There are so many emotions that come with a cancer diagnosis and with cancer survivorship. Creating art out of this challenging experience can be both therapeutic for you and inspiring to others. If you have artwork that you've created, and that you're proud of, we invite you to share it with the CURE® community. Email a .jpg of your art to 

. You will be contacted if your art is chosen for publication.

Submit your artwork now through Nov. 15 for a chance to be featured in 

®’s 2021 calendar. Take a look at the 

 for inspiration! Email a high-resolution .jpg of your artwork to 

This year’s 12 artists will be selected by a committee of 

® staff members, based on the following criteria:

The artist must submit an image of any kind of original visual art, such as a painting, sketch or sculpture.

The artist must submit a title and a short description for their artwork that states its meaning to them, how it relates to the cancer experience and what medium(s) they used to create the work.

The artist can submit more than one artwork but will only win for one piece if selected.

The artwork must be submitted by, and attributed to, its creator(s).

Art Gallery Submission

I am undergoing chemotherapy for multiple myeloma. An important outlet for me is Zentangle(R), a meditative art form created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas which contributes to pain management and increased focus. It is based on combining structured patterns to create unique images which are non-representational and can be viewed from any angle, with no right or wrong. The Zentangle logo &quot;Anything is possible one stroke at a time(C)&quot; is a good guiding principle for anyone on the journey through treatment. This piece is drawn with a black Micron pen on a standard Zentangle 3-1/2&quot; heavy weight artist tile. I have been practicing Zentangle for several years and teach Zentangle for a local cancer support group.

Swing

April 2020 Oil on Canvas. I don&#39;t think I am alone in thinking, hoping, believing, that when I do the best I can, everything may turn out better than expected. However, now that CV-19 has infected our entire planet, my dream&#39;s are smaller. For now, I am simply grateful to be in my 5th year since diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma, &amp; receiving modern medicine that has worked well for me.

I Made a Home, and Found a Rainbow

In the 1976 book &ldquo;First, You Cry,&rdquo; 39-year-old NBC News correspondent Betty Rollin candidly described the &ldquo;swift kick life had just given in the form of breast cancer.&rdquo; Five years later, she reflected, &ldquo;Although cancer was the worst thing that ever happened to me, it was also the best&hellip; Today I feel that losing a breast saved my life, and wasn&rsquo;t I lucky. And when I think of all the other good things that have come from that loss, I just look at that flat place on my body and think: Small price.&rdquo; 
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As I reach the fifth anniversary of my own mastectomy, Betty Rollin inspires me to reflect on all the good things that have come from that loss. My daughter-in-law, Nicole Sundquist, captures my grateful heart in her painting of me, titled &ldquo;Small Price.&rdquo; The piece is oil on canvas. &mdash; Barbra Ely 
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Small Price

I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in March 2018 and had a bone marrow transplant in February 2019. During 2018 while I was receiving a chemotherapy treatment, the lady from the cancer support center who runs painting sessions was sharing painting supplies with those of us getting infusions. This is the style she taught me. I enjoyed making it, but didn&rsquo;t give much thought to keeping the painting. My wife kept it, framed it and hung it in our home. When I see the painting, it brings a smile to my face as I think of the woman from the support center bringing smiles to others during a stressful time. God bless her.

Chemo Flowers

I hadn&#39;t painted at all since my surgery in November -- I just didn&#39;t have the heart for it. After doing a couple of small paintings of my horses, I decided I wanted to have a visual memory of this point in my cancer journey. This portrait is one of determination, hope, and strength.

Facing Cancer With Hope

Arab horse

I made this piece after going through uterine cancer that metastasized to my lung. It is made of handmade clay tiles and found objects.

Rebirth

I did this oils on panel painting to remind myself to breathe. For me, it feels like with every hurdle that comes up, I have a little less physical and mental reserves to jump it. When not-great things happen without much time in between to turn the world back right side up, I&#39;m not sure exactly how to weather that. This cancer thing definitely isn&#39;t easy. But then I remember there&#39;s always yellow --&nbsp; and my heart has to smile.

