Fine Arts and Design
Every person matters. Strong through diversity. Different? Unique!
Anja
Country: Germany
Founder of:
kreativstattmuskelprotz
Website: Vandyra Design
Disease: CMT Typ 1B
Website/Blog:
Gefühlschaos - Leben mit HMSN (Blog: german language)
Anja is a creative artist and designer (Vandyra-Design) from North Friesland who combines two central themes
on her websites: her passion for unique patterns and humorous illustrations, and her open approach to living with a rare disease.
With great attention to detail, she creates animal and nature motifs that fascinate with hidden subtleties and creative depth.
Her art reflects her joy in creating and her unique perspective on the world.
Alongside her creative work, Anja openly shares her personal experiences with the rare neuromuscular disorder CMT on her blog “Gefühlschaos – Leben mit HMSN.” She provides information about symptoms, treatment options, and daily life with this diagnosis.
Her aim is to encourage others affected by the condition, as well as their families.
Through her story and well-founded information, she hopes to foster understanding and offer support.
Sabine Pitschula Brauer
Country: Germany
Website/Blog: artofbini
Disease: Myasthenie Gravis
My work for myasthenia patients:
Podcast
App
My personal project:
intermittent fasting
Sabine, 58, was a lawyer specializing in child protection in her first professional life, and later became an occupational therapist and art therapist. She lives in Kiel and loves the Baltic Sea.
She was torn from an active life: the news that a tumor was located between her heart, lung, and numerous nerves and blood vessels came as a shock. Waking up from anesthesia partially paralyzed was a traumatic experience.
This was followed by an odyssey until the diagnosis of the muscle disease myasthenia gravis, and then another journey until she received helpful support and therapy.
Fortunately, art had been her secret love since childhood and—together with sports—the common thread that formed the basis of her resilience.
She is committed as an activist for patients’ rights, against medical gaslighting, and for self-management and empowerment of fellow patients.
A podcast, media projects, and the teaching of relaxation and valuable movement methods in an app for patients are all part of her work.
Complementary medicine and the free choice of patients are more important to her than repeating standard phrases.
Self-management is a resource she gladly shares with others, as it is the only way to bridge the gaps in the healthcare system and remain emotionally stable when society still excludes and inclusion is still in its infancy.
Encouraging art and heartfelt books can be found on her homepage.
Carmen Olivar
Country: Germany
Website/Blog: cita__art
Joint project with her grandson
Disease: CMT 1A
Carmen Olivar, known as cita__art, received her diagnosis of HMSN1a in 1988 – a turning point in her life. She has been an early retiree since 1990. By profession, she is a watchmaker. The artist has been painting since 2009; her occupational therapist was the initiator. At first, Carmen was reluctant, but soon found joy in creativity. She never focused on perspectives or backgrounds. Carmen taught herself everything, experimented, and gradually discovered how colors interact and blend.
One topic is especially close to her heart: she loves to paint using the six colors of the rainbow flag to speak out loudly against homophobia. She is also committed to the rights of people with disabilities, offering them free advice and support.
Her grandson Mikael has also been an enthusiastic artist since the age of three, and grandmother and grandson have already held several joint exhibitions.
Since 1994, Carmen has also been an author, writing profound poems about all aspects of life – even nonsense.
Josephine
Country: Germany
Disease: CMT 1A
Phine is passionately creative and active in many areas with all her heart.
She has been living with the diagnosis of HMSN since 2015. The first symptoms appeared during her training in the hotel industry – her legs were numb, she was in pain, and something just didn’t feel right. During the COVID-19 pandemic, her health worsened further – due to lack of movement, being confined at home, and the additional burden of migraines, PCOS, and a pronounced anxiety disorder.
In this difficult time, Phine sought an outlet – and found it in creativity. Since then, she has expressed herself artistically: painting with acrylics, illustrating digitally on the iPad, crafting polymer clay earrings, and designing feminist stickers with clear messages.
For Phine, creativity is more than just a hobby – it gives her peace, expression, and connection. Due to her condition, she is often limited, exhausted, or quickly overwhelmed in everyday life, but art gives her space to unfold, calm herself, and use her energy meaningfully.
Her works are created intuitively and emotionally – sometimes simply in the moment, sometimes with the desire to make a difference. 
Topics especially close to her heart include self-determination, feminism, mental health, and raising awareness about conditions such as migraines, PCOS, and HMSN.
Her work can be found on Instagram.
Phine looks forward to connecting with the community!
Werner Mittelbach
Country: Germany
Website: mundstatthand
Disease: FKRP-related limb-girdle muscular dystrophy R9 (LGMD R9)
Werner Mittelbach is a trained carpenter and uses a power wheelchair. Since 2018, he has been painting with his mouth and receives a scholarship from the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists, Liechtenstein (VDMFK). Since 2024, he has been working not only on canvas and paper, but also creating works in enamel on copper—both representational and abstract.
His muscle disease is called FKRP-related limb-girdle muscular dystrophy with cardiac involvement
Andrea Sahlmen
Country: Germany
Disease: Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD R9)
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Andrea has discovered her creativity and has been experimenting in various fields ever since.
At first, she knitted scarves, hats, baby socks, and baby blankets using knitting looms. After suffering from a severe bout of pneumonia in early 2025, which left her very weak, she discovered her love for Raysin and crafting with a plotter. Together with her dedicated assistant team, who support her enthusiastically, she creates floral spheres, city silhouettes, candle holders, decorative bowls, beach chairs, and llamas/alpacas (her secret passion). In addition, she uses her plotter to create beautiful lamps, shirts, and hoodies featuring a wide range of designs.
Since 2012, Andrea has worked as an editor for the Neue Westfälische newspaper, where she also writes about her life as a person with a disability.
As a huge soccer fan of SC Paderborn, she published her first book in 2014 (111 Reasons to Love SC Paderborn).
In 2022, her second book followed: SC Paderborn — Common Myths and Other Truths, co-authored with her friend.
She showcases many more beautifully crafted items on her Instagram account.
Herbert Heger
Country: Germany
Disease: CMT 1A
Herbert has lived with a walking impairment since childhood, which was diagnosed as HMSN 1a in the 1980s. Professionally, he initially worked as an industrial clerk and later as a master dental technician—a career he pursued with great enthusiasm until 2011. Due to a decline in his manual dexterity, he then transitioned to an administrative position in a clinic, where he worked until his retirement. Even in his youth, Herbert started building model ships out of wood, a hobby he revived after his time as a dental technician—partly because working with his hands helps train movement and coordination, which can counteract further loss of these skills.
Over time, Herbert devoted himself to more and more different woodworking projects, many of which can be seen on his Facebook page.
Jana O.
Country: Germany
Disease: CMT (type unknown)
This is Jana, 35 years old. She comes from an island in North Frisia and gets around a lot in her power wheelchair.
Art has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember, and it is a passion that she unfortunately doesn’t get to pursue as much as she would like. Even as a little girl, her artwork stood out, and her mother was always very creative as well.
Besides her part-time job, household, and family life, there is not much time left. However, Jana spends her free time on her passion—working on her own art and attending classes at the adult education center.
Fortunately, her neuropathy does not prevent her from being artistically active. Most of her inspiration comes from the beauty of nature and living beings. Being creative brings her soul and her well-being into harmony.
You can find more of Jana’s acrylic paintings on her Instagram account.