BRINGING ART TO THE HEAT OF HEALING
Pat and Sharla Clermont lost their daughter, Tauxva to brain cancer last year. They spent many agonizing hours at BC Children's Hospital providing love and support for their child. The Clermonts are both artists and they naturally gravitated to the arts as a form of therapy for working on though the pain of losing their 16 month old baby.
While talking , singing and holding Tauxva, who was unresponsive for long periods of time was helpful, the Clermonts needed to do something. One day they decided to ask about painting a wall mural on the pediatric intensive care unit at Children's Hospital. They looked at each other and thought, no way they was going to happen. Upon consultation with hospital staff, they were pleasantly surprised when they receive enthusiastic support for their proposed project. the unit now boasts a playful purple elephant and a swirling keyboard with bunny musicians in a magical park like setting. The Clermonts involved Tauxva in the painting
through talking about the features they had painted while she was sleeping. This activity provided healthy parent child interaction and a much needed connection to the natural world. the transformation of pain and suffering into a beautiful work of art, not only provided some pleasure and solace for the staff, patients and visitors as well. A lot of positive feedback was received from al who saw the mural. It helped bring the outside natural world into an otherwise traumatic, unnatural setting.
The Clermonts have allowed themselves to express their grief and love of their daughter through their art. They are an inspired couple who have obviously benefited from their self directed form of art therapy. they celebrate and honor Tauxva's life every time they speak of her. this child is truly loved in life and in death. One can still see the raw, gut-wrenching pain in their eyes when they speak of Tauxva.
they are the first to admit that the grieving process has many layers. The Clermonts over riding strength flows from their faith and their love for each other. They did and still do a lot of praying to keep themselves "centered" and healthy. This allows them to work through this tumultuous time in creative ways. sharla has always expressed her feelings through her art and is thankful to have had the opportunity to involve her daughter in her love of the arts and nature. Pat speaks of her gift to him as a teacher, in terms of her ability to make him laugh, to find joy in the moment and just appreciate life. Sharla and Pat are able to fully express the joy, the and the sorrow of their experience.
The need to express their feelings through art has developed into a private company called Tauxva's Dream Factory Artists, which promotes the... Second Page of this Article...
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