Michelle, United States

I have had chronic cancer for 15 years. I painted three watercolors to represent three five-year periods of my life. I then took the watercolors and weaved them together. Then I wove in pieces of ribbon. The red ribbon represents my leukemia, the black ribbon represents my grief and loss associated with having a cancer diagnosis, the yellow ribbon represents peace, and the white ribbon and white spots on my paintings represent hope. I chose to weave all these elements to demonstrate how cancer touches every part of your life. When you have chronic cancer, timelines, dates, and treatments begin to overlap. In all the chaos, there is beauty.