A Yellow-Filled Sunny Day

Living with stage 4 cancer can be consuming. Seems like it&#39;s always something -- another test, another side effect, another obstacle, another pill -- so it can be easy to get swallowed up and lost. But today, I&#39;m reminding myself there&#39;s a world outside of that -- and even if all that mess comes with me, as long as I can still get out there, I will.

Red Hatted Blue Sky Girl

I painted this 16x20 framed watercolor because I love horses and used to ride when I was young. Now I enjoy painting them. I love their beauty, the flow of their mane and the expression in their eyes. I&#39;m hoping that I may be able to go for a ride when I get better, just one more ride.

Regal Horse

This is an acrylic painting I completed recently during a moment when I was feeling unsettled. I started doodling a bird, and then as I added to the painting, my little bird came to life, as did I during those moments of stepping out.

Stepping Out

This is an acrylic painting I just completed which was painted from a photograph I took shortly before my cancer diagnosis. I have discovered a love for painting; it provides moments of focus and calm, control and new feelings of accomplishment! This is spring emerging in the forest where life will begin anew.

Spring Emerges

A few months before my breast cancer diagnosis, I retired from my &ldquo;day job&rdquo; to pursue a second career in photography, taking on assignments photographing corporate and social events. Since my diagnosis and treatment (consisting of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation), I have continued to take on those assignments, but now I increasingly use my photographer&rsquo;s eye for subjects in nature, waiting for the right moment to capture birds, animals, and sunrises with my camera. This means finding new adventures outdoors, which has brought me considerable peace and has helped me heal.

Heron's Lunch

My husband, Paul, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2011, and I&#39;ve been a caregiver for him. Then, last year, I was diagnosed with cancer, so Paul became my caregiver. 
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During Paul&#39;s treatments at CCHC New Bern Cancer Center in North Carolina, we would look out the window at the waterfall and waterlilies while watching the koi swimming in the pond. This pond helped both of us -- Paul with his treatments and me with my worries about him and his cancer. During a rough time receiving chemotherapy or thinking about prognosis or test results, it was so relaxing and peaceful to look at the pond. 
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More recently, CCHC New Bern moved to merge with CarolinaEast SECU Cancer Center, leaving the pond behind. I wanted to bring some of &quot;our peaceful place&quot; to the new hospital. Now, walking through the door, the first thing you see is my painting hanging on the wall. The koi pond may be gone, but some of its peace and tranquility are still there. It reminds me that we made it through hard times, and together we will make it through whatever life throws our way. It&#39;s been a journey and the ride is far from being over, but there is always hope. 
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Koi Pond 

My photography allows me to experience uninhibited feelings through the lens. Being in the moment to feel hope, happiness, lightness, confidence and connection with the beautiful scenes of nature is a diversion from my oftentimes chaotic journey with cancer. 
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In this photograph, the caterpillar signifies new potential with a promise of life. I took the photograph as part of series featuring the caterpillar and the butterfly. Both photos were taken on a day when I was not feeling quite like myself with no idea that only a few months later I was to learn of my stage 3 cancer diagnosis. Yet, at the time, I was drawn to this enchanting caterpillar, which represents potential, patience and new life. When the caterpillar births into the butterfly, it further signifies endurance, change, hope, transformation and rebirth. Where there is life, there is hope! I look at this photograph often and feel patiently hopeful for the moment, for the day. 
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Hope & Life

I am a 20-year survivor of breast cancer, but I am now struggling with this disease. I am a patient at St. Francis Cancer Institute, and I do watercolor art therapy with the palliative care nurse at the St. Francis Infusion Center while I get my treatments. I called this one Perseverance because I will not give up!

Perseverance 

I&#39;m Eileen Dwyer, nurse manager at St. Francis Cancer Institute. My oncology nurses utilized art therapy to battle compassion fatigue, and we turned the artwork of one of my nurses, Adriana Wise, into a card that we give patients on special occasions. I submitted an image of the front of the card; now, here&#39;s an image of the back.

Art From Our Heart, part 2

My name is Eileen Dwyer, and I am a nurse manager at St. Francis Cancer Institute. My oncology nurses utilized art therapy to battle compassion fatigue, and this is the artwork of one of those nurses, Adriana Wise. From there, we decided to make her artwork into a card. We give our patients this card, individually signed by the nurses, for different celebrations such as birthdays or completion of treatment. Our patients love this card!

