Page 26 - Seniors Today Jan20 Issue

Make it on the good days, too.”
Colours, textures and lines took on lives of their own
thread, fabric and wool transformed into
works of art; paper and paints morphed from
the mundane to the magical. Flowers bloomed
under her care, as did people; the aroma of her
cooking wafted tantalisingly in the house. A
style icon, she was the go-to person in matters of
fashion, wedding décor, beautifying spaces and
everything design-related.
Looking for solutions
“When things get tough, this is what you should
do: Make good art. Do what only you can do
best: Make good art. Make it on the bad days,
She conjured loveliness out of even hospital gauze, scraps of cloth and dried leaves
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And no one followed Neil Gaiman’s advice
more diligently than my mother. As the disease
slowly consumed her body, design-related
problems consumed her mind. Too weak
initially, to actually make things, she started
exploring ways in which she could resolve
issues, make more innovative and beautiful
the floral tapestry she was working on, looking
for newer ways of manipulating textiles for
the fabric jewellery project she had started. In
spite of the devastation, this act of looking for
solutions helped her to stop focusing on herself
and enabled her to look beyond.
And then chemotherapy wreaked havoc. She
was back in the ICU. As she started recovering,
she began to paint – and not just on paper but on
hospital gauze, scraps of cloth and dried leaves,
conjuring magical shapes; colours, textures and
lines took on lives of their own and the gloomy
atmosphere of a hospital ICU transformed
into a space of cheer and fun. Nurses started
drawing and vying for compliments; doctors
watched her, marvelling in wonder at her spirit
and serenity. Art gave her power to dream
again, to envision a future. Creating something
with her hands was like meditation and she
relaxed in creative flow. It was empowering and
transformative.
Stronger and better, when she came home her