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Mixed Media by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
Arizona
Best of Exhibition – 1st Prize Winner
Best Entry by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
Best Mixed Media by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
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| My life after a diagnosis of lung cancer feels like it has been cut up, rearranged and become a different picture. The treatments and side effects, like the rocks in the turbulent water, can make me feel bruised, battered and worn out. When scan results show improvement or stability, I can coast smoothly for a while, but any negative change leads to another bumpy ride down the falls. Yet as the rushing water continues on its path, I plan to continue surviving and weaving a beautiful life. |
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Mixed Media by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
Michigan
Best of Exhibition – 2nd Prize Winner
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Lung cancer. Inoperable. Radiation. Chemotherapy. Those were terrifying words. After 20 years of not smoking, I tried to come to terms with my diagnosis. As my treatment progressed, I thought, “Why couldn’t I be one of the survivors?”
As an artist who works with fabrics, I needed to visualize what was happening inside my body. So I made this collage of my lungs, surrounded by hope in the form of leaves and flowers.
Today, after 4-1/2 years, I am grateful to be cancer-free…thanks to my wise and caring doctors and staff whose research and knowledge saved my life.
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Mixed Media by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
New Jersey
Best of Exhibition – 3rd Prize Winner
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I was 21 when cancer disrupted my life. I was in college, in love and unstoppable. But in the months following my diagnosis and treatment, I lost my hair, my invincibility and the boy I thought I would marry. I held on to the hope I would pick up the pieces of myself when it was all over. But I couldn’t. I kept my cancer a secret. Ultimately, I realized I needed to tell my story and wrote it all down; 150 pages later, I found I had finally untangled myself from cancer’s grip. I said goodbye; goodbye past, goodbye pain, goodbye cancer. I’ve won and that means that you lose. I am finally free!
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Mixed Media by a Family Member, Friend or Caregiver
Illinois
Best Entry by a Family Member, Friend or Caregiver
Best Mixed Media by a Family Member, Friend or Caregiver
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It was 1993 when eight-year-old Kelly refused to have her picture taken for the yearbook. I photographed Kelly in her home wearing her mom’s wedding dress. Without her hair, the last thing she felt was pretty, until she saw her images.
Her love of her family and her pets was evident. She was pleased with the artwork of herself and that led to positive self imaging.
Kelly became the inspiration for a long journey of helping people through The Kelly Project.
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Photography by a Healthcare Professional
California
Best Entry by a Healthcare Professional
Best Photography by a Healthcare Professional
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Through the twists and turns
Of biopsy, reports, genes, scans, and tests,
She has hurried,
Bewildered,
Inquisitive,
Angry.
To my center she’s been sent
Frightened by the words she’s heard
Cancer.
Could be fatal!
Suffering and pain...
Your affairs in order?
What she needs from me
Quickly I’ll provide or she is lost
To Anxiety
Depression
Fatigue
Despair!
I give the Ray of Hope
A pathway for her life:
Her plan,
The treatments.
Support,
Compassion.
She is renewed with inner strength,
Confident in her future and her dreams.
Remission.
Active,
Loved!
Survivor.
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Acrylic by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
Indiana
Best Acrylic by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
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I’ve always been the type of person who sees the glass half-full, but in the face of cancer, the emotional tug-of-war seems endless.
There is despair, after learning I have cancer. There is hope, knowing I will fight and do whatever is necessary to defeat this.
There is despair, because so much is unknown, so much is uncertain. But, there is hope, in the embrace of my family and friends, whose love and support gives me strength.
Yet, now there is only hope. No other word encompasses all that I feel today.
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Oil by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
Pennsylvania
Best Oil by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
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I heard a scream in the distance
Was that me?
A warm hand
Words spinning in my head
Minutes, hours and days go by
It’s raining on the inside
I look into the mirror
The reflection is familiar
A climb high and strenuous
I am reaching, stretching
The apex is near
Is that a beacon?
Another day, a precious gift
A warrior, a survivor
I reached deep within
I fought a good fight
A cancer journey, a chrysalis
Art is my silver lining
To share with others
To give color in a world so gray
It took cancer to awaken my soul.
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Pastel by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
New York
Best Pastel by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
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| I was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 1999. A month after completing my chemotherapy, New York City experienced 9/11. On that horrible day, I remember feeling the same feelings of vulnerability and hopelessness that I first experienced when I heard that I had breast cancer. I created a series of black and white triptychs entitled “The City Went Dark.” I began another triptych series entitled “Day Into Night.” The piece that you see is titled “Night Into Day.” It represents hope. Even though the human spirit is often presented with darkness, it is possible to rise above and eventually let light into our lives. |
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Photography by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
Virginia
Best Photography by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
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Who keeps their hospital bands? Each time I came home from a procedure, l'd take off my band and place it on my desk. I soon had a pile of bands that represented my physical journey with cancer. This portrait symbolizes my spiritual journey.
My spiritual journey took me to a place where I knew if I left this life, I would be in a better place. Today, cancer free, I still find myself in this prayerful position. Not only am I praying, but thanking God for a chance to share with others and inspire.
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Watercolor by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
California
Best Watercolor by a Person Diagnosed with Cancer
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The woman is in an embrace with her breast cancer.
The sitting figure is strong yet mindful of its return.
The journey is awash in blue which defines movement, fear and strength towards a positive attitude.
The final figure is a strong woman with a raised arm going towards the future in survival mode knowing one day there will be a cure for breast cancer.
