•Claire•
This project is a tribute to "Claire Wineland", also lovingly called “Eternal Goofball” and “Sparkly Firecracker”.
Claire was an inspirational figure, Activist, Motivational Speaker among so many other things. She was born with Cystic Fibrosis (CF), a rare, chronic and life-limiting genetic disease.
Claire passed away in 2018, a week after her lung transplant, suffering complications.
Her Legacy lives on through "Claire's Place Foundation", a charity she founded when she was thirteen to provide support to individuals, children and families affected by cystic fibrosis (CF).
I've tried my best to bring out her personality into the illustration. When I think about Claire, I don't think about her death. I think about her life and her 'larger than life' perspective. Her death isn't meant to be grieved, rather it's her life that is meant to be celebrated. I've tried to portray these emotions through vibrant colours, the radiating glow around her and of course, her beautiful smile. I hope I did justice to it.
"When I was a kid, I'd always get asked who my role models are. But there was no one that looked like me. There was no one that was sick who was a role model to me, who was doing something, who was bigger than just their illness."
~Claire
She refused to give in to the narrative that all that sick people can amount to is to be some charity spoke-person, or worse, other people's pity case.
The Process from the initial sketch to the final illustration
"When we teach people who are sick that because they are sick, they don't have anything to give to the world, they don't have anything to create, when we pity people who are sick, we take away their power"
~Claire
Initial Sketch with some quotes by Claire
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Claire was dying her whole life.
Her life was short.
But she lived it more than most people do in a lifetime.
Everyday could be your last day.
You don't have to find out you're dying to start living.
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Thank you
