be guessed world-wide - in the US alone there are more than 50 million people who are care-givers.

Other paintings in the series include - 

the drop-outs - 
[link]

foundations -
[link]

dementia
[link]

the mentally ill
[link]

the non-literates
[link]

street children
[link]

refugees
[link]

prison
[link]

hospital
[link]

AIDS
[link]

poverty - no sub-text
[link]

I look forward to your feedback, on this as well as the earlier ones. Thanks
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Comments: 10

aerendial [2017-09-09 22:27:23 +0000 UTC]

bravo for words and everything. art is spreading messages and yours are definitely pure works of inspiring.

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ckp In reply to aerendial [2017-09-10 09:58:23 +0000 UTC]

thanks for the high compliments!

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darkmotherpoetry [2017-09-05 04:48:14 +0000 UTC]

Woah! Excellent series is correct! I'm a professional caregiver, and yet I've never stopped to think about those where their caregiving never stops. I have been in situations where I have cared for family members all hours of the day, but never lasted more than a few months. I can't imagine keeping that up for years. That really shows dedication and love. I wish there was a solution to the problem. There is a part of me that thinks that people should care for their family members at home. I think health care should happen more at home rather than in a hospital or facility. It is better for the patient that way. 

 The use of color is really extraordinary in this painting. It is the first thing that stands out to me. To me it seems the colors around the ill woman are really contrasting in order to show how near death she is. I also notice the girl on the L looking at a child enjoying herself. It seems like a distant dream to her. I then notice the TV or is it painting on the wall? Again it shows a child caregiving for a parent. This painting seems to convey the distorted world child caregivers live in. 

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ckp In reply to darkmotherpoetry [2017-09-05 10:56:04 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for a detailed comment, Emily. That is what makes my effort worth it.

Glad you like the colours. Like I was telling you the other day, I use same colours to emphasise similarity.

All the three caregivers have the same yellow-pink combination.

The inset on the wall is not TV/painting. It is just another window to show another care-giver mentioned in the Note below the painting - one Gemma Gingell from Britain.In fact her plight and the Rwandan girl's plight - also mentioned in the Note gave me an idea for this piece. 

You quite correctly interpret girl on the left - her lost childhood - being outdoors and on a swing at that age.

It is really a sad situation for a number of children. You get the point of the painting - a forced distorted life. I too wish there were a solution to the problem. Sadly with community break up there is no institution for such service.

Great that you have full-time personal experience even if for a while. I never have had.

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darkmotherpoetry In reply to ckp [2017-09-06 05:57:46 +0000 UTC]

Oh I never thought about that! You are so tricky with your hidden messages with pink shirts. 

I think the best solution would be to do all healthcare in home. Get rid of hospitals except for certain procedures. But even after those certain procedures people should be sent home with all necessary equipment. Send the nurses to homes and same with doctors and CNAs. ALl should be done at home. 

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crazygardener [2017-08-24 05:20:47 +0000 UTC]

WOW!!! Excellent series!!!! 

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ckp In reply to crazygardener [2017-08-24 09:15:06 +0000 UTC]

thanks Dave

and thanks for tons of fav-s too!

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crazygardener In reply to ckp [2017-08-25 04:55:09 +0000 UTC]

you're so welcome my friend 

its my pleasure 

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ckp In reply to crazygardener [2017-08-25 06:39:17 +0000 UTC]

I am really grateful to you for the consistent support you offer,  Dave.

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crazygardener In reply to ckp [2017-08-25 12:48:31 +0000 UTC]

i'm really grateful to see your painting!! thank U very much for sharing! you're so welcome my friend 

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