Art From Our Heart

The Men&rsquo;s Art Group at Karmanos Cancer Center (Gerald Mitchell, Ken Pieti, Tim O&rsquo;Neill, Jeff Levinson, Howard Katz, Suneel Sekhri, and Andi Sandles) collaborated to create this artwork to represent what it feels like to try to be in the present moment as cancer survivors. With cancer and its anxieties, cancer thrivers are constantly haunted by what the future will bring. While engulfed in fear of the next doctor&rsquo;s appointment, during the limbo period waiting for test results, wondering what the source of that new pain is, and everything else the brain twists and latches onto to ruminate over, time in the present moment is slipping away. Time that was once considered plentiful now seems scarce. &ldquo;Think Ahead&rdquo; is the reminder to use what is experienced in the present moment to plan for the next thing coming instead of living in fear of the possibilities that might or might not come to fruition; to accept that the battle of learning to let go is a constant journey and what it looks like to be on that strenuous journey post-treatment.

Think Ahead

&nbsp;This surrealistic, mixed-media image (acrylic and colored pencil) is a collaboration between Suneel Sekhri and Tim O&rsquo;Neill. We share a journey to beat prostate cancer. The figure in this desert has come upon a wall with a glimpse of comfort and/or hope on the other side, symbolized by the colorful carpet. Our men&rsquo;s cancer support art group meets every Tuesday to share stories of our cancer journey and ideas about our art. As a group, we&rsquo;ve learned there are moments and instances in life that can&rsquo;t be explained, just felt. Embrace this from heart.

(Discovered)... Embracing every moment of life

This watercolor of a faceless patient in the prone position illustrates the shell that often remains after the reproductive system has been removed and after high-dose radiation and chemotherapy for adenocarcinoma of the cervix. Pelvic cancer patients face such stigma and feelings of emptiness and loss. My goal is to end stigma to save lives.

Leftovers: Post Pelvic Cancer

The Vivaldi Flower Petal Table was started in the two-week rest period between the first and second of my stem cell infusions at the Myeloma Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. Though I was not supposed to be in my shop, let alone using power tools, I had to know I was still able to create. The starting of the Vivaldi Flower Petal Table and being back in my studio, though briefly, propelled me through the second go-round of the intense chemotherapy prior to the final stem cell infusion. Though it would be another two years before I could finish the table, knowing it was there waiting to come to life got me through the hundreds of needle pricks, stomach shots, port changes and never-ending bone marrow biopsies. It is made from American black walnut.

Vivaldi Flower Petal Table

This piece expresses a philosophy of sorts for enjoying each day to its fullest. It was made with pen, ink and colored pencil.

Cancer

This is an oil painting I completed that represent the colorful and complex life of living with cancer.

Peace in the city

This is a acrylic multi media painting I did that reflects my focus on beauty and peace. My cancer journey is full of ups and downs and I try to focus on peace and beauty.

Field of flowers 

This is a prisma colored pencil drawing that I completed for a local hospital near me. The drawing is hung within the women&#39;s cancer unit of the hospital. The piece is to encourage women during their cancer journey and their time while they are at the hospital.

Leila

This is a prisma colored pencil drawing that I completed. Horses were the way for me to escape when both my mother and grandmother were facing ovarian and breast cancer. Going to the barn and spending time with the horses was my personal therapy that helped me get through that difficult time within my life.

Horse Healing 

Cancer is random, like paint pour. Cancer is also alien and difficult to fully accept. At best we all need to come to peace with it. I have stage 4 terminal cancer. I&#39;m OK with it.

Peaceful Pilots

This piece is made from metal materials (iron, chrome and copper wire) that flash a blue blinking light between two sauce pot lids.&nbsp;A UFO, like cancer, is often an unknown paradox.&nbsp;

Flashing Saucer

I am a student at the University of Toledo studying graphic and interactive design, and I drew this portrait using colored pencils. 
 
