Art for Healing

These photos are incredible! Thanks for sharing them. I invented 225 toys, games and art projects make from safe throw away stuff. They morphed into a series of books: Toyworks, Gameworks, Artworks.

Here it is! My story as a Mayo Clinic patient using my own art for healing.... and thanks Dr. Fogelson. https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2019/01/09/using-the-art-of-medicine-to-overcome-fear-of-surgery/

Here is a follow up story from my local newspaper about my Sharing Mayo Clinic story. Enjoy!
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/barrington/community/chi-ugc-article-local-artist-jennifer-hunter-has-her-patient-2019-01-30-story.html

Sometimes words are just not enough to say thank you. I am a fine artist. For a couple years, I had been unable to control my brushes and was in constant pain because of spinal cord compression in my neck. I stopped painting because I couldn't produce the quality of work that I expected. I was getting worse and couldn't find a surgeon to help me until I came to Mayo Clinic and met Dr. Jeremy Fogelson. As the days drew closer to my surgery, I had to find a way to be confident and calm, so I used sketching and listening to music to relax. I had been drawing pencil sketches of Dr. Fogelson as my own art therapy to help me on my journey. It helped me get to know him in my own way. I did other things to confront my fears as well, but I always returned to art and music when I needed to escape for awhile. I was calm on my surgery day and everything I did to prepare myself worked like a charm. While I was recovering, I wanted to paint again and to create something for my surgeon. Prior to my surgery, I was loosing what I cherished most, and my surgeon returned that gift to me.

I called his nurse and we arranged for my followup appointment to be on his surgery day, so I could get photos of him in his scrubs. He enjoyed posing for my camera in the exam room for a few minutes and even made me laugh. I had to work out how to match the photos of him with my photos of the Plummer building to make it look believable. I put the history of Mayo behind him with the beautiful carved doors of the historic building, and that was a challenge to draw and paint them in accurate detail.

It took about a month to create this watercolor painting, and I would have to take breaks and lay down to rest when my muscles fatigued. At my one year followup, I hid the finished painting behind the curtain in the exam room until we finished the exam part of the appointment, and then Dr. Fogelson saw this for the first time. It was a complete surprise to him and he loved it. I really painted this for both of us... to say thank you when words were not enough, and to challenge myself to see if I could do it since it had been so long since I had been able to paint. I'm honored to know that he will enjoy this for years to come. I makes me feel good to be able to do this for someone who gave me back the ability to do the job, and knowing how much it meant to him is priceless.

Art has healing power, and creating art takes that one step further for me. I told Dr. Fogelson that there was an emotional side to healing and recovery, and for me that was to overcome the fears that had help me back in my life. Facing major surgery has a way of bringing all of that into focus. This was truly life changing for me in many ways. All of my experiences at Mayo, and my courage are all in that painting. It also represents the talent, the kindness and compassion of my surgeon. At Mayo, medicine is an art. It's also true that art is medicine.

@jenniferhunter WOW! Your story and how you helped yourself is very inspiring! Has anyone asked you to speak to groups or patients? You’ve given me some real ideas! Thank you. Becky

@becsbuddy Thanks, Becky. No requests yet, but I would love to speak about this. I've thought about doing a TED talk if I can make that happen. That's why I'm on connect, to try to help others by relaying my experience. Can you share your ideas about how this inspired you? I'd love to know. Thank you.

@jenniferhunter I was inspired by your using art to get through a crisis experience. I was so sick that I couldn’t physically or mentally do any quilting. When I got a little better and tried to use my sewing machine, I just couldn’t. A friend had to come and review the machine with me. But, the whole time, I read my quilting magazines and followed the textile groups on Facebook. I never lost my urge to create. It all started when I became an oncology nurse. Several of us were quilters—we responded to the hard experiences and death with the need to create and heal ourselves. Now I want to create to get though the disease experience of the past 18 months and the rest of my life with the autoimmune disease. I’ve been thinking of some kind of modern quilt that expresses what I’ve been through. I think you really showed me the possibilities and that I could do something for my art and myself. It may take me awhile to regain my expertise but I can have fun while I’m at it. Thank you for the inspiration! I included a photo I did with thread painting for my parents anniversary

@hopeful33250 thank you! Thread painting is drawing the whole picture with thread. The “painter”/quilter moves the fabric under the sewing machine needle and draws a picture. Hard, but fun