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These Shoes were made for Healing

If you subscribe to our newsletter, we recently asked readers to tell us how art has helped them navigate loss and grief and how painting, photography, writing, sculpture has led them to healing. We think art can be a powerful lens with which to look at our mortality and working backward, how we can live with intention and meaning.

A friend, Donnette Wheelock wrote about these two prints.

“When my Dad had Alzheimer’s, one of my friends (Justin) was in art school and working on a project with a focus on shoes. His premise was that shoes reflect much about the person who wears them. After a poignant conversation about my Dad, Justin asked if Dad had a favorite pair of shoes. I told him Dad loved cowboy boots. Justin asked for a photo of Dad‘s boots. I sent him the photo, then forgot about the art project.         

Several months later, my Dad died. Justin showed up at my office with a sympathy card, a hug, and the print he had created of Dad‘s cowboy boots. I was immensely touched by this gift of his art, and I immediately had it matted and framed.

Five months later after my father-in-law died very unexpectedly, I asked Justin to create a print of my father-in-law‘s farm work boots. Justin created enough prints for us, my mother-in-law and several of my husband’s siblings.    

The two prints hang side-by-side in our living room, a reminder of our fathers and a true gift from the heart of a friend.”

How has art helped in your journey of healing? Let us know by sending a message to info@endinmindproject.org

 

 

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