On 2/22/22 (what a date), I was diagnosed with Her2+ breast cancer.  A blur of tests and biopsies.  Chemo infusions where the nurses wear hazmat suits.  Surgery.  Radiation.  A year of immunotherapy infusions.  And I kept painting.  I was painting abstractly before my diagnosis.  At points in my journey, my mind could not make that leap so I painted realistically.  In April of 2023, when my husband and I walked away from that last infusion, I thought of the Mary Oliver poem - “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

I remember during treatment, a friend pointing out our hollyhocks as they grew in my garden - the view I had while healing on the couch outside on our back deck.  One day I drew it in my sketch pad. And then a large, translucent hollyhock began to emerge on my paintings.  A dear friend asked, “what is the hollyhock about?”  I really didn’t know.  I was just so amazed at how tall it grows and blooms so softly and seems to withstand so much.  She said… “that’s you!”  

This series and this time in my life is still having an impact on my work. I imagine it always will.