The theme of the event was to have been about resurrection, which would have felt very appropriate given the process of rebirth we have been experiencing over the last two years.
“Resurrection” morphed to “rebirth,” which evolved to “partnership,” which grew to become:
Debi’s first major art showing and reception in over ten years.
Debi’s painting and photography have been her primary means of visual expression for most of her life. However, other priorities have for too long prevented her work from being given the attention they deserve.
This presentation showcases Debi’s work with that of her honorary art-sister Diana Lyn Cote. Diana’s oilstick and giclee on canvas and paper provides the perfect complement for Debi’s photography and colored pencil on paper.
With dozens of major works and hundreds of cards and small items on display and available for purchase, this is an impressive show, and we are thrilled to welcome friends, family and art fans to our home this afternoon, Sunday, May 22 between 2 and 6pm, or arrange private viewings by special arrangement with the artists for a limited time.
On the most imperatively optimistic date of the year (March forth!), Debi and I are excited to announce the launch of our new venture, EncoureArts.com!
For those of you reading this because you want to know more about our greeting cards, please bear with us while we share this news with our many friends – and be aware that EncoureArts.com has just launched a website of its own.
For those of you looking for the latest chapter of the John and Debi story, here it is: to continue our journey of resurrection after Debi’s cancer, we are combining our creative talents and our long experience with words and pictures to sell personal messaging materials – greeting cards, journals, notepads, magnets, calendars and the like. The beautiful images on these items will also be available as high-quality prints suitable for framing in a variety of sizes and formats. We are also working with other artists to create a variety of complementary lifestyle products we think you’ll love.
Our first line of cards is called Moments, features stunning images from nature and encouraging messages of hope, support and love, and is printed on high quality FSC and E-certified paper, made carbon-neutral. Other lines will soon follow, and offer beautiful, thoughtful and sometimes quirky ways to send your most important thoughts to your most important friends.
These cards will soon be available in select local retailers, and online in boxed sets.
We are very excited about what lies ahead, and we look forward to sharing it with you. To make sure you stay in the loop and are the first to become eligible for special offers, join the Encoure Club!
Life is a finite series of moments, each embodying infinite potential. Live each moment.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 12:34pm
The planet has revolved more than a quarter of the way around the sun since our last update, and much has occurred to remind us of the sweetness of life, and its delicacy.
The winter so far has presented us many, many challenges, far beyond mere snow. The fallout of a year dealing with cancer is weighing heavily on us, and we are making big changes in our lives as a result. We keep reminding ourselves that the stress of change can be experienced as the excitement of opportunity, if we choose to interpret it that way.
Debi shot the photo above on Yokohama Beach, on the leeward coast of O`ahu, Hawaii, during a November, 2010 trip to help family members injured in a car crash. The image has become a major milestone in our lives, for two reasons.
First, it reminds us that there is beauty and power in even the most mundane of life’s events, and great potential in every instant of existence.
Second, the image is one of the first in a series of images we are using to launch a new line of greeting cards, calendars, posters and prints called “Moments.” Each item will be a miniature collaboration between Debi’s photography and my writing, focusing on our belief that there is beauty even amidst the chaos and terror of life. We are building the ability to deliver these products both online and in area galleries and card shops.
There is of course much, much more to tell, but that can wait until another Moment coming very soon…
We just passed an important anniversary. It has been a year since my surgeon said “You have invasive breast cancer.” What a ride! I will be celebrating November 4, tho. That’s a much happier date, when my tumor was removed and no evidence of cancer remained.
During the last year I’ve lost my hair and gained my chemo curls, had 3 surgeries and a bit of physical therapy, learned a bunch, been gifted in so many ways, by so many beautiful people, met valiant cancer warriors, losing a few along the way, had my attitudes and assumptions challenged, become more courageous, and experimented with food and pharmacology.
I’ve now had two follow-up doctor visits, and both were without drama. MRI’s came out clean, and no worrisome symptoms have been a cause of concern. So far my bones are strong, and tamoxifen side effects have been positive. We’re awaiting the OK from our insurance company to schedule a follow up PET scan.. looking forward to the pretty pictures.
