| |
Their chronic condition - seemingly related to serotonin levels in the brain - typically causes throbbing pain on one side of the head, plus nausea and sensitivity to light and sound.
Migraines afflict an estimated 13 percent of the U.S. population.
'It's like the feeling of having the worst hangover,' says Rutan, who has migraines several times each month. 'People don't understand. Employers think you're irresponsible. ... I was reprimanded several times on a job. I had doctors' excuses.'
But Rutan used her familiarity with headache pain as inspiration and won a $100 cash prize and honorable mention in the 2001 Migraine Masterpieces Art Contest, a juried show to mark National Headache Awareness Week, which ends Saturday.
Rutan appears semi-robed and clutching her temples in 'Out of My Head,' her winning entry.
More than 200 contestants - all diagnosed migraine sufferers - entered pieces ranging from quilts to collages in the Migraine Masterpieces contest, sponsored by the National Headache Foundation and Pfizer Inc.
The contest invited entrants to 'visually describe the lifestyle impact of frequent migraines and the related symptoms on sufferers, family, friends and/or co-workers.'
The 25 winning works - including 'Out of My Head' - can be seen through June 13 at the Hilligoss Gallery, Chicago, as well at the foundation's Web site.
Tiffany Slaybaugh, 24, of Knoxville, Tenn., won the $4,000 first prize with a computer-generated image.
Rutan's artistic partner, Cobia Czajkoski, also of the East End, snapped 'Out of My Head' in a cemetery. Rutan appears in the photo by a grave marker incorporating the statue of a woman also holding her head.
On her contest entry form, Rutan wrote that many people fail to comprehend 'the degree of anguish or how the disorder can blight a person's entire outlook on life, horribly reducing his or her expectations for success.'
Earlier this year, the 30-something Rutan and Czajkoski grabbed the public's attention with similarly edgy images in their provocative exhibit 'The Destruction of the Woman,' a show mounted at the El Dolce Cafe, Bloomfield.
| |
'Nearly half of all sufferers remain undiagnosed,' says Suzanne Simons, executive director of the National Headache Foundation. 'Migraines can be hereditary.'
People reportedly face a 50 percent to 75 percent chance of experiencing migraines if one or both of their parents experience migraines.
'The triggers are not consistent among individuals,' Simons says.
Likewise, different triggers can spark migraines in any one individual.
Migraine sufferers usually have these symptoms:
For more information on headache causes and treatments, contact the National Headache Foundation.
Details: (888) 643-5552 or www.headaches.org .
- Deborah Deasy
YA GOTTA LOVETT
Lyle Lovett will perform at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 10 at I.C. Light Amphitheatre in Station Square.
Lovett, the eccentric Texas singer and songwriter known for his country-tinged, unorthodox brand of Western swing and folk, is on the road and taking a break from his budding movie career.
His attempts at reviving Texas' traditional country sounds with his Large Band met with critical acclaim in the late 1980s and early '90s.
OK, if you don't know who he is, he's that tall guy with the out-of-control pompadour and unsettling smile who married and divorced Julia Roberts. Hopefully, that clears things up a bit.
Shawn Colvin opens the show. Tickets are $28 to $40 and go on sale at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Details: (412) 323-1919.
