Mom's Inspiring Art Dolls

A few years ago I had a little bit of a cancer scare.  I think it freaked my mom out more than me, but it was a scare none-the-less.  I had a small spot on my face, near my eye that wouldn't heal.  It was dry and rough, kept splitting open, healing up, then repeating the process.  It took me much longer than it should have to go to the doctor.  Sure enough, skin cancer.  Not the bad, scary stuff that spreads and requires more extravagant treatments, but the C word! 

My first treatment was just to have it removed.  I went to a plastic surgeon recommended by the dermatologist and he removed it.  I had a black eye for a little bit but I wear glasses so it was really not too noticeable.  I had a little scar (a tiny pucker in the corner) but nothing that bothered me or again, was very noticeable.  I healed quickly with no problems.  Or so I thought.

Not quite a year later, it was back.  Had a biopsy done to be sure and again, the C word!  This time they sent me over to St. Louis and I had the MOHS procedure done.  I was much more nervous for this one, they basically cut it out in layers, testing each layer to see if there's any cancer cells left.  It could be an all day process.  I only had to have two.  Much better than I thought.  Then I was sent to the hospital to have it closed up.  My mom was with me, and a nervous wreck I might add.  It went very well, the surgeon was spectacular.  I had a hole the size of a quarter and my mom was shocked how deep it was, he closed it up without skin grafts and the scarring is so minimal.  Again, glasses and hair pretty much hide all of it. 

I say all that to show you what mom made me for my second procedure.  Obviously she was nervous for me and needed to artistically express that.  She is quite an inspiration to me, always teaching me new stuff and getting me started on new artsy endeavors (much to the chagrin of my husband).

 It's been a couple years since my surgery, it usually takes me about that long to get on board with mom's newest creative endeavors (well, new to me).  Yesterday, I got this book in the mail.  We are planning to go to Bead N Button this year and I was telling mom I'd like to play around with people using tin.  How great is that?  Moms, gotta love 'em!

Here's some links to see more of her artwork (she's finally getting some of it up on Pinterest), check out her Art Dolls and some jewelry.   She also loves Altered Books and Art Journaling.  She does some really amazing stuff, very little of which she's gotten on Pinterest.  I'll keep on her about that. 

Hope you are finding some time to be creative and learn something new.