The 6 Directions of Healing

On January 5th, 2018, I was in a car accident initiated by an impaired driver on Highway 17 in California's Santa Cruz Mountains. I had several surgeries to regain the use of my arms and hands. Two years after healing from those surgeries, I secured the Arts and Accessibility grant administered by the California Arts Council and funded by the National Arts and Disability Center, UCLA to develop my body of work titled Women of Extraordinary Courage. At that time, I had been an oils and collage painter for over 20 years. The grant allowed me to reunite with my practice, methods, and narratives. However, what we discover in the development of our work is not always foreseeable. Learning about limitations can be challenging. After completion of the work, I made one final painting, a portrait of Amanda Gorman, and it would be my last. During the months of development, I unknowingly had worn down my already injured muscles in my arms and hand. This final portrait revealed that I would no longer be able to paint in my original style or engage in my original method. My technique involved using dry medium brushes to push, turn, and blend my oils. After my surgeries, this was no longer possible and caused severe pain during the development of this body of work. I had one final surgery a year after completing the work because the muscle tore from the bone in my right arm at the elbow. At that time in 2021, I began a deep dive into mycology. I began working with mycelium as a medium because it is lightweight and sustainable.  As a result of this grant and experiencing my limitations, I discovered a new practice and process that serves all of humanity and our Earth. T6DH is documentation of the work I have developed over the past few years.