I Was A Person

By Jackie James (UK)

“At 46, in May 2017, I was diagnosed with multi focal, invasive ductile, Grade 3 breast cancer. I required a mastectomy, axillary node clearance, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Like most people, I had no comprehension of the barbarity of treatment. I suffered an horrendous time with side effects from chemo, surgery and radiotherapy, frequent A&E trips and stays in hospital. The trauma of diagnosis and treatment, and all it entails, caused some disturbing nightmares. I have re-discovered art following treatment, because of the therapeutic effect of being able to completely switch my mind off to anything else while drawing. My normal artwork is with coloured pencil, I have attached a copy of a bee that I drew at a workshop . My counsellor then suggested that I try to use art to express some of the emotions I was struggling with. There is a significant, different, emotional effect in creating ‘ordinary’ drawings, versus deeply emotional drawing. I can highly recommend both types of art, it is equally cathartic in different ways.”