Cancer has the ability to dramatically change a person&#39;s life. When I was a child, both my mother and grandmother were affected by breast and ovarian cancer. I saw how cancer had the ability to shape and change a women&#39;s self esteem and femininity. Cancer shaped their ideas about themselves and gave me a mature perspective about the psychological impact of the disease. Recently, I was given the opportunity to create artwork for the women&rsquo;s cancer unit at a hospital near where I had grown up. This piece is hung within the hospital to help those going through chemotherapy to escape the stresses of cancer treatment. This work is to serve as an encouragement to the women as they are battling cancer, portraying the power, beauty, femininity and strength that each woman has within themselves. 
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Summer Daze

I am a four-year survivor of ovarian cancer. I was married on January 1, 2016 and was diagnosed with stage 3c ovarian cancer. Since then, I have had four recurrences. Art was not a part of my life until I was diagnosed with cancer. Bruno Cancer Center in Birmingham, Alabama had an art therapy group and I decided to see what it was all about. Our art instructor started teaching me art techniques and I practiced until I began seeing a gift that God had given me. Art saved me from all the emotions associated from cancer. I love animals, and I love doing pet portraits. Luther was one of my models. 
 
In the picture, I&#39;m holding my painting and my sister-in-law, Lisa Allen, is holding Luther, her cat.

Luther

I used to photograph and process black-and-white photos. I had a stack of rejects and decided to paint them with watercolors, creating a new medium from an old. All of my artwork relates to my cancer journey, as it takes the edge off anxiety and keeps me sane. This one does that in particular, since my other sanity enhancer is my garden.

Essence of Nasturtium

My husband has multiple myeloma. I painted this bluejay with watercolor and colored pencil. I use photographs and greenery from our yard as inspiration. My husband is doing well. He encourages me to keep creating art during his ongoing chemotherapy, so I do.

Blue Jay

I was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer in January 2014. A year-and-a-half later when I was in thick of treatment, I drew this cartoon because I could find no words to express the frightening, unknowable future that was before me. My work in gouache, ink and pencil is 5 inches by 7 inches and was created in New York, New York on July 15, 2015.

Speechless

My mixed-media work is in alcohol ink and acrylic pen, on 8X10 Yupo. As I push on during treatment for follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma, so does my creativity. This piece was done as I was going through immumo/chemotherapy.

Pushing Through the Frost

One of the chemotherapy side effects I was vaguely warned about but unprepared for was medical menopause. I knew chemotherapy could affect my fertility, but I wasn&#39;t prepared for exactly what going through menopause in my 30s would entail. I didn&#39;t know what to expect, how my functions would change and what would make the transition easier. I felt alone in the experience at first, since many of the changes were delicate topics that were hard to discuss.

Medical Menopause

This piece is a visual representation of my blank-mind moments and throat mucositis after inpatient chemotherapy.

Chemo Brain

This represents the feeling when the call comes in that the cancer has metastasized. I felt great after healing from my radical mastectomy and radiation, and was not ready for that call.

The Call

The feeling of escape to a warmer environment that comes with the end of your treatments. Mixed media.

Snow Birds

I like to work in alcohol ink and acrylic paint. Fields of Lace is an 8X10 piece on Yupo paper, in shades of green, blue, purple and white. The lacy flowers remind me of the battle I am going through with follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The treatments have created beautiful openings throughout my immune system while ironically attempting to heal me. These blossoms continue to be brave and strong and reach for the sunlight.

Fields of Lace

Flowers for the day 

My charcoal emu was a fun piece that I completed because I always felt my hair looked like an emu&#39;s feathers as it was growing back from chemotherapy. As an ovarian cancer survivor, I have lost my hair three times! Every time I lose my hair, it grows back a different texture and color: blonde, silver and dark brown.

I feel like an Emu!  

I painted this for a friend when all the Christmas colors brought out lots of reds. I was also feeling thankful that my cancer was still in remission and wanted to paint something bright and hopeful.

Shining in the Snow

I love Kitty 

Fields free

My love for horses started at a young age and has continued now that I&#39;m an adult. Horses have taught me life lessons that will have an impact on the rest of my life. Setting goals, learning to fail, responsibility, and patience were all life lessons that horses have provided me. This photograph is of my rescue horse named Ted, who has changed my life for the better and has made me into the person that I am today

Ted 

Rooted is a collage. I used acrylics for the background, along with a polymer face and composite elements. 
 