Mom was here for my most recent follow-up visit, so she was able to experience our little “Cancer Spa” and sample the great food. We enjoyed some nice visits with friends. and some spectacular scenery along the way. Tours of the Holocaust Museum, Arlington Cemetery and Gettysburg were sobering, and I was left with even more thankfulness for folks willing to use civil discourse to resolve differences, and even more resolve to speak out against injustice and discrimination wherever I find it.
The medical visit was routine, with a fair amount of handholding and reassurance. I’ve been told the time after treatment can be disorienting, leaving some people feeling lost and afraid. This really has not been my experience. I am confident cancer is in my past, not my present. I feel good and am enjoying getting my life back. As John occasionally says to me, “You *had* cancer.” It’s time to focus on other things.
I am not immortal or invincible. But I am also tougher than I thought.
Next up on my schedule, it looks like I’ll be flying to Hawaii for a few weeks. My dad and his wife, Kaye were in a car accident and need a hand or two while their bones knit and their bodies recover. I don’t really know what to expect, but I do know we will get through it. Time is the most precious thing we own, and one of the best gifts we can share with the people we love. I look forward to returning the gift and enjoying some warmish weather in Oahu.
After many months of our nearly constant companionship, Debi flew to Oregon for a visit with family and old friends on July 4, leaving me to mind the home fires on my own for a while putting an alternative spin on Independence Day.
After dropping her off at the airport, I waited to make sure her flight departed as scheduled in a parking lot across from the end of the runway, where I could watch planes land and take off. I was not alone… several other cars sat at odd angles with views of the airport, their drivers watching the air, periodically checking their cellphones for flight updates, as I was doing. As Debi’s plane taxied toward takeoff, I waved, knowing how unlikely it was that Debi could see me through a tiny window, multiple layers of fence, across a busy road and a distant parking lot. But I waved anyway. I’m sure I’m not the only guy who does silly things that don’t change anything but that still aren’t meaningless. As I watched her plane climb into the lake-blue sky, I felt the bond of our relationship stretch, and I felt comforted by the thought of her return in several days.
Debi, sporting curly-ish hair, wearing a Maylasian dress sent by a fellow cancer survivor
We got a lot of great comments on the program book we created for the concert event back in April. Here’s a PDF of it, in case you’re interested. (You’ll need some kind of PDF viewer to see it, of course…)
Yes, that’s Debi and moi on the cover (I’m the hairy one), and I took the picture. How? Magic!
Don’t miss the photos I took of Debi in a variety of hats, loaned for the occasion by Chester’s C&G Boutique and Gallery and shot in their studio. And, of course, Debi’s photos of the Shinolas, the fabulous band that formed the nucleus of the musical portion of the evening’s entertainment…
The Program Guide for our April "Cancer Sucks, Life Rocks!" concert event
It has been nearly 3 months since my last infusion, and I happily report I am feeling normal, energetic and alive. My hair has resprouted, and once again I can flutter my eyelashes, pluck my brows into shape and shave my legs. Food tastes like food again, and I’m enjoying it immensely! I am sleeping well, taking my medicine, and enjoying my work.
I moved to William Raveis Real Estate in Old Saybrook this week, but will continue to serve my clients throughout Middlesex County. My job with the U.S. Census should start winding down in the next few weeks, and I am looking forward to having some free time for things like painting, cleaning the house and socializing.
I have been called many things in recent months… I have been called a food snob, which I will gladly claim. Whenever possible I eat fresh, organic, locally grown, minimally processed, colorful meals. In America today I guess that’s weird. I have been told I’m inspirational, and I’ll accept that. I think we all inspire each other, and that’s a good thing. But I have also been called brave, for sharing my journey with others, and that one confuses me a little.
I have faced the big C-monster, it’s true. But in my case I received a glancing blow – enough to scare me and leave behind some scars, but it appears I have escaped relatively intact, a bit lopsided but fully functional. In return I have gained insights and knowledge about how to avoid cancer in the future, and enrich my life in the process. I hope I can share some of that with the people I love so they can avoid the initial encounter. It’s always better to learn from the mistakes of others, ya know!
