Bernie Florindo was diagnosed with MS in 1995.  When she graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in architecture she didn’t realize that MS would soon compromise her ability to draw straight lines and draft floor plans. 

Even using AutoCAD didn’t help for long.  Frustrated in her career by her MS, Bernie has turned back to the art she has loved all her life.  Bernie explained, “With MS you can’t do straight lines and boxes.  So I had to let my creative side out.”

From the pastels and oils of her earlier years, Bernie has shifted to watercolors.  “They’re a lot less expensive,” she says with a grin, “and I also wanted to see what I could do with them”. Bernie says she has found watercolor a difficult medium to work with.  “You have to work fast,” she explains, “because it dries so quickly.”

In addition to her painting, Bernie is working on a book about her MS and how it has changed her life.  “As soon as I was diagnosed with MS I dropped everything,” she says.  “Now I’m moving forward again.”