Mental Health and All-Inclusive Art Project

Friends, Family, Fans, and anybody else who's willing to listen -

Since my partial hysterectomy in April, 2017, I've suffered physical pain, isolation, and a strange condition where the anticipation of fun, joy, or being with the people whom I hold dear sends me into a full fight-or-flight response: loss of solids in various ways, convulsive tremors, and a sort of anxiety-paralysis.  This physical trauma separated me from my own strength and confidence, and released the contents of a Pandora's box that "Strong Me" had previously been able to carry. 

I've been doing all the hard work - digging in deep with a number of psychologists, energy workers, past life regression, Angels, meditation coaches, chiropractors, traditional and functional medicine doctors, and an integrative psychiatric nurse practitioner.  The latter of these has recently given me a diagnosis of Depression and Anxiety and put me on a regimen of medications and supplements in hopes of removing some of the heavy symptoms that keep me from accessing the trauma I need to deal with in therapy. 

Although I have not been able to PLAY much, I have been able to do plenty of WORK.  My catering business is growing, my books are selling, I'm caring for my 98-year-old grandfather who lives in Georgia, I'm working on making The Studio Mama Supper Club dream come true, and I'm making art again.

That last part has a special place in this note to you.  Even though I've been isolating, I know that there are so many people here in my own household and out there in the world who care deeply for me.  During the darkest times, when I've been on the edge of unzipping my Rebecca suit and stepping into the Light, I remember you.  I remember what it means to be connected to my friends and my work and even to this butterfly slurping nectar just outside the window as I'm typing.  YOU are not only what tethers me to this world, but also what helps me move through it and soar above it, so...

Here's my ask - I'm working on another pair of wings (I think this is my 5th set!) and I want the feathers to be paper dolls MADE BY YOU!  They can represent something about you or something that makes you think of me, they can be silly or serious, they can be store-bought singles or hand-cut chains, just so long as they are made of paper.  They will be layered, so some of the details may not be visible, but I won't know how it'll all be put together until I receive them and can physically lay them out. 

Use your own imagination or use someone else's for inspiration.  Below is a video for basic paper doll cutting and above is a pic of a pair of wings I made in 2016 which will serve as a model for the skeleton for this project.

Please mail your artsy-fartsy contributions BY OCT 31 to:
Hearts in the Mix
ATTN Rebecca Wood, Studio Mama
4501 Charlotte Pike #90805
Nashville TN  37209