Making visual art, as well as writing poetry and essays, have been central to my healing journey. Both forms of expression enable me to express my emotions in a variety of ways. I have used poetry to document significant aspects of my cancer journey. Though most of my artwork is not focused on cancer, I find the process of making visual art to be healing. I often work with a group of women who are non-judgmental and provide support for each other. While some of my creative expression was done at Gilda&rsquo;s Club in the Capital Region of New York, I have found my own group for writing and making visual art. There is something healing in being with a caring group of women who aren&rsquo;t worrying about the final product. We consider being creative a healing art and a spiritual practice. 
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I have Waldenstrom&rsquo;s macroglobulinemia and amyloidosis, both of which are incurable. I have been though years of treatment and am very fortunate to be in a durable partial remission. I took early retirement from practicing law in large part because of my health challenges. Crucial to the healing qualities of my visual expression is not having objectives, other than self-expression and relaxation. 
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Rooted

My artwork is an oil painting on canvas. It depicts sunrise at the edge of the water. I have been an amateur painter since childhood. I am also a five and a half year survivor of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (stage 3b), which recently recurred. As a cancer survivor, I appreciate more than ever each and every day. This is one of a series of sunrise/seascape paintings in which I try to express the joy, beauty and appreciation of each day of life.

Another Day

This is a photo of my mom, Eva Grayzel (evagrayzel.com). She is a survivor of stage 4 oral cancer. She travels the world sharing her story and saving lives. When she can, she plans a side trip for inspiration. I took the photo (@jermcohen) in Monument Valley, Utah. 
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Jumping For Joy

Flowers make me happy! Ovarian cancer thriver.

Love Teal

I&#39;m an Ovarian cancer thriver. I love creating art it&#39;s so therapeutic!

Teal Love

Created this piece with the hope that it brings peace to whoever is viewing it, since some of those viewers may be going through a difficult time in his or her life. It was made with oil paint.

Peaceful Flowers

I started painting as a way to relieve my anxiety with having a genetic mutation (Lynch syndrome) which predisposes me to many cancers.The many colors of the painted bunting remind me of the many colors of the cancer ribbons, so many of which are associated with Lynch syndrome.

Painted Bunting

Living with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, I sometimes find it really difficult to accept my situation. For me, emotions aren&#39;t a linear thing but more of a back and forth dance. Some days are more hopeful than others, and I do find that people can not be that understanding when I seem to be &quot;fine&quot; one day but not the next. This is another mixed media piece where I&#39;m &quot;in costume, performing&quot; and being what others need me to be so they can be more comfortable. I must work on greater authenticity every day.

Serious Blue Cone Hat Girl

This is a sharpie drawing of my original tumor before it metastasized.

Stage 4 Clinger

My husband has multiple myeloma. I painted this bird with watercolor and colored pencil. I use photographs and greenery from our yard as inspiration. My husband is doing well. He encourages me to keep creating art during his ongoing chemotherapy, so I do.

Birds make me happy!

I called my artwork &quot;My Flower Power&quot; painting because I see and receive strength through it, the strength that I have needed to get through this 21-year breast cancer journey. It has been tough, especially starting out as a young, pregnant mother and then receiving several additonal diagnoses, but somehow&nbsp;I&#39;ve managed to continue on this journey. 
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This watercolor painting, with grey acrylic background, was done at the Orlando Health UF Health Cancer Center while I was receiving chemotherapy treatments for metastatic breast cancer. I painted it as part of the art therapy program run by resident artist Valerie J. Kelley, who brings art to cancer patients at Orlando Health. This is my second painting done while at the cancer center. 
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&quot;My Flower Power&quot; 
I see life in every bloom of a flower. 
Each bloom has its own uniqueness that differs from any other bloom. 
I manage to see the beauty, the strength, and the power that glows from within! 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; --Terlisa Sheppard

Flower Power

Using my Photography and Photoshop skills I enjoy manipulating a photo to create something brand new!

Beige Rose

I&#39;ve combined my love of photography with my love of sports cars. And, as a print production artist, I&#39;ve used my knowledge of Photoshop and other image manipulation programs to take a simple snap shot and create something unique

Ferrari

Photography, Photoshop and Ferrari. Working on an image that was a simple snapshot takes my mind off the usual issues of the day.

