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having fun at franklin horner rain or shine: Clockwise from left: Krys Angel does her rain dance prior to the opening of The Franklin Horner Community Centre's Fun Fair on Saturday; Jenna May and her mom Gillian play and win at Bingo; Zahra (left) and Maya are the picture of summer delight with their faces painted while Helena Ramos admires a small painted rocking chair in the crafts section. Despite the hard and fast falling rain on Saturday morning, dozens of residents came out to enjoy the entertainment, food and craft displays. Staff photos/IAN KELSO
Artist discovers healing power in painting Diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy doesn’t keep Eda Avedissian from partaking in her passion CYNTHIA REASON creason@insidetoronto.com Etobicoke artist Eda Avedissian may have trouble getting outside to witness the beauty of nature these days, but that hasn’t stopped her from surrounding herself with the flowers she takes such joy in – she just paints them. Dozens upon dozens of vibrant, beautifully painted depictions of every imaginable bloom dot the walls of the airy Scarlett Road apartment Avedissian shares with her sister. In the hallway hangs the 77-year-old, self-taught artist’s nearly perfect replica of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers; in the living room, several vases of Avedissian’s intricately fashioned tissue paper flow-
ers fool even the keenest of eyes; and in the dining room, her gallery showcases vivid, bloom-filled scenescapes of the south of France from an art trip Avedissian took there years ago. “As long as I can paint, I’m living. I love life so, even in this situation,” said Avedissian, who began suffering nerve damage 24 years ago and has experienced mobility issues ever since. “Nearly every day I get up and thank God I can still put my feet on the floor and my paintbrush on paper... without my art, my life would be very difficult.” Avedissian, an Armenian who immigrated from Iran to Canada with her husband and three children in 1976, was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy in 1988 and has
Staff photo/IAN KELSO
Artist Eda Avedissian sits with some of her artwork that decorates her apartment in Etobicoke.
since become dependent on walker and cane to get around – limiting her access to the world beyond her apart-
ment. Peripheral neuropathy – defined by the Canadian Neuropathy Association as
a problem with the functioning of the nerves outside the spinal cord – leads to symptoms including numbness, weakness, burning pain, and loss of reflexes. For Avedissian, the pain has become increasingly severe and disabling. “I remember the thing the doctor told me was to just pray that it will take a slow stage of that illness,” she recalled. “Years passed and it started to get more difficult to move and walk.” While she used to enjoy meandering outside to a nearby park to paint, Avedissian’s deteriorating condition has left her unable to venture out so often anymore. Still, art remains her therapeutic outlet.
“It makes me happy to just imagine tomorrow I will get up and, if the weather is nice, I will go out on balcony to paint,” she said, showing off her makeshift outdoor studio space on a roomy balcony overlooking a leafy, tree-lined Scarlett Road. “Art helps me cope. When I’m painting, I almost forget that I can’t do this and that. I more concentrate on the things that I can do. And I love to paint.” While Avedissian’s family and friends have benefitted from her many artful gifts, their talented resident artist has never properly exhibited her work in public – a dream she still holds dear. “I’ve never had the chance for people to see my work,” she said. “I always wanted that.”
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| ETOBICOKE GUARDIAN | Thursday, September 13, 2012
etg@insidetoronto.com