Thank you for visiting The Art of Surrender site. Twelve years ago when I was diagnosed with a stage two, one centimeter tumor that had metastasized into ten of my lymph nodes, I began to believe in my life with unprecedented conviction. I decided that, without a doubt, I wanted to live. How long I would last I did not know and dreaded any implication or suggestion of new tumors.

The realm of cancer is a lively one full of sorrow, joy, isolation and rapture, also, hopefully, one of deep connection with those you love and depend on.

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As an artist I responded to my cancer diagnosis in the only way I knew how, to be as creative as my diminished energy would allow. As a daughter, sibling, friend and colleague, I did my best to relinquish the independence and self-absorption of my previous life and open as wide as possible to the help and love of others. My ultimate goal was not to be victimized. I did all I could to embrace, not the disease, but my life story that had suddenly, when I needed it most, taken a mythic twist. I welcomed a poetic and mystical quest fueled by the power of symbolism, metaphor and analogy. I wanted to embark on my own hero’s journey and make the most of what life might offer while it lasted.

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