Painting passion pushes woman with cancer
By Staff
Jonathan Willis
The ride to Ruth Wiley's home on Cedar Lake reveals many scenes perfect for a painting.
Whether it's deer running, colorful birds flying or the smooth waters flowing near her home, there is plenty for a nature lover to take in.
For the 84 year-old Wiley, putting those scenes into an artistic rendering has become routine.
Wiley began painting on gourds about a year ago, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer. Painting mostly birds and other animals, Wiley found that her mind was taken off the illness and put towards something that puts her at ease.
"I don't worry about it," said Wiley, who has painted since childhood.
"I just think about what I'm doing and don't think about myself."
She has plenty friends and family for that.
Wiley's daughter, Patti Kimbrough of Russellville, still remembers hearing the news that her mother was ill.
"In April of 2008, I heard the dreaded words from the family doctor, 'your mother is concerned that she has cancer and I am concerned that she has cancer," Kimbrough said.
Further tests confirmed the diagnosis.
"It seems that mother had been dealing with this news for some time and did not want to share it with family for fear of disrupting our lives," said Kimbrough, who shares her mother's artistic ability, only hers is through music.
"She had complete peace with God and had talked with Him countless hours prior to my hearing the news."
Wiley began painting gourds to help keep her mind off the illness.
"I may get up and start painting at 10 a.m. and before I know it it's 10 p.m.," she said,
"Mother is an artist," Kimbrough said. "Although she has had no formal training, her expression and talent are clearly a special gift."
The news that she had been diagnosed with a devastating illness inspired Wiley to pull out the paint brushes again.
"It was during this time that God inspired mother to get her paint out and express herself through her art," said Kimbrough, whose brother Scotty Wiley is also an artist.
"She had some gourds that my brother had grown and she just picked one up and started painting flowers and birds on the gourds. Mother loves and admires God's creation, so expressing herself through these paintings came easily. As she acquired more gourds, she chose each one carefully and looked at it choosing a special setting for each and every one."
One thing led to another and Wiley has now painted more than 200 gourds.
"A close family friend came to visit with mother and encouraged her to share them with other people. The friend offered to take them with her and share them and mother began getting orders that she had difficulty keeping up with. She spent hours and hours washing, cleaning, sketching, painting and polishing the finished products," Kimbrough said.
Then during the peak of her production, she was told that chemotherapy, surgery and radiation would be necessary for the treatment of her disease.
"Mother expressed that she didn't want treatment and shared with us that she was prepared and ready to go if God chose."
But after consulting with several doctors, she was encouraged that the result of the treatment would give her a much better quality of life than she would have if she chose not to receive the treatment.
As she began her chemo, she never slowed down with her painting. The chemo weakened her and she lost her appetite and her hair but she continued her work with the gourds. She shared her gift with nurses, doctors, friends and strangers.
But late last year, Wiley's health took a turn for the worse and she was forced to spend several weeks in the hospital or traveling for radiation treatments.
Through it all, her son and daughter stood by her side and saw the strong willed mother that they love so much, return to her home.
"In the middle of all the pain, in an amazing way, it has been one of the most rewarding years I have ever experienced," Kimbrough said.
"I have seen mother reach out and touch so many people through this journey in such a positive way. She has expressed herself through her painting every day and she continues to share this gifted expression of love. Mother has shared with me that it has been said that cancer touches you where nothing else can, and it has.
"She has addressed the fact several times that she has noticed and appreciated more of God's beauty in the last year than she could have ever thought possible."
She lives alone on a beautiful spot right on the lake with birds of every kind. She watches them and notices their behavior–all being so different. She watches the deer play and run and eat. She sees the raccoons and the armadillos sneaking around at night and has even seen mountain lions roaming around.
Cancer has not made her bitter. She feels blessed and grateful to experience so much of God's glory.
"I feel that this inspiration has been a driving force behind her paintings as she views each gourd with a different possibility," Kimbrough said.
"Even though some gourds may be the same painted subject, they are all different and specially thought out as she studies them for the greatest end result. Sometimes the ugliest of gourds turn out to be the most beautifully painted and polished."
Although she gets a little tired from her hours and hours of painting, in spite of the fact that her body is battling cancer, she remains positive, encouraged and strong.
"As God continues to surround her life with beauty, at the age of 84, she continues expressing her gratefulness in her art work," Kimbrough said.
