Blog

by Shelley Kerr

 

Used to be that every January, I would evaluate the previous year and set goals for the coming year, assuming with certainty and hubris that I possessed the whole year to work with.

 

Cancer threw a wrench into that habit, for the better. My husband often uses a quote from the movie Stranger Than Fiction: “live your life like you are going to die,” and he adds, “living like you are mortal is a powerful incentive.” Pretty scary. We don’t normally work this way.

 

After 3 metastases, numerous operations, and chemo, I felt like the cancer had got me - it was Fall of 2015. I’d lost the battle. I started negotiating with God: “Give me 3 months...no, a year...no, 5 years...please can I have 5 years?” 

 

This state of mind did not last long, thanks to the breakthroughs in immuno-therapy, progressive doctors, and miraculous timing.

 

Creating art is my way of staking a claim on my own future. I’m alive and I’m going to BE alive. I decided to make a public announcement of my claim by holding a gallery opening for my art. In July, I started working on my gallery show to be held at the Carnegie Center for Creativity. This event was the result of months of planning, creating new art, and committing myself full-on. If you missed the event, here is a link to a tour guided by me. Also, there are plenty of pictures on my page on Facebook.

 

In my current state of fighting cancer, I am blessed with “good health”. I. Feel. Good. And that's allowed me to do all this in comfort. Living comfortably in the present. Another blessing. I’m claiming my present, too. The creative impulse is tied to being in the present and, in the case of sculpture, manifests in my future. A double win for me through a mixture of tenacity and hope.

 

Visitors also had lots of questions about the display of objects for "Dignity" representing all the steps of the foundry process:from clay to bronze.

 

The gallery opening was scary, stressful, expanding, exciting, and ultimately - fun. Over 400 visitors came to the show over 4 days, from as far away as Kansas City and as near as across the street. I was joined by my dear fellow artists, Harleen Alexander and Gwen Hatchette, and together we filled the gallery with fantastic art, courage, and strength. 

 

One of my favorite pieces to talk about was the Nebra Sky Swords. Since the swords are removable, this piece doubles as fine art AND a home security system!

 

This event also included one of my other favorite things: playing music. It is an essential part of my life with my husband. We joined dear friends and family to form a new band called “Hoot and the Nannies” and performed one night during the gallery show.

 

With music, practice and rehearsals come into the picture. But when you play together and play for an audience, you are entirely and wonderfully in the present. I love the creative result of a group of people working together this way, like the communication that occurred between our band-members when we were trying to figure out how to end a song. My thanks go out to Steve, Steve, Chris, Mark and of course, Dave.

 

We brought out our music instruments one night and a friend captured this photo that makes the “To Live” piece look REALLY big…it’s only 3 feet tall!

 

I’d also like to thank my marketing guru, Nick Armstrong with WTF Marketing and my business mentor/guru, Peggy Lyle with the Small Business Development Center and the Downtown Fort Collins Creative District. These two people were indispensable to me as I conceived and implemented this event.

 

The result? I did it. I was able to plan and hold a pretty big event. But as I still go in for CT or PET scans every 90 days and immuno-therapy infusions every 3 weeks, I’m reminded to “live my life like I am going to die," even as I'm tenaciously scoping out my future work.

 

These are precious times and I have lovely plans for new creations. I have enough art in planning that my creative projects and I are staking claim to at least a year's worth of work. Maybe it's time to do some goal setting, again.