I have a personal question, does anyone paint while in a wheelchair?

I've been diagnosed with severe Osteoarthritis, unstable spine, and chronic pain. I haven't been on the forum lately, bc I haven't been able to make it downstairs and across the room to the computer. (My lovely husband bought me a new laptop, so I am now connected again) I am now on a walker. I just had another MRI to see if the most current symptoms are a slipped disk or the OA advancing. I am thinking towards the future, and trying to decide if I am going to be able to continue on with my business. So what I am wondering, if I choose to use a scooter to get around in the future, as I can not stand right now, does anyone else paint while in a chair or scooter? How does it work out? How do you lay out your kit, and do you do festivals? I would be the only one putting up my tent, so I have to consider that too. Not sure I could do tents. Thanks so much for the info, sorry to get so personal, just trying to explain why I want to know. If you want to answer, but not want anyone to know your business, would you PM me? Thanks! Tracy

Tracy, Just a thought. I a not physically challenged, but one of the agents I work with/for, always has it in the contract that the venue provides shade and a table, as well as 2 chairs (I usually use them to control my line, as I use a director's chair for painting.)

I seldom do festivals, but the 2 regular outdoor venues that I did pay per piece, we also dickered this in. It seems it would be reasonable to ask for, for that kind of venue & line control for events, to be sure the children are prepped w/hair pinned back, choices made, etc.

I'm not sure about the buisnesss side, but wanted you to know I am sending prayers your way. I had major back surgery at 20 and know how awful that pain can be. EFT and reiki (very alternative healing ideas) helped ease the pain a small amount before the surgery. Again sending prayers and hoping healing comes soon.
Lacey

It would limit the gigs you could take.

Accessibility is a huge problem. My mom is in a wheelchair and she comes with me to gigs as my brush washer but can only come when the venue is 1) wheelchair accessible and 2) we have access to handicapped washrooms (and even if they say they are about half of them ARE NOT! That's a whole other rant there.... I'll spare you all.)

Carrying kit and equipment becomes something that you really have to breakdown into smaller components to transport if you are doing it yourself.

When taking bookings you would have to trust that the person making the booking KNOWS that the venue is accessible or you would have to check them out in advance yourself before taking the booking.

Outdoor bookings could also be a problem - rough ground, mud, curbs, tree roots, loose gravel, slopes...

For festivals you would have to bring your own shelter/furniture if you were a vendor generally if outdoors. There may be some that provide it, but mostly not.

Private home (birthday parties) I would think would be ruled out - stairs will always be present in various configurations.

What we have discovered over the last two years with mom in the chair is that even if they say handicapped accessible it doesn't mean it is. As a matter of fact, often the so-called handicapped facilities are worse than trying to use the "normal" facilities. There are many places in our town where we cannot get mom's chair INTO the washroom as the door configuration doesn't allow you to turn the wheelchair into the room. Others, the stalls are too small to get the chair up beside the toilet (mom's chair is very small), or, the doors swing in and when you back the chair in you cannot close the door or get on the toilet as the door is in the way. Some stalls also have the baby change tables in them which take up space and are often broken and smack me in the back as I am assisting mom.

Curbs and door sills are hard to getover - high, bumpy, wheels get caught.

Overall the world is not designed for wheelchairs.

Oops sorry, went off on a rant and I said I would spare you.

((hugs)) I don't know if I have any suggestions, but I would have to agree that you will be EXTREMELY limited in where you can work. I could see you managing to keep it as a hobby if you could find one or two regular places that you know you can go and paint, but maintaining the volume that you'd need for it to really be a business would be a challenge to say the least.

I'm so sorry. Could you perhaps train an assistant to help out?

I have to sit to paint and often times I never get up in the course of the day if I'm extremely busy. As long as you're comfortable and able to manage painting from your wheelchair, I don't see a problem painting that way.

Are there any advocates for persons with physical disabilities in your area?

I recently face painted alongside a handicapped woman, who was in a wheelchair, at an event in November promoting handicapped awareness at a local mall. I volunteered my time/products and ended up donating some "almost empties" for her to keep. She stayed in her wheelchair and the children either sat beside her or stood by her. She used a small lap tray.

Tracy you know if my Daughter and I can help in any way just holler. I'm lucky enough to have Marissa so I don't have to carry the stuff too heavy for me and help with the tent. Also if you ask some festival have extra hands that can help set up and tear down tents.

Tracy - sending good thoughts and hopes your way...

I can't speak to the accessibility of buildings or washrooms as I've not been confined to a chair (without being able to get out of it with the use of a cane/person), but when working I never stand up, and I can't balance to setup anything while standing so everything has to be done with one hand (using my cane in the other) or done from sitting....

If you can team up with someone else (to provide a tent) or have an assistant, it would cover that part. I find I need to have someone else drive me to an event anyways (as I can't do it all and have enough energy to get myself home safe).

Working from a chair (without reaching) I find I need a lower table that is narrower - I can reach up slightly for some things, but if I want to see everything clearly it is better to be under 20" high. I use shelves - I can store things out of the way underneath, have a shelf at a good level for me, and have a third shelf that is higher (for mirrors and other things that are easily grabbed when needed but not paint etc). If you find twisting is an issue for you (it is for my mom), having things in trays/palettes that you can grab off of your table and balance on the arm of your chair or front of your scooter will let you avoid twisting.

I also use a lower bin to carry everything (that I put on the other side of me from my shelves - it has a tray in the top that I can pull out full of things to use as a second surface) - I can move that when walking with a cane, and I have used it with a scooter and a walker.... not a wheelchair though so I don't know how it would work for that. I use an umbrella not a tent when I have to be able to setup myself (like when I'm being dropped off and picked up or am less than a 10 minute drive away so i can do it), and I can do that myself with my setup.

I put pictures at http://www.facepaintforum.com/t7019-my-kit-storage-setup-display