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Video of the Joan Kelley Walker Collection Fashion Show during the 9th Edition of the International Fashion Encounter.

Presented by: @hpcanada
In Association with: @torontofashionacademy

SPONSORS:
Official After Party: @everleighto
Official IFE Venue: @torontoeventcentre
Official Hair Partner: @delmonaco.hair POWERED BY L’Oreal Professional

Official Makeup Partner: @passionbeautyca
Head Video Production : @georgiaesporlasEditor:
@miccofarahanschiVideographers:
@miccofarahanchi
@mikejeffwong
@alejandro_c.campomanes
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@waleedabuzaid
@flow_productionsCorporate Partners

@infusemedspa
@prettywomancosmetics
@idxmusicBringing International & Local Designers to your door IFE
www.internationalfashionencounter.com

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How would you describe your style of art?

My style is abstract resin with various mediums, but it is so much more than that.  It is an expression of emotion, who I am and what I am feeling in the moment.

You have inspired many through your journey.  Tell me about Trigeminal Neuralgia and how it has affected your life since diagnosis? 

Trigeminal Neuralgia is a chronic facial pain that affects the trigeminal nerve, which carries sensation from your face to your brain.  There currently is no cure and many suffer in silence.  I have had TN since 2002.  It took over my life during that time.  I began secluding myself because the pain exhausted me.  I was barely able to make it through the day.  It was a daily struggle.  I lost friends and my career suffered.  Since it is not a visual ailment, it was difficult to explain to those around me what I was feeling and the extreme pain I was constantly in. Slowly, I had to search and adjust to who I was from that moment forward.  I had to reinvent myself and my future.

Trigeminal Neuralgia has changed my life in that it has showed me how much strength, determination and courage I have.  It has challenged me in many ways and brought me to the creation of my art and where I am today, which is a place where I hope to inspire others and create awareness.

What are some of the holistic alternative treatments that have helped? 

First and foremost, medical marijuana has helped me tremendously in managing my pain.  I fought for two years to obtain my license many years ago.  I also have a regiment that I try to follow that assists me.  I believe self-care is of utmost importance for pain management. Some alternative treatments that I use are as follows, but always consult your doctor first: Essential oils, massage, herbal supplements (such as B12, adrenal gland support and myelin sheath support), following an anti-inflammatory diet, meditation/yoga, using a warm compress and also an infrared sauna.

How do you create awareness about Trigeminal Neuralgia?

Most importantly, I am trying to create awareness through my art and social media.  I am constantly thinking of ways to create awareness and, most recently, a piece of my art was chosen to be featured at the Circ Hotel in Florida.  Through their social media and my story, I was able to reach a further audience in the U.S.  I am currently working with The Canadian Trigeminal Neuralgia Association, Trigeminal Neuralgia Support Group Florida and The Facial Pain Research Foundation.

I am also currently working on donating a piece of my work for auction and the full proceeds will go to Trigeminal Neuralgia research.  Please stay tuned on my website for further upcoming information on that project.

If someone wanted to help how can they? 

www.catna2.ca
https://facingfacialpain.org/index.php
www.tnnme.com/research-4-our-cure.html

How has art helped you “heal”?

Art has saved me.  It has given me positive focus and takes me to another place where I can create and not focus on my pain.

What is your advice to anyone who has been diagnosed with a chronic illness? 

My advice is to find something that you can immerse yourself in that you love and that fills you with positivity, where you can get lost in the process and give your mind and body a rest. Support groups, as well as the support of family and friends is vitally important.

What inspires you when you create your art? 

Pain inspires me to create. Not just my own pain, but also the pain of others.  I would read blogs and social media groups where people with TN would be at their wits end, some ending their life.   I would also read of TN tragically affecting children, where all they should be worrying about is playing with toys and having fun with their friends.   I knew if I could give a glimmer of hope to even a handful of people through creating awareness, I had to accomplish that with the help of my amazing daughter, who completes my sentences when I cannot.

What does art mean to you? 

Art is my therapy.  It makes me feel alive and takes me away for that moment in time and I feel like myself without pain.

Upcoming:

I will be participating in the Arts Society King Studio Tour on April 27 and 28, 2019.  In addition to my art being on display, I will have a piece of my art up for auction (in person and online).  All proceeds from the auction will go to Trigeminal Neuralgia research. For more information, please go to: http://www.artssocietyking.ca/2019-studio-tour-king-artists.html

Shows:

Melina Lisi’s art is currently being displayed in the Circ Hotel in Hollywood, Florida.

