Justine Martin considers herself to be a turtle \u2013 always moving forwards, rarely looking back.<\/p>\n
The Marshall-based artist, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in March 2011, has come up against a number of health challenges.<\/p>\n
She has had three primary cancers at once, a journey which has cultivated her optimistic outlook on life.<\/p>\n
The 48-year-old mother of two has also had three major heart surgeries, pericarditis and lives with livedo reticularis (a condition which causes the skin to go purple) and lipedema.<\/p>\n
But Justine is adamant she\u2019s not an \u201cinspiration\u201d, as many people tend to label her.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s an ordinary human being \u2013 much like the rest of us \u2013 who has risen from an insurmountable run of bad luck to become the best possible version of herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went from a high-paid, good job, career woman to being stuck at home in four walls; my whole world had crashed in the blink of an eye\u2026 it\u2019s done that a few times to me now in the last eight years,\u201d she said of her MS diagnosis.<\/p>\n
\u201cLife was really, really tough. I\u2019d lost control of everything overnight. And when it\u2019s all gone, everything set in \u2013 anxiety, panic attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until Justine\u2019s neurologist suggested she take up a hobby that she discovered painting.<\/p>\n
She says she took to the craft like a duck to water.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithin five months of starting painting, I sold my first piece for $300 at the Drysdale Rotary Art Show. I thought \u2018there\u2019s some money to be made in this stuff\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fast-forward eight years and Justine is an award-winning artist with an impressive display of recognitions, each of which can be seen inside her home studio.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also here that she runs art classes for people with disabilities, a method of meditation she\u2019s glad to share.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019d said to me nine years ago when I was diagnosed that I\u2019d be an award-winning artist teaching people with disabilities, I would\u2019ve laughed at you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been very fortunate with my art journey and what it\u2019s given me and what I can give back to other people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justine has been an ambassador for MS for more than five years and volunteers regularly in the art community as well as for Barwon Health.<\/p>\n
This year she won the Barwon Health Volunteer of the Year Award for consumer representatives and the Women in Community Life Living with a Disability Award.<\/p>\n
She is now working towards becoming a public speaker on resilience in-between writing a memoir.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I can help other people, it gives me some normality, I suppose, and some sense.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to say I\u2019m fortunate that I got MS because that\u2019s not the right word, but I would never have picked up a paintbrush until I retired.\u201d<\/p>\n
She lives every day as if it\u2019s her last, whether that\u2019s achieved by wearing her \u201cgood perfume\u201d or using the expensive dinner set when guests come to eat.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of us know how long we\u2019ve got on the planet, and I try to put as much into my day as I can, to the detriment of my health,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes more energy to be grumpy with the world and negative than it does to smile and be happy. I\u2019m selfish, I want to walk the planet for a lot longer yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justine operates a gallery out of Caf\u00e9 Zoo in Drysdale. A selection of her artworks will be exhibited at Surf Coast Art Space in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n