Wood + Paint + Embroidery
After my mastectomy, many of the crafts in my collection seemed daunting. As a recovering perfectionist, I worried about starting many of them because I didn’t want to mess them up in my drug induced fog and weak mobility. One of my friends, who is an artist and crafter herself, brought over dinner one evening and a low-stakes project that my sister and I could do together.
I loved that my friend included my sister, my caregiver through much of this journey. I loved that she gave her the same opportunity to take a breath through artmaking. I feel like through so much of our journeys, our caregivers are the unsung heroes. They work tirelessly to make sure we are comfortable, are fed, and deal with our rollercoaster of emotions with a smile.
My sister and I took a break from the wonderful reality TV we were soaking in, sat at the kitchen table, and painted. It felt so simple, so easy, but a little over a year later, I can put myself back at the kitchen table and feel that warmth and joy. It was a time where we were just enjoying each other’s company and creating art together. It felt not only like a break from the TV but a break from the heaviness of it all.
At the end of the project, I loved that we were both given the same canvases but envisioned the pieces differently.
Not to sound too cheesy, but it did feel like the perfect metaphor — we all have different outlooks, different experiences, and different life stories, even within the lens of cancer, and yet, we can all find common ground on the same canvas.
Look out for Simple and Sylvan’s embroidery kits on Go Imagine.