Art, from the heart

I came across Artistic (Fimi) Fimicoloud's art several months ago and I immediately bought a copy of her work "Sparkle Lake Sunrise" which just literally sparkles with joy and hope. Next month marks three years in Fimi's battle against metastatic breast cancer. She is going through chemotherapy at the moment and is preparing to have surgery soon, but she agreed to come and talk to us in our "Fighting Spirit" series on Friday, November 9 about what has helped her to fight, in her talk "The Healing Power of Art".

Fimi started by using her art in real life to help her fight her own personal battle. Her painting has kept her from spending every moment wondering if her disease has spread to this part or that. Instead, her mind is filled with thoughts on how to portray the nature she so loves. She was fortunate to have an artistic background, and a strong love of nature. But as she goes on to say: "...art can heal anyone. If you are angry, pick up a black crayon and attack a piece of paper, if anger feels black to you. Let your heart lead you, and you will never go wrong."

A special feature of her paintings is that she tucks away a pink ribbon (symbol of breast cancer) into each one.

One picture doesn't fit this theme, it is Fimi's "The Warrior Woman", pictured above, with Fimi herself (her favorite avatar is a pink fox). She is a self portrait of Fimi "...from the inside. She is me, and I am her. She is all the warrior women who have fought this battle rising up from the depths of her roots she faces her enemy with bravery and self-assurance. Her shield, though armored and protective, is really her breast. S he was created when I found that my disease had returned to my breasts, leaving one hard, and misshapen. I felt frightened, and so I brought forth the warrior within me, the woman never stopping to end the fight."

When Fimi started to receive emails and letters, she felt the potential to help others see the joy in life, to celebrate. She has given talks, both in world and out, to help people to understand how art heals, and has been featured in her local newspaper and in Rob Stein's article in the Washington Post.

These words especially brought tears to my eyes: "My art, my life, is about looking forward, never looking back – looking back serves no purpose but to break one’s heart when you’re walking a path as difficult as some of us do. So instead I look forward – to that next beautiful sunset on the river."

I am proud to count Fimi among my friends. To read her talk in full please send an IM to Artistic Fimicoloud or myself. Her exhibition on ACS Island will be closing shortly as there is a lot of rebuilding planned, so hurry along there while you still can and if you can't get there in time use the SL search engine or IM Fimi or me to find out where she is showing.

We ended the talk with fireworks. Because it's about Celebration. About Hope.