But, brave? Courageous? Hmmmmm… this requires some thinking. I don’t feel brave. Life is uncertain, for sure. All of us require a certain amount of courage just to get out of bed and greet a new, unpredictable day. But after facing cancer a whole lot of what used to sound scary just isn’t anymore. Maybe it’s the ‘eat a frog first thing in the morning‘ effect. (If you eat a giant frog anything else will be easy, so eat your biggest frog first.)
Snakes, mice and spiders don’t scare me. Speaking in public? No big deal. A fear of falling used to be one of my big phobias. At this point jumping out of a perfectly good airplane seems a bit silly, but even that has lost its aura of terror. None of it comes close to being my big frog.
Sharing my journey with the people who love me is not scary. You have supported and encouraged me, sent flowers, teddy bears, earrings and angels, called, sent e-emails, and been my online cheer leaders. Thanks to all of you I have never, ever felt alone.
I can’t imagine why I thought life would get less busy after our fundraising concert on April 16.
Debi and I are always wiped out for a few days after producing a show, but with an event twice as large as our usual, with a much larger band, a printed program and various other complications, “Extra Special” only begins to hint at the impact the “Cancer Sucks, Life Rocks!” show had on our daily routine.
Fortunately, it was worth the effort. The event was a modest success from a fundraising point of view, reducing some of the stress Debi’s medical bills have caused. And the outpouring of warmth and support we felt during the show packed a powerfully therapeutic emotional wallop which still has not worn off. For all of those who attended the event, helped in its production, or made a donation in lieu of attending, Debi and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
There are pictures, a few video clips, and more media coming soon, but they will arrive “in due time.” Right now, Debi and I have Very Important Birthdays to celebrate (we both join the Half-Century Club this week!), and several exciting projects in the works.
I’ve begun filming “Revolution of Spirit: How Cancer Fighters Face the Unknown,” an exploration of the evolution of cancer fighters’ attitudes as they (we!) face a high-stakes challenge.
I’m also working to publish an original fairy tale I wrote, which has received very positive comments at readings to date. “The Painter Prince and the Art of Seeing” explores what happens when a talentless young artist is endowed with true vision by a mysterious woman he encounters during a journey seeking inspiration.
And I’m looking forward to a possible reading of a short theatrical work of mine at the next Margreta Stage Actors’ Party on June 24. “After The Parade” observes the memories and feelings of two estranged brothers on the occasion of their fathers’ passing. *** The latest word on this is that the date may change… more news when I have it!
Those are three of the more visible activities I’ll admit to… there are many more too mundane or nascent to report on now. The New Normal seems to be just as busy as the Old Normal, but with an elevated sense of urgency. We feel blessed that at this point it is generally a happy urgency.
I’ll let Debi share her big news in her post, coming very soon…
…of what you’ll miss if you’re not at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center (“The Kate”) this Friday evening, April 16 at 8:00pm!
Attendees will also enjoy the complimentary intermission refreshments including the wine tasting courtesy of Shore Discount Liquors in Deep River; the Lobster-Dandero Farm Shiitake Bruschetta by Chef Richard Bovino; Jonathan Rapp’s Herbed Soeltl Farm Deviled Eggs; Dagmar’s divine Flourless Chocolate Torte; chased by Ashlawn Farms Cowgirl Joe coffee, and — if you’ve been very good — maybe a notorious Church House Spice Cookie — if the band doesn’t eat them all first…
Consider taking advantage of the dining discounts we’ve arranged for you at four Old Saybrook restaurants a short stroll from the Kate… here’s the list.
And then there are the special offers (for ticketholders only!) at a still-growing list of shops in the area on Saturday and/or Sunday, April 17 and 18. Start by saving 15% on hats at C&G in Chester… a complete list will be available to attendees.
If you’d like to show your support but can’t attend this special event, please consider making a donation of any amount by clicking the “Donate†button.
Remember, this is happening THIS FRIDAY, APRIL 16! We sure hope to see you there!
