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A Small, Inspiring Bushy-Tailed Visitor as a Distraction From Cancer
Mark is a retired freelance artist and illustrator who has created hundreds of works of art for books, magazines, greeting cards, websites and countless other publications over a long career. After retiring, he hoped to just live a simple life, maybe do volunteer work with his wife at some National Parks and continue to paint, sculpt, and do other creative works – but this time just for art’s sake. However, his wife received a BRCA2-associated cancer diagnosis that shattered that dream. Mark became his late wife’s caregiver as she struggled with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer and all the horrible side effects that come with treatment. In turn, he became a hereditary cancer awareness and prevention advocate. And since his daughter also carries the same germline BRCA2 mutation, he said that his advocacy means even more.
When my wife was going through cancer treatments, she sometimes would color my artwork as a distraction. Here’s an activity I made for other survivors, now that it’s the year of the rabbit.
Since art can be such good therapy for those struggling with a cancer diagnosis, I’m going to be creating a number of coloring pages for the readers and contributors here at CURE®. I know my late wife found coloring the pages I often created for her to be a welcome distraction when she was undergoing treatment for BRCA2-associated breast cancer.
Again, I’m not an art therapist. I’m just a career freelance illustrator sharing my creative gifts to help others struggling with this dreadful disease.
READ MORE: How to Use Drawing as a ‘Creative Break’ From Cancer
My first activity features a rabbit because, well, according to the Chinese calendar, 2023 is the year of the rabbit. And because there was a rabbit that used to hang out in our backyard that became a sort of mascot for my wife as she struggled with her triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis and treatments.
Living close to a desert preserve here in Phoenix, the wild critters of the area often make their way into the backyard. While my wife was undergoing chemotherapy, one particular bushy-tailed animal visited the yard every day and rested in the safety and shade of the brittlebush. It was a cottontail rabbit with a rumpled ear that a hole in it. My wife named the bunny Scrappy.
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