jrowe

I allow myself to display my anger through my art. I remind myself I am more than a mental illness by telling myself I am creative, artistic and inventive. I have been learning how to cope with my mental illness by creating beautiful things through my artwork.

Love is being held by trees, hoping to rise above everything else. Despite the pain there is still a sky.

I made visual art to encourage young people to find hope by being outside in nature. Whenever I feel stressed or in a challenging time, being in nature can help give me hope. Hiking is not only good exercise but also good for your mental health.

Our entry is a painting with a quote about hope on it. We wanted to show that people can help others find hope instead of just showing ways of how to find hope. We felt that helping others can also help give yourself hope too.

Personally, I really struggled with my mental health for awhile. But ‘they’ were always there. They were my light. My guide. They helped me out of that hole, that darkness, no matter how much I pushed them away. I didn’t want them to be my light. I didn’t want a ‘they.’ But they never left. They stayed. They returned, and they worked harder than before. My ‘they’ were my light. My guide. My hope.

Over quarantine, I developed feelings of shyness and I found it hard to open up to people and new things. I felt very out of place, as if I was missing something in my life, for it was as though I was empty inside. But I eventually decided to open my bedroom window during one of my digital classes and, like magic, I felt free. Opening this path to nature allowed me to relax and realize the beautiful world we live in, and how even just a single breath of fresh air can connect you to endless, amazing experiences.

I decided to create this piece to represent the feelings of letting go. I have faced many situations where I have to stop and let go to move on and be happy. Everyone should know that no one is perfect and making mistakes are ok. I hope those who view my art piece find the courage in letting go of any tension they have kept within themselves.

My painting is based on when I had cancer when I was about five or six years old with Ewing’s Sarcoma. I was in the hospital for a week every other week and I was attached to this panda bear stuffed animal that I got from the gift shop on the hospital’s first floor. I brought the panda bear everywhere I went and it got me to the next day, which is why my painting’s title is named “Tomorrow.” In fact, I still have the panda bear by my bed today, and it’s still giving me hope.