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Acrylic by a Family Member, Friend or Caregiver
Michigan
Best Acrylic by a Family Member, Friend or Caregiver
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Fishing was his peace,
Hunting was his passion.
Outdoors was his home,
He was never much for fashion.
Clocks he certainly hated —
As if in his heart he knew
Pancreatic cancer would take him
Before his son would reach age two.
Today the river sparkles;
And I have no doubt my brother
Is up in heaven fishing —
Catching trout like no other!
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Oil by a Family Member, Friend or Caregiver
Connecticut
Best Oil by a Family Member, Friend or Caregiver
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After my 2-½ year old granddaughter was diagnosed with leukemia, she was unable to walk for nine months. This is a painting of her favorite transportation on her Daddy's shoulders during a fundraiser held in her honor. The slogan for the summer gathering was: “Yesterday, I dared to struggle; today, I dare to win!” During the month of May 2010, she participated in a local Relay for Life as a "survivor." I am enclosing a photo of her riding on her Daddy's shoulders during that event. We all continue to celebrate her cancer-free life.
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Pastel by a Family Member, Friend or Caregiver
Colorado
Best Pastel by a Family Member, Friend or Caregiver
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In 2001, my dad was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The Tree of Hope shows the strength, faith, and hope on his journey. Being diagnosed with cancer may feel lonely and scary, but, much like a tree, if you bury your roots deep into the soil and stand tall through the rough weather, sunshine and renewal will prevail. As a child, this tree is much like I remember seeing my father...standing strong and tall in the middle of his beautiful fields of lettuce, peppers and onions. Faith, hope and love has carried my dad through his journey. He remains in remission and I am happy to report he is still farming. |
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Photography by a Family Member, Friend or Caregiver
Arizona
Best Photography by a Family Member, Friend or Caregiver
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My Grandma was a tough lady. She lived through the Great Depression and a World War, and beat throat cancer with chemo and a can-do attitude. When she got cancer again, nothing short of removing her stomach would have saved her but she still fought it with more chemo and her signature can-do attitude. I struggled with the idea of photographing her fight but couldn’t do it. Starving to death isn’t a pretty picture. Despite the circumstances, my grandmother holding a photo of her holding my mother is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever taken. How time flies.
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Watercolor by a Family Member, Friend or Caregiver
Idaho
Best Watercolor by a Family Member, Friend or Caregiver
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| We were not ready to go on this journey. So I packed our boat with food, a map, two dogs, a life preserver and the tree of life. I hung a lantern at the back of the boat to help light our way. John is bundled against the cold and holds his little dog for love and security. I am paddling our way through the storm. We are going from the darkness to the light with hope in our hearts. John was diagnosed with cancer in April. I am his wife and caregiver and together we will navigate the storms ahead. |
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Acrylic by a Healthcare Professional
California
Best Acrylic by a Healthcare Professional
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This captures the moment when she first looks in the mirror and gazes at her battle scars.
This captures the moment when she first reveals herself to her partner, wondering if she’ll still be loved.
This captures the moment when she emerges from the darkness, sheds the cocoon of her former existence and discovers that she is transformed, she is a warrior — and she is beautiful!
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Mixed Media by a Healthcare Professional
Puerto Rico
Best Mixed Media by a Healthcare Professional
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A mixture of feelings of doubts, fears, love and solidarity result in the transmutation of the soul that illuminates and transforms the life of patients, relatives and friends. A new type of energy is born when this battle ends, whether won or lost. Therefore, the word “cancer” no longer means death. Cancer means renovation, hope, triumph and social awareness.
As a pharmacist, I have been moved to create the artwork, “Developing Venus,” which deals with the cellular conspiracy to provoke a transformation of life at the cellular, emotional, energy and universal levels. It is a celebration of pure energy that creates and sustains hope.
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Oil by a Healthcare Professional
Texas
Best Oil by a Healthcare Professional
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The shock is burning
My flesh, my soul, my being
Changed.
Into myself I retreat
Like a cocoon for shelter,
From an assault the likes of which I could never imagine.
In the darkness I feel the glow, from the radiation.
Within, I am screaming to get out, to be whole again.
I believe,
The nightmare will soon unfold
Into
The fight for a cure.
Bitterness and pain, common threads among those newly diagnosed with cancer. With time, acceptance and hope prevail. This portrait exemplifies the initial struggles and self perceptions with early diagnosis and treatment.
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Pastel by a Healthcare Professional
Georgia
Best Pastel by a Healthcare Professional
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Cancer changes everything in one's life. This fact remains: along this journey, it is how we live our lives and what we leave behind that really matters. I believe it may take one's whole life to get to know oneself, whether that be short or long. During the course of one's life, the times we share, the laughs, the hugs, the touching of souls, are like scattered memories. When our journey is over, it is those leaves of memories that will tell of our journey, and what we cherished most of all with the time that was given us.
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Watercolor by a Healthcare Professional
Washington
Best Watercolor by a Healthcare Professional
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"I feel like I'm swimming upstream."
That comment stayed with me since Mrs. K told me many years ago. The cancer diagnosis, chemotherapy and its side effects put tremendous stress on Mrs. K. One day, she came to the hospital for her chemotherapy and her blood count was low. The lab could not get enough blood; she had to be poked several times. She did everything she was supposed to do and still things went wrong. It is overwhelming at times to keep the head above water. Mrs. K had real courage. She swam upstream gracefully and strongly. I think of her often.
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