My name is Candy. I'm a 34 year old Neurodivergent (Autistic/ADHD/CPTSD) Artist. I am a mother of one Autistic/ADHD 8 year old boy. I have a partner who has the same mental health conditions as me, and we have both been on a trauma healing journey together for about 4 years. He's very supportive and really believes in me and my art. It's a stark contrast to my upbringing where I was told art is a hobby and not a career, with emotionally neglectful and abusive parents. I have been drawing since I was 14, on and off. I keep coming back, because something about art keeps drawing me back in.

Originally I started to draw to gain validation from others through my art, but I'm slowly turning it into a meditative healing process for myself. I am a compassionate person and I have helped many other people heal from their trauma. People have come and gone out of my life and I found it hard to let go. But now I embody stoic philosophy principles where "people are like library books, we only ever borrow them for a period of time and have to return them." My artistic inspirations are Lord Gris on instagram, Cosmic Spectrum, Loisvb, and an artist that does thick curvy women who I can not for the life of me find the name of anymore but they post bases on pinterest.

I struggle with my mental health, on top of the first few issues I mentioned I also struggle with anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder, as well as caretaking for my son, I home school him. I love him dearly but I find parenting with my issues quite challenging. Having been raised by someone with NPD I have really had to try and learn to love myself. I grew up being gaslit, blamed, criticised, emotionally, and sometimes physically abused. I have had to overcome my codependency and trauma issues to a point that I could be a better parent myself.

I do daily meditation practices, mindful cooking, mindful dishwashing by hand, and mindful cleaning. I try and teach these mindful practices to my son, and help him with his big feelings. I studied psychology for over 12 years, it started off because I wanted to know more about my mothers narcissism, and then I had to learn how to heal the impact of being around it, I learned about codependency, attachment styles, cptsd, my ADHD, Autism, and trauma healing.

I have lived probably the last 8 years in isolation as my best friend left when I had my child, and I look like a giant big walking red flag to emotionally healthy people, even though I am in the process of healing. Sometimes it gets incredibly lonely but I try and remind myself that it's okay to be alone, I try and reframe it as solitude.

If my story resonates with you, then feel free to reach out if you need someone to talk to. If you want to support my art journey you can donate via the 2 links on this page. Stay tuned for when I post purchasable prints on this website. I hope you have a lovely day and I wish you peace.