Ferrari 2

Navigating advanced metastatic cancer comes with so many different challenges &mdash; it can be difficult to be true to yourself. Others may expect you to be this way or that way, and I&#39;m a notorious people-pleaser so every day it takes work to remind myself I&#39;m in the driver&#39;s seat &mdash; not the cancer or other people. This mixed media piece is one of a group I&#39;ve done when I&#39;m &quot;in costume, performing&quot; and acutely aware of the difference between what I&#39;m actually feeling and what I show to others.

Green-Collared Clown Girl

I have been battling triple-negative breast cancer on and off for over 10 years that is now stage 4. Every day is a journey with its own gifts, obstacles and ups and downs. This mixed-media piece digs deep into the moments of isolation and despair that sometimes just happen between the cancer and the chemotherapy and life.

Green-Eyed Saddest Girl in the World

&nbsp;I have picked the fifth image in the series representing my cancer journey called &quot;The Emergence&quot; to share. 
 
As it shows in my illustration, I am emerging from my journey with all its pain and suffering, which was the only way to open the gift called &quot;Second chance in life&quot;.&nbsp;

The Emergence

This is how I felt after I found out I had cancer. 
 
Made with pastel chalk on sandpaper w/acrylic paint. 
 
 
My art page on Facebook is called Twisted Art by Jennifer!

Lost in the Storm

I am a 29-year-old artist and art teacher who was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer this year. This piece was made using the iPad I had during my chemotherapy treatment. I was upset that one of the side effects of chemotherapy was hair loss because, as a young woman, I was very attached to my hair and how it looked. By making this digital painting I realized my own beauty even without my hair. Creating art eased the pain from side effects I felt from chemo and gave me something to look forward to!

Girl With Scarf

Like the tittle says, this painting is a reflection of life at a quiet time at a lake.

Reflection

I started painting in January, and I find it a great escape for me. It&#39;s healing for my soul that gets me away from cancer worries and fears.

Falls

There&#39;s myriad feelings that come with a cancer diagnosis. Creating beautiful things alongside others feels supportive and comforting.

The Flower Felt 

Living with lymphoma was a life changing event. Having to retire early and quit working left me with needing something to do. The arts and getting in touch with my creativity helped me face my changed reality.

About Face

Don&#39;t wait for the things to get better. Life will always be complicated. Learn to be happy right now, otherwise you&#39;ll run out of time. We find ourselves weighed down with things that keep us from living in freedom, such as staying busy, entertaining ourselves with distractions, anger, bitterness, jealousy and comparison. Sometimes even illness can control our lives, leaving us empty and lonely, confused and surrounded by darkness. Thankfully, God&#39;s love is so full of freedom and light. What if we threw off everything that hindered and the sin that so easily entangles, and run with perseverance the race marked out for us?

Holding onto Light

L.S. attended the clay class for years at Piedmont-Fayette Cancer Wellness Center. This is the last piece she completed before her 7-year cancer journey took her corporeal life. Although she did not name this, we believe she was aware that her journey was taking her to the light when she was working on this piece. Her son said that he believes her love of and involvement with the arts kept her in their lives years longer than they expected, and for that he is grateful.

Tree of Light

Debra attends the clay class at Piedmont-Fayette Cancer Wellness Center. She says it is a highlight of her week to come to clay class not only to try her hand at creating, but to be in the company of others where group members laugh and support each other through all of the ups and downs.

A Handful of Strength

I find life is much easier when there&#39;s other things to focus on. With me, it&#39;s the joy of painting and/or making hand built clay pieces with the many friends I have made along the way.

Stress Reliever

Being a survivor and recent retiree, I needed a hobby and enrolled in a beginners stained glass class. I found a weathered but solid plank floating in a creek and turned it into a sculpture! The plank can be stood vertically or hung horizontally but I liked the attached photo so much, I decided to submit it.

Salvaged Plank with Stained Glass

This piece is inspired by the African tribal masks that are traditionally used for ceremonial and practical purposes to influence the good and the evil forces in the community. Our cancer support group at Karmanos certainly serves to support its members as they deal with overcoming the bad and encouraging the good as we fight our disease. My collage represents that effort.

Support Mask

This painting captures a special moment in time when our daughter, Sabrina, went fishing in Colorado with her adored Grandpa who picked up the slack from a missing Grandma and took joy in all adventures with Sabrina. Here she is 7 years old. He taught her the art of fishing.

