By Soraya Fata

Ericka Weiffenbach first heard of Brushes with Cancer from the Bresties Women’s Group of Northern Illinois, which she joined after receiving her diagnosis. Still new, she felt alone and lacking a community of people going through a similar life change. At the time, she hadn’t shared her diagnosis publicly and she couldn’t escape the feeling of isolation.

Ericka applied to Brushes with Cancer, the flagship program of Twist Out Cancer, that matches artists with inspirations who tell them their story to create a work of art and was matched with Anne Marie Morgan. Anne Marie is a self-taught artist, still trying to find her own style, by trying new things and using new materials and mediums.

“I still think everything I paint is going to be awful,” says Anne Marie. If you see her work though, you’d know it’s just imposter syndrome.

Anne Marie’s own health struggles have been central to her journey so far as an artist. She started out with oil painting, experimenting with realism, and spending months on a single piece altering it over and over. After suffering from complex regional pain syndrome, which causes severe nerve pain and weakness, she took a hiatus in painting to receive treatment at the Ketamine Clinic. When she came back to painting, she took a leap and went well beyond her wheelhouse to water-based mediums that are completely unforgiving, because once they are on the canvas, there is no way to alter the piece. This began a journey of new mediums and experimentation with surreal representation through the use of inks, dyes, water, acrylic and oil, whose unpredictability and permanency – like her health issues – helped Anne Marie release control over the final outcome.

Anne Marie was surprised when she met Ericka and learned how recently she had been diagnosed. She had worked previously with other Brushes inspirations, but all were post treatment and had the opportunity to process their diagnosis before joining the program. Ericka, on the other hand, was processing it alongside Anne Marie during their discussions. Anne Marie was no stranger to health issues though and her sister was also a breast cancer survivor, so the newness of Ericka’s disease did not intimidate her or make her shy away. Instead, she did exactly the opposite. She leaned in.

“Talking to Anne Marie felt like someone giving me an invisible hug,” said Ericka. “It helped me open up, to her, and also to my network.”

For breast cancer awareness month, Ericka posted on social media about her diagnosis and need for a double mastectomy. Immediately, the messages of love and support started pouring in. People were fighting over who could take her to her next doctor’s appointment. Someone set up a GoFundMe. Loved ones wore “Ericka Support Squad” matching t-shirts on the day of her surgery. A meal train was organized for post-surgery, and flowers and other thoughtful gifts were sent. Ericka was overwhelmed with love and support she didn’t know she had.

“I was astonished at how much support she actually had given her initial fears about being alone,” said Anne Marie.

That connection with her own community was important for Ericka. For Ericka, the hardship that came with being a cancer patient wasn’t the physical aspect, it was the mental one –  watching everyone else go about their lives, while she was figuring out how to say goodbye to her breasts. A redefining moment as a woman.

Ericka described the community she found through Brushes with Cancer and through meeting Anne Marie, as a “silver lining” to her cancer journey. She clicked instantly with Anne Marie at their first breakfast meeting and have stayed in close touch throughout their time working together. Ericka also found comfort in hearing other people’s stories on the zoom calls set up for Brushes with Cancer Inspirations. Now, months later, and more grounded, Ericka shares, “If my story can help someone else, I’ve done my job.”

This is Anne Marie’s third time as an artist for Brushes with Cancer and she was struck by how different it felt to move through someone’s journey with them and to have the story come out over time. She was moved by the sheer number of people showing up to help Ericka navigate her treatment, both psychologically and instrumentally, and this ultimately inspired the painting she created.

The painting, titled “Friendship-Receptor Positive,” depicts an old brick bridge, moss-covered and enveloped by surrounding flora – to symbolize steadfastness and strength – that Anne Marie imagined being built brick by brick as Ericka developed and fostered relationships throughout her lifetime such that in Ericka’s time of crisis, loved ones could cross back over that friendship bridge to aid her. The ‘E’ and ‘W’ on the bridge does not stand for East and West, but rather for Ericka Weiffenbach. The bridge is her opus, and the misty bright horizon beyond the bridge is a harbinger of what is to come – lightness and love. The painting incorporates all the mediums and styles Anne Marie has ever experimented with as an artist, highly detailed in some areas, and also utilizing free-flowing inks and dyes, telling her story as an artist from beginning to now as well as Ericka’s story.

Ericka’s battle is not over yet, but she’s certainly not walking the path alone. So many people have crossed back over the friendship bridge Ericka built throughout her lifetime, to stand with her during her time of need.