Artist Journey February 5,2023
Sent: 2/5/2023 1:14:11 PM

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An Artist's Journey

February 5, 2023

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Art is an expression of the soul.

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Cindi and me on one of our last mountain hikes before our move to Missouri. We will miss our friends and the mountains. As Paul Simon sang, "Preserve your memories, that's all that's left you."

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I'm enjoying sharing ... my artwork, teaching, and stories with all of you via my newsletters.

"If you want to make God laugh, tell Him you made plans...."

As many of you know, lots of things have changed over the last year or so.

We both miss our old friends.

Prostate Cancer

Surprise prostate cancer has affected my life. There has been surgery, radiation, and hormone therapy. I still have a ways to go. I feel pretty good and expect to be around another 25 - 50 years.

In September 2020 I asked my doctor to give me a thorough physical. I asked him to look for anything that may not be obvious. A test discovered that my PSA was extremely high. Further tests indicated that I had prostate cancer. Prostate issues can be invisible.

Surgery was scheduled for January 6th, 2021. Following the surgery, I went through 35 bouts of radiation treatments. It took a few months for my body to recover.

Next, I started 2 years of hormone therapy. At this point, I still have a few more months of hormone therapy to go. In April the doctors will evaluate my situation.

A good aspect of all of this is, I've had no pain. The major side effects have been a lack of energy and weakness. I find myself tired often.

I plan on having a future. I have a lot left to do. I can't wait to get back to mentoring and making new paintings.

Radiation Machine

Succesful Completion Of Radiation

Next Story: Moving From Colorado to Missouri

In April 2022, Cindi & I decided to move from Colorado to Missouri. We wanted to be closer to our families and reconnect with loved ones. So we sold our house and moved.

We are in a temporary house while we are building our new house and studio here at the Lake of the Ozarks.

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Next Story: An unexpected bacterial infection nearly took my life

Cindi and my neighbor saved my life

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Next Story: The Adventure Of Building A New House

Building a new house with a studio is a big deal. Hopefully, it will be completed in late 2023.

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I miss teaching. I miss my SKB friends, my students, and all of my friends in Colorado. The people here are friendly and I'm confident we'll build new friendships before too long.

Creating paintings has been difficult here as I don't have much space here in our temporary house, and I'm constantly distracted. My art supplies are lost in piles of boxes tucked away in every space in this house. At least, I found a few watercolors. They are filling a void and my artistic needs.

Cindi started volunteering at HA HA TONKA State Park. It's a really pretty state park and only 10 minutes from our house. This summer she'll become a valuable asset to the park. She is making friends.

So for now, that's enough information. I'll try to keep you posted as we make progress in building our new dream.

I'm hopeful that I'll restart my newsletters so we can keep in touch.

I'll start posting more on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram soon!

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I hope that during this pandemic we all are learning things

about ourselves in order to reshape our lives.

This is the time to make sure that we redesign our lives to appreciate

each moment we have.

I've been inspired by so many people who have put the well-being of others ahead of themselves.

I realize that life is all too short and fragile.

Perhaps we all should be grateful for this time.

We should use what's left of it wisely.

I encourage you to make your list of what you need to get done

(there will never be a better time),

projects that you've been meaning to finish,

ways to enrich your lives and new things you want to do to learn

and help you grow.

I'm creating paintings I've always wanted to do.

I'm listening more and talking less.

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Classes & Workshops make memorable and lasting gifts!

Shanika Studio
www.ShanikaFineArts.com
2111 Bagnell Dam Blvd

Box 1211
Lake Ozark, MO. 65049

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