Craft For Health

Quilting as the Art of Healing by Jeannie Bush

It is early Friday in La Crosse WI. My sister, in Fargo, ND, calls to say there has been a change in Dad’s breathing. You will want to come home, but know that you will not make it “in time.”

 

Five days later, Dad is still alive; his pacemaker keeps on pacing.  The five of us kids and Mom try to pace ourselves. In life and in death, Dad had a hard time giving up.

 

Each of us handles the stress of a death of a parent or loved one differently. For me, sitting at my sister’s home and hand sewing on the binding of a quilt gave me peace. 

 

My sister and I had shared the making of this quilt to give to our nephew and his bride . . . the wedding just over a week away.  Calm comes over me as I thread the needle, feel the fabric with my fingers, and rhythmically stitch the binding. . . but I see in my mind,  my Dad dying the wasting-away- kind-of- death he feared, just like when he was a Prisoner of War under the Japanese in WWII. Tears fall on the wedding quilt.

 

In the past eight years, my husband lost his job of 23 years, gained and lost four more jobs, is unemployed presently, and had a massive heart attack at age 46; we became empty nest; my father died; my mother has slipped into vascular dementia; my sister has colon cancer; my mother-in-law has breast cancer, chronic lymphatic leukemia and had a hemorrhagic stroke. I come from a family of medicine, and understand it well, but, is this enough stress yet?

 

When my world is falling down around me, I head to my sewing area. Smell the unique scent of fabric. Feel the soft, rough, smooth textures. Put some fabrics together on the design wall. Hear the whir of sewing machine. Calmness comes over me. Now I can sort the feelings, deal with some, put some away for later. Some would call it therapy. I call it quilting, the art of healing.

 

Written by Jeannie M. Bush

Founded in 1999, Quilting From My Heart created quilted treasures with personalized story labels that will touch your heart.

www.QuiltingFromMyHeart.com

http://quiltingfrommyheart.com/blog/

Scrimshaw and a Vietnam Vet

 

 "The only real guarantee in life is change. I believe in placing my confidence and hope in the uncertainty of change." – Jim Stevens.

As a child, Jim Stevens' grandmother taught him how to draw and paint. As an adult, Stevens studied with American sculptor Ed Dwight and Russion stone and gem carver Vasily Konovalenko. But his growing reputation as an artist was about to end.

While in Vietnam, Stevens was shot in the head during a combat mission, which left him with permanent severe migraines. In 1994 a migraine caused a stroke in his visual cortex, leaving him legally blind. He was disability retired from his position as a professor at the University of Colorado. Soon after, Stevens’ wife left the family and he became the single parent of two young daughters. Stevens also stopped creating art.

The next several years were spent in anger and depression trying to cope with his disability.

Martial Arts

In 1998, Stevens was introduced to the martial arts under the guidance of a patient yet gruff instructor who made him see possibilities beyond his disability. In 2000, after adapting his technical skills utilizing special lenses to work with his disability, Stevens began to slowly and patiently relearn his craft and produce art again.

In 2002, at age 52, Stevens became the oldest, and only blind man to ever win the men's fighting competition at the Rocky Mountain Martial Arts "Tournament of Champions." In 2004, he achieved the rank of Shodan - a Shaolin black belt.

 

The Courage to start Carving again

After being prodded by the martial arts instructor, I struggled for two years to get my artistic skills back and that struggle changed my life. If I had given up, which I wanted to do many times, my life would not be what it is today. I discovered that when you love something like I love my art, and refuse to give up, you can change your life. Call it art or craft, when you care that much, you can overcome the challenges. At times, my daughters even helped. They would look over my shoulder and say things like, "No, Dad. You missed that line. It goes this way."

 

My struggle and the help I received to restore my skills has reaffirmed my belief in myself and my love of the art I do. Today, Stevens is also an internationally collected scrimshaw artist, carver, and sculptor whose work can be found in several art galleries around the country. He is also the author of three books on the art of scrimshaw technique published by Schiffer Publishing. He has won both First Place and Best of Show at several juried competitions and has been recently accepted as a Kennedy Center VSA Registered Artist in both the visual and literary arts.

Award winning Hollywood screenwriter Paul Cooper is currently writing a screenplay about Stevens’ life. According to Cooper, “It is a story that needs to be told.”

You can learn more about this incredible American Hero and see more of Jim Stevens work on his website:  www.ScrimshawStudio.com.  

Jim, Kathy and I both want to say, "Thanks for your service."

 

Crafts & Veterans

Crafts are an integral part of therapy for hospitalized veterans, especially those that have a brain injury and need to relearn eye hand coordination. It's a lot more fun and fosters creativity.  

To learn more about becoming a craft care specialist or to donate, please visit HHV.org.