I took a five-week meditative brush painting class offered to breast cancer survivors by a gentleman who was also a breast cancer survivor.

My dear plastic surgeon hosts a free bra art therapy workshop for breast cancer patients. I made this the first year I was diagnosed. It is in memory of my two dear younger cousins (sisters) who lost their battles with breast cancer in their thirties.

Bra Art Therapy

In the middle of 2015, at 45 years old, I was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. After 24 weeks of chemo, my scans were clean and I scheduled a reversal for my colostomy earlier this year. However, the surgery was aborted mid-operation when it was discovered that the cancer had spread. I am now at stage 4 and I have restarted chemo. My mother, a lifetime artist, lovingly encouraged me to take up watercolors as an expressive and creative outlet. She has been a wonderful guide and teacher for me during this time. One of the works she encouraged me to do was an abstract watercolor on yupo paper. I call it the Haunted Forest. It is a rendition of the haunted forest from &quot;The Wizard of Oz&quot; with the golden path of the yellow brick road a bit tarnished, but still leading to a way out of the horrors of the haunted forest. With many of us in similar situations, there is a lot of meaning embedded in that.

Meditative Brush Painting

By Virginia Briggs

February 9th, 2016

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