Sometimes, extraordinary things happen to ordinary things…in this case, to ordinary paint sketches. Sometimes they get the chance to speak about extraordinary truth.
I’ve posted this work before, but I have had cause to put it here again. In terribly difficult circumstances, I gave one of these prints to a mother in a hospital ward. Her beautiful 6-year-old son is fighting for his life and limbs after being attacked by meningococcal septicaemia. They need hope in a desperate situation and I just wanted to give them a tiny reminder that hope is alive for their child.
What has happened over the past several days has been nothing short of a miracle. Five days on, this child is alive when they thought he would not make it through the night. Changes have happened hour by hour. It has been a roller coaster of extremes, and there are no easy answers. But he has slowly, slowly turned in the right direction. So I’ve made another version of the ordinary paint sketch. Because I believe it to be so…
One of the most important things is for Caden’s muscles and tissues to return to the pink, healthy colour they are meant to be. So, yesterday was deemed “pink day” for Caden. I’ve never seen so much pink in the hospital or posted onto a facebook community page. Even the nurses on the ward joined in with pink aprons as men walked around with pink lipstick on, pink flowers were put in the waiting room, and a pink dinosaur made its way in, too. Fire departments and walmart staff posted pictures of their pink day. School children and Grandmas put on pink all around the world in support of this child. The change in Caden can be SEEN, as his once black facial features are turning purple and pink again. He needs that in all his limbs to the very tips. So I wanted to express that change by altering the piece one more time:
Tomorrow is a new day – a new hour – for this beautiful, artistic, pirate-loving, warrior child
to hold steady, to move forward, to surprise the doctors, to keep on pink’n.
Whatever is going on in your life right now, my hope is that you are encouraged by this little one. And if you feel like joining in, wear something PINK! for Caden Beggan.
Please click the link below in comments to read Caden’s father’s poignant updates about his son and give your support.
the ART of encouragement 