Fishing With my Special Grandpa

This piece did not begin as a collaboration, but when I was finished I had the feeling that something was missing. I asked Tim if he would help complete it. Seeing the impact of Tim&#39;s&nbsp;contributions to the final work, we both realized that this collaboration is a good metaphor for the dynamics of our Karmanos support groups, where by helping each other we often achieve greater results than what we might have achieved alone. 
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This piece can be displayed with hands facing either up or down. This is significant because when coping with the physical and emotional impacts of cancer, there are many times that we need to &ldquo;reach up&rdquo; for help. There are also many times when we need to &ldquo;reach down&rdquo; and offer to help.

Helping Hands

My journey began nine years ago, and in that time, I have found inner strength, I now have the courage to face each treatment through the encouragement of my doctors, friends and family and I hope every day for a Cure. I chose to paint a dragonfly because when I watch them dart around from flower to flower, it represents me and the many treatments I have been through. (I left the top blank for CURE title!)

Hope

I have had treatment for breast cancer four times over the past 20 years. Each time is a little bit different so it is a whirlwind of learning as much as I can as fast as I can in order to make treatment decisions. The whirlwind continues when going through treatment. I think I live my post active cancer life in a whirlwind as well, trying to take advantage of all life has to offer.

Whirlwind

This hand-built and hand &quot;painted&quot; (glazed) pottery piece was made in the Clay Group at Piedmont-Fayette Cancer Wellness Center. Dixie often gifted her clay pieces to friends and family as was this piece which has become part of her legacy. Dixie unexpectedly passed with a non-cancer related surgery complication. We miss her dearly and hope that she is enjoying her piece of spiritual paradise.

Dixie's Paradise

Alice was an endearing, dedicated-regular participant of the clay group at Piedmont-Fayette Cancer Wellness Center. She most often made ceramic pieces that she gifted to friends and family. This hot air balloon made in clay and glazed was gifted to her dear friend Carol who is an avid Hot Air Enthusiast. Alice&#39;s clay pieces have become part of her legacy now that she has passed, illustrating her loving, generous nature.

Carol's Hot Air Balloon 

Participants at Piedmont-Fayette Cancer Wellness Center&#39;s Art &amp; Healing Clay group created ceramic cancer ribbon ornaments with the colors that represent each of the diverse cancer diagnoses. These ribbons will annually adorn a Christmas Tree at the cancer wellness center to promote the arts in healing.

Cancer Ribbon Christmas Tree

I crochet animals. These are some of my creations that will be donated to children with cancer.

Sea and Beyond 

Addresses feelings around having my right lung removed.

Just Breathe

A figure sits in a tumor-like shape in the fetal position.

Inside Grief

This piece expresses feelings surrounding 4 major thoracic surgeries in 2.5 years-including the removal of my right lung.

Uni-Lunger

After 3 bouts with serious cancer and later losing one of my lungs to infections, I am embracing a period of some stable health and trying to make the best of it.

Gearing Up for Life

I have had 4 incidences of breast cancer over the past 20 years. I have been extremely fortunate to have been able to treat the cancer each time but it is a whirlwind. I find I have cancer and then there are consultations and research to figure out the best way to attack it, all as quickly as possible. I feel like I set flight with treatments, hoping for the best but never knowing where things will land. I do try to think of cancer and treatments as part of my journey and I try to find joy in the journey. This is what this artwork means to me.

This is a watercolor I created to depict what its like initially to learn you have Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, and how you begin to adapt your life to do the things you love and to live each day as fully as you can. See the accompanying poem below: The Cancer Dome I

Life in the Cancer Dome

I had never painted nor drawn anything. Diagnosed with stage IV prostate cancer at age 71 some friends brought me canvas and acrylics. In what seems a miracle to me I have now painted over 100 abstract paintings that deal with my cancer&#39;s affects on my life. Themes of fear, confusion, joy, love just flow from my soul. In this painting done about six months after I had had prostatectomy, chemotherapy and radiation I reflect on the state of confusion in my heart. You&#39;ll be happy to know if you look at my other work that while still not out of the woods I have been able to find enormous joy in doing and expressing many other positive feelings about my recovery.

