KELOWNA, canada
Biography:
Born to an Irish farm girl who became a scrub nurse and a Serbian father who came back from WWII a dangerous and mentally ill man, I learned early on to create my own reality. My father was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder.I have vivid memories such as running through the night as my father shot at us with his German luger. My skills at survival became well-honed.
Being nice and quiet were vital. Meanwhile I created a rich internal world: I sang, danced, created doll clothes and imagined myself to be a circus aerialist.
In high school, I found sanctuary in acting, the art room and the English class. Graduating with the Washington State Arts Council award for fiction and the top art student award did not create a sense of self as artist.
Within five years of high school, I completed an B.A., a B.Ed and studies in the MFA program. Lust/love, marriage and being left as a single parent drove me to being "institutionalized".
For 23 years I taught high school acting, English, creative writing and wrote plays. My soul was screaming to get out first with insomnia then cancer. Migraines and Rheumatoid Arthritis finally enbolden me to dig my way out and I found my own particular redemption in a career of creating art and writing.
The journey has lead me to explore the presence of energy fields. I have had a life time of shifting personas and my mixed media self portraits are a means exploring them. It is not a question of surviving? The journey has allowed me to flourish.
Website: www.cheriehanson.com
