Tyna Brewer
Growing up on a dairy farm ingrained a deep appreciation of the strength and fragility of all life. My brother and I spent countless hours with our grandmother exploring the pond, woods, fields, and nearby creek that surrounded the farm. There was always something new to discover.
I have never been one to be idle for too long, however, my pace and life as I knew it was forever changed when I had a heart attack caused by Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD) Information on SCAD. This was a rather rare condition that couldn’t be fixed, only treated with time and medicine.
The directive given was “watch daytime television for three months” and stress was to be kept to a minimum. I couldn’t comprehend what I was hearing. I had a vacation planned starting that week and job depending on me. I didn’t have time to be sitting around and quite frankly, I didn’t know how.
To get myself through, I started exploring various methods of artistic expression I’d witnessed, but hadn’t tried. I started out with decoupage, which kept me busy cutting up magazines and making collages with various themes. I then decided to try painting with acrylics and found it relaxing. The next thing was pyrography (wood burning), which is something I have truly grown to love. I have since incorporated whittling into my spare time.
I believe the universe speaks to us all in unique ways; it’s important to be listening.