Confusion

According to Chinese astrology, I was born in the year of the tiger; I created this glass and tile mosaic as a personal Feng Shui piece. The color red is believed to have a protective function and other color choices were influenced by the date and time of my birth. As a two-time cancer survivor, I welcome the idea of protection! My tiger travels a path through the jungle, over stones large and small, and who knows what he will encounter along the way? Butterflies fly in the jumbled leaf canopy overhead. The upper corners are pieces of mirror, reflecting the changing conditions of the sky, and even a touch of greenery from my yard. Some of the pieces are iridescent and their colors change with the light. The frame was lovingly made by my husband. I had a lot of fun creating this piece, and I kind of like the idea of being a tiger!

Tiger in the Jungle

This painting was completed in honor of my mother who passed away too young. She had liver disease that progressed into liver cancer. This moment depicts the evening when we announced our engagement to her. She is thoughtful in the painting, as she always was, but especially as she suspected she would not make the wedding. And that, unfortunately, was the case.

Ima and Hana

This piece was inspired by all ovarian cancer super warriors! She wears her crown in triumph. We are stronger than we know.....we will keep on keeping on. I did not start painting until I was the age of 59 and in my first remission from ovarian cancer. I enjoyed a wonderful career as a nurse-midwife before I was diagnosed in 2013. I have not been able to continue that profession. Learning about art and painting has actually saved me as I travel through this journey I am on with stage 4 ovarian cancer. I enjoy painting women and showing the sheer strength we carry, no matter what our challenge.

Warrior

The first time my sister go chemotherapy, she was in-patient and as they hung the bag I did not truly take notice. When round 3 came, I sat in a clinic with her and noticed that every patient was hooked to a pole. And on that pole was this bag. Although that bag contained toxins by definition- it also contained hope. Every patient in that clinic was receiving what they all hoped would be the cure. Receiving treatment is something that nearly everyone diagnosed with cancer endures. My sister- she received a lot more than many. And in the end, I am lucky to say that her many doses of &#39;hope&#39; had a happy ending.

Optimism 

On January 23rd, 2015, we learned that my sister had refracted and would need a bone marrow transplant. As we sat in her Oncologist office, I listened, but my mind was drawn to the table in his office. It had this bouquet of flowers and my mind kept thinking about them. Were they real? How could they be with it being January in Colorado? If they were fake- they were the most realistic artificial flowers I&#39;d ever seen. Before I left the office that day- I decided that they were real. And that if these flowers could thrive against the odds than not hope was lost.

Initially, one sees the roundness of a tumor and the blood vessels that feed it. Yet, after viewing for a moment, the viewer can see that this is turning into a rose. Kiln glass and a genuine rose were used. The light of universal healing created the transparent, transformational effects here. Submitted in memory of my mother Ruth Reinherz, who succumbed to breast cancer, my teenage son who survived a very rare form of bladder pre-cancer, and in honor of my 40+ friends who are various survivors. You are blooming!

Transformation: From Tumor to Rose

This became an inspirational piece for anyone who has struggled with the fear and sadness associated with a cancer diagnosis. When going through chemo and the changes it makes on our bodies and our identity, many of these feelings percolate deep inside of us. If we can dig deep and find ourselves again we will discover our own inner beauty and strength. As a six year stage 4 ovarian cancer fighter, I know first hand the changes of emotion we go through. But, I choose to wear my sunglasses because each day that I get here, surviving and thriving, is so bright....I have to wear shades!

Breaking Free

According to Chinese astrology, I was born in the year of the Tiger; I created this glass and tile mosaic as a personal Feng Shui piece. The color red is believed to have a protective function and other color choices are influenced by the date and time of my birth. As a two-time cancer survivor, I welcome the idea of protection! My tiger travels a path through the jungle, over stones large and small, and who knows what he will encounter along the way? Butterflies fly in the jumbled canopy overhead. The upper corners are pieces of mirror, reflecting the changing conditions of the sky (and even a touch of greenery from my yard, as the photograph was taken outdoors). Some of the pieces are iridescent and their colors change with the light. The frame was lovingly made by my husband. I had a lot of fun creating this piece! And I kind of like the idea of being a tiger...

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