I recently came in contact with a wonderful woman in Raleigh, North Carolina. Amy Jo was a fan of my facebook page and sent me a link to her wonderful page called
Healing Ceilings. Amy Jo's husband just came through his second brush with cancer. She and her husband were spending lots of time in the Cancer Care Center of North Carolina, he, getting treatment and she, waiting and observing. Observing the same people day after day, as they came in for their chemo or radiation treatments. She decided to do something to brighten their lives and encourage them in their fight.
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| BlueBird of Happiness by Kathy Garvey |
Amy Jo believes in the healing power of art. She decided to brighten the days of these patients by giving them something inspiring to look at while they receive their treatments. Out came those old, white, boring ceiling tiles to be replaced with individual tiles turned into creative art. How she did this, I do not know, but she has single handedly installed hundreds of tiles in cancer care centers in the Raleigh area.
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Peaceful Beach by Denette Schweikert
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She contacted artists through Facebook and asked them to donate their work on ceiling tiles that she somehow supplies. Nothing stops her. When I saw her posts and decided to donate, she arranged for me to go to my local Lowes (in Florida) where I picked up a box of the proper tiles at no cost to me. Naturally, I involved my painting group,
Pieces of 8 and gathered additional volunteers from them. One of the group, Cindy Michaud, who summers out of town, was following the journey on Facebook. Being a person who does not let grass grow under her feet, she contacted Amy Jo and so far, has painted 6 tiles for the project.
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Road to Sunshine by Cindy Michaud (2 tiles)
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| Garden of Inspiration by Cindy Michaud (4 tiles) |
Everyone wanted to do peaceful scenes filled with inspiration.
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Sailing the Bay by Mary Warnick
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Ocean Sunrise by Carmen Beecher
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I decided to do 3 typical scenes of North Carolina:
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Abstracted Sea by Carol Schiff
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| Carolina Marsh by Carol Schiff |
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Mountain Mist by Carol Schiff
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Did I tell you each tile is 24x24"?
Now that the tiles are complete, Amy Jo has done a "shout out" on Facebook to bring them home to Raleigh. In her words, "The Love Train is leaving the station". She will find volunteers who will transfer the tiles from place to place until eventually, they will be delivered to her hands for installation.
A story of love and compassion and determination. The next time you think "What difference can I make"?
Think of Amy Jo.
