How Art Heals-WEB

49 21. Janice Stevens www.Janicestevensquilts.com Suratthani, Thailand Janice composed a series of stitched pieces based on her experience with depression, an illness that runs through her family. “You just put your head down and keep going, which I did until my fifties. At that point, I began to think about ending my life. After five years of psychotherapy, medication, and treatment for a chronic sleep disorder, I overcame those thoughts. I was able to pursue activities I enjoyed, and interact with my family with a new level of intimacy. “However, I always wondered why people couldn’t understand what I was going through when I had depression. They saw me as strong, directed, and capable. That’s why I made my series called Devolution. It was my way of explaining it to them. “The bodhi leaf has always fascinated me. I’ve used it in my art to represent the soul or life force. In the first quilt it begins whole but with small areas of decay. As the image progresses, the leaf has become completely de- stroyed, and then it f loats away on a breeze in the final piece.” At the completion of the series, I felt that I was f inished with my need to explain and justify myself. I was f inally showing everyone who I am, warts and all. Much later, I realized my message was more than telling people I’d been depressed and angry and weak. In fact, I understood that I had been strong. It was my strength that kept me going for forty years.