Sparkles on my Brain: Georgina’s story

When Georgina Haig, recipient of the prestigious Barry Allen Art Award at this year’s MS Plus Virtual Art Show, sat down to create her winning work there was one word in her mind: sparkles.

“When I drew the piece, I was in hospital and not having a good time. I was struggling with the fact people don’t see what it’s like to have MS. I'm fortunate that following my relapses, I get a lot of my function back, but it is hard to continuously tell people ‘I might look OK, but I’m not OK’,” she says.

“I was getting really frustrated at things I couldn’t do, and blaming the lesions on my brain and my mum said ‘why don’t we call them sparkles?’. So, it’s become a common thing we say and a better way to deal with it, when people say ‘sometimes you can’t walk because you have sparkles in your brain’.”

Georgina was thrilled when her drawing Sparkles on my Brain – graphite on Bristol paper with silver leaf – took out the top prize at the awards.

“I missed the awards ceremony because I was getting my eyes checked out for MS-related stuff, so I had no idea I’d won it until I opened Instagram that night and saw my own artwork and the news that I’d won!

“I was shocked and grateful that I’d won because there were so many amazing artworks this year. I was only diagnosed with MS 12 months ago, so after everything that’s happened, it was pretty amazing that something good happened after a lot of sad stuff.”

The experience has also rekindled Georgina’s love for art.

“I did a lot of art coming out of high school but I also wanted to be a nurse, so I studied nursing and art went on the back burner. Then, when I got diagnosed with MS, I had to take a break from doing nursing and my mental health plummeted a lot.

“When I lost my ability to draw during one of my relapses, it was a big wake-up call. This was the first artwork I’d done in a couple of years which makes even more important to me, and I think that because of this I will look at doing more stuff in the art world and maybe studying art.”

Having navigated MS for the past year with incredible support from her family and friends – “it’s amazing to have a whole group of people who will come and sit with you no matter how long when you call them while you’re in hospital” – Georgia has also benefited from one of MS Plus’ peer support groups in Canberra.

“Before I was diagnosed, even doing a nursing degree, all of my knowledge about MS was very unwell people. Going to peer support groups has been a chance to meet people who aren’t well, but are still able to go out and do stuff. 

“Without supports like that, and my mum and dad, I don't think that I would have recovered as well as I've had.”