Art & Entertainment

Art and conversation: a healing combination

This watercolor is an interpretation of Lori Johnson’s thoughts and emotions during a recent chemotherapy treatment at Swedish C

Lori Johnson knew the drill when she would arrive at Swedish Covenant Hospital for her chemotherapy sessions. But knowing what to expect didn’t make it easy. Sometimes loneliness, boredom and not having a way to express her feelings magnified the pain.

So when nurses in the hospital’s cancer center offered Johnson, 61, the opportunity to participate in a new art-based healing program during her treatment, she accepted. A short time later, Liz Ahlem, Swedish Covenant Hospital’s resident artist at the time, sat down beside Johnson, sketchbook in hand.

The two women began to talk, and for an hour, Johnson shared some of her thoughts about her life, health and her illness, while Ahlem painted her interpretation of Johnson’s sentiments. At the end of the session, Ahlem presented Johnson with a watercolor that included images reflecting Johnson’s work as a librarian, the pain she was experiencing in her hands, and something that neither expected — forms that Johnson interpreted as signs of her Christian faith.  

“My finished drawing seemed to have some spiritual aspects to it, which made me think of hope and all the people thinking of me and praying for me,” Johnson said. “Looking at it a few weeks later, I realized that this interaction had helped me through this experience, and I wanted to have another session with Liz to create more art that reflected hope and resurrection. Overall I had a very good experience and found a new way to express my feelings."

Johnson has now finished her chemotherapy, but visits the hospital for follow-up appointments. Her meeting with Ahlem is an example of the hospital’s Patient-focused Art Sessions program, which began in January 2011 thanks to a grant from the Swedish Covenant Hospital Foundation.

Rev. Kari Lindholm-Johnson, a chaplain in Swedish Covenant Hospital's Pastoral Care department and the hospital's current artist-in-residence, wrote the original grant proposal for this program. She explained that the idea behind the art sessions is to interpret patients’ stories and feelings through art to help them visualize the emotions and experiences of their healing process. She believes this was the case for Johnson.

The watercolor produced during Johnson's session and many others were displayed during the hospital's annual healing art show, coordinated by Lind-holm Johnson.

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