Contact Details:

Website: resinartbymelina.com

Instagram: @resin_art_by_melina

Facebook: Resin Art by Melina

Email: resinartbymelina@rogers.com

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Time is limited and no matter how you look at it there are only 24 hours in a day.  That applies to every single one of us here on earth. That is why time management is SO IMPORTANT.

Introducing the LG TWINWash®machine where you can wash two loads at the same time.   The LG TWINWash featuring the LG SideKick(or the ingenious pedestal washer) allows you to get it ALL done at once.

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Gone are the days of beating clothes over rocks and scrubbing fabrics over washboards.  Although I never did do this I know my great grandmother did on the farm. There must have been something so special about gathering with women for the sole purpose of washing your clothes.  A community experience and an inclusive feeling.   Nowadays, most people do their laundry at home alone and in a hurry!  I guess you could say that we ingeniously had the best of both worlds recently at an LG Canada Ultimate Laundry Room event.

Photo credit @visualbass

Photo credit @visualbass

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Dear Dad,

I’m writing You this note long overdue.
It is from My heart to Yours, should You care to share it with Your fellow Vets in Heaven, well I’d be proud. Should it be just Ours, I will be equally so.
Dad, we are doing our best to take care of Mom and Your Sister, Our Aunt Helen, as I know You would…as You always did.
It never feels like it’s quite enough, and I hope You’ll reach down and help us through the tough times ahead.
It is with great Pride when I speak of You to Friends.
It is with great fondness and Love when Mom and I share stories of You.
I feel closer to You in some ways with You looking down upon us, as Your kindness and silent support never made any of Your sons feel You ever looked down on us …when we could see Your eyes.
I love You My Father, always my Friend.
As I become older, the knowledge of all Your sacrifices sets in.
Your service in flying in Lancaster’s fighting for our Country’s freedom in the RCAF.
World War 2
To 17 Amulet st…
A door always opens to those in need.
Cold showers before work as we and all our friends had used up all the hot water.
A trench coat and a Fedora that I recognized in every hospital hallway, and on the sideline for every single game.
I’m not sure where I should be on this Remembrance Day, but I know with Your guidance, and the example You set for us all, I will get there.
Watching with Mom many wonderful shows depicting what You and Your Friends went through in order to secure the world Your sons were to grow up in, … Is both surreal and inspiring.
Your gentle spirit, and peace-loving nature,
must have stood in sharp contrast to the madness You all were facing together
in the madness of war.
You all were noble.
You having run off in a spare class at school to enlist
Against Your Dads wishes.
Him wanting to protect His only Son.
You and Your Mates rose up to fight against what would have been a very different World.
You I guess, were doing the very thing Your Father was …protecting Your sons, as yet unborn….your friend’s daughters, all of your wives…. Yours yet to come.
Fighting for your Parents, and for the parents all the sons and daughters alive today, may one day become.
You said often as You watched the world change, that what we, the Youth of this great nation needed was a good war to put things into perspective.
As I watch some of the fabric of society fray, I can understand what You felt.
What You all fought for is in some jeopardy.
I do now know what You really meant.
What was missing in the generations that followed You…was the bonding experience that brought all of You together side by side …. Differences set aside… To fight a great fight against an uncommon and ruthless foe.
I know You didn’t want to see another war,
You wanted to see comradery.
All for one, and one for all.
You and the men You fought alongside brought us that notion, and that notion saved nations.
Nations full of sons and daughters, parents and grandparents.
Our fight now Dad, is a different one. There is no conscription and with the many wars being fought all over the world, it’s hard to identify who the enemy is we have in common.Like You I fashion myself a thinker.

My thoughts lead me back to your generation and although freedom in Canada doesn’t seem to be threatened presently,
However, the nobility and looking after the core values that makes this nation great…is
Comradery is,
Collective good and the power that collective good has, needs a boost.
I am lucky to have like-minded friends.
We are looking to help, to give and to care.
I am Your Son Dad, You and all you’ve done for our family registrars more and more each day.
As a Veteran, what you great men did was help to change the course of the world.
You bound together and lost great friends in that horrible time.
You stayed bound together.
Our job, I hope You agree
Is to see smaller battles, ones that aren’t fought with guns and planes, ones that we only need integrity to win,
compassion to win,
and true caring for our fellow peoples….to again, Win.
Small wars are hard to fight they say,
It is only with the acknowledgement and respect for your sacrifice, which took lives, yet yielded my generation and the generations to come…
I know Your wish is for never another war.
Yet as man is man and if war must continue,
Might we fight with the same spirit, using softer tools,
in smaller theaters…
our voices, our reason…
to bring into being the world you all fought for.
All of our veterans fought for.
A world of …
and at ….
Peace.
Thank You
Harry James Michael Furlong
We will never stop loving You
We will never forget You

Your Son,
John

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