light softens add wash

Calm Victorian cliff sunset with blank canvas displaying etched scarred lines on easel, integrated driftwood arrangements, Bass Strait backdrop, representing CPTSD self-harm, permanent scars, emotional release, and healing care in trauma recovery.

CPTSD Self-Harm: Permanent Etches

This week the body becomes canvas: self-harm etches, permanent scars on skin. Inherited pain's release valve, interconnected with dysregulation and shame. A kinder touch heals.

Written by: Blank Canvas

Published on: 02/06/2026

About

I’m Elara Thorne, a 35-year-old artist tucked away on the Victorian coast, gathering driftwood and watching Bass Strait storms roll through. Behind the pseudonym and the paint lies the long shadow of a childhood shaped by a combat veteran father’s anger, silence and neglect. This blog is my canvas for Complex PTSD – raw, disguised stories of hypervigilance, alcohol’s haze, depression’s grey wash, and the slow, stubborn return of colour. No confessions, just strokes towards something new.

© 2026 Strokes on a Blank Canvas