My Universe Must Stay In Balance

By Karen Strell

September 23rd, 2026

I started watercolor painting as a way to express the thoughts and emotions which were bottled up in me during treatment and recovery from recurrent Stage IV HPV Negative Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the mouth. At times I could not speak, eat, chew or swallow. In exchange for all of the darkness that comes with this type of cancer and the brutality of treatments, I had the need to create something beautiful. This need was met with my painting.