Between the Avalanche and the Ashes: A memoir of art, bipolar disorder, and the fragile act of staying alive (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781036969318)

A memoir of art, bipolar disorder, and the fragile act of staying alive

Between the Avalanche and the Ashes is a raw, lyrical memoir that traces life lived between extremes - creative fire and emotional collapse, intoxication and exhaustion, visibility and disappearance.

Written by an artist living with bipolar disorder, the book unfolds through chapters of lived experience: hypomania's seductive acceleration, the crash into grey, the slow recalibration of medication, identity, and purpose. Art runs through every stage - not as decoration, but as survival. From exhibitions and collaborative projects to colouring books, zines, fashion, music, and film, creativity becomes both refuge and risk.

This is not a linear recovery story. It is a record of cycles: rising, burning, falling, pausing. Of learning what it means to create without self-destruction, to live without the fire while still seeking warmth.

Interwoven diary entries, reflections, and creative milestones reveal the private cost of public success, the blurred line between illness and inspiration, and the quiet courage of continuing when momentum disappears. Along the way, the book honours collaboration, friendship, and moments of unexpected tenderness that arrive even in the darkest seasons.

Between the Avalanche and the Ashes will resonate with readers who:

• live with bipolar disorder or other mood conditions

• work in creative fields and question the myth of the "mad artist"

• seek an honest, unsentimental account of mental health

• believe art can be medicine - but not without consequences

This is a book about staying - in the body, in the world, in the work - long enough for something gentler to grow.