beginning again...art as therapy!

do you ever completely lose all sense of yourself?  in the last 5 months i have been diagnosed with breast cancer, had two surgeries which have altered my body forever and embarked on a journey of chemotherapy that has taken my hair, my energy all that remained of me.  i am no longer the *busty blonde* i have come to think of myself as...and so i'm currently going through a bit of an identity crisis!!  in order to help me tackle this, i decided to create this journal page as a way to look back at a time when i was very clear who i was {and heaven help anyone who got in my way ;0) }...maybe, from looking back at the deeper essence of who i was and who i am...i'll eventually come to a place of acceptance...and a new sense of *me*...afterall...i've got more to me than boobs, right?

i studied art as therapy at universitiy and am a firm believer that the most crucial impact of art for me is the process...the act of letting go and expressing my emotions and *being real*.  art can be very healing and also revealing...if we let ourselves go and explore the inner workings of our psyche...so here i am...exposing myself and making myself vulnerable...its not something i generally share with people...but maybe there are other of you out there with your own struggles and emotional journeys who might be inspired to have a go yourselves.

its a thoroughly mixed~media affair this page...i've used water colours, water soluble pastels, acrylic paint, stamping, doodling, paper punches and brush pens as well as masking tape, tissue paper and a sponge!  i guess that represents that i don't want to be constrained, or categorised!