Gallery coming soon

You will be able to view the fantastic art on MDS Awareness Day: October 25th 2020

‘Art Works – Visions of life with MDS’ gallery

All of the artworks exhibited here have been created by members of the MDS community, as part of MDS World Awareness Day on October 25th, 2020. They have been created to help the world understand the challenges of living with MDS, while also celebrating personal stories of love, hope and strength.

Prepare to be moved and inspired.

Click images to view.

ART WORKS going live in…

KRISTIN LAMELAS, UNTITLED: I created this Mandala series to fill myself and others with love and joy.

Kristin Lamelas

Read more →

DOUG GAUDETTE, UNTITLED: Monarch butterflies are both beautiful and fun to photograph. Even though I'm feeling fatigued or a bit dizzy at times, I can sit in my chair and photograph these beautiful creatures. It reminds me that I can still do many of the things I like to do. The monarchs are both delicate and strong, a very nice combination. Although they will be heading south very soon, they will be back in the late spring and I'll be ready.

Doug Gaudette

Read more →

JENNIFER CUNHA, UNTITLED: This picture was taken just moments before our sister Kristi passed away. One last time, Kristi, her sisters, brother, sister-in-law and dad held hands. Kristi had survived a stem cell transplant, a mastectomy and was in remission from her second fight with MDS. While undergoing a series of stem cell boosts, Kristi contracted a respiratory virus that ultimately took her life. After Kristi's initial diagnosis her best friend started Kristi's Krew, a group where those who loved and supported Kristi's fight came together. Our motto is "No one in this family fights alone". Kristi's Krew continues to raise awareness and fight MDS to ensure that all those battling MDS and their families have access to the care and support our Kristi and our family did.

Jennifer Cunha

Read more →

MARIAN EICHINGER, ACCEPTING REALITY AND OVERWHELMED BY THE COMPLEXITY: This is a hand-cut collage of images that dominated my life after my diagnosis of MDS in May 2018. The collage turned into a visual of what my general daily or weekly routine looked like: labs, blood draws, fluids, doctor notes, transfusions, infusions, white blood cells, blasts, red blood cells, and platelets. The pictures overlap and interrupt each other, becoming the tangle of complexity that is MDS.

Marian Eichinger

Read more →

LAUREL FELDMAN, ALMOND TREE’S BLESSINGS: As I was walking, I came to a stone-stepped path cutting through the ancient Judean Hills. I stopped to record the glorious sight of blossoming almond trees! The beauty was spectacular, and seeing nature's wonderful sign — the almond blossoms, the birth of a new season — I was elated. There is a path of hope and rebirth. This image invokes to me all the possibilities of hope during tremendous challenges and struggles along life’s path. A presence of being here now and a visual wish to all viewers to always be surrounded by almond trees and their sweet-smelling springtime blossoms.

Laurel Feldman

Read more →

JULIA MCGUIRE, LOVE AND JOY: MOTHER AND DAUGHTER: This is my daughter and me finding joy in life — she is my heart and soul, and why I fight this disease. This is a photograph filtered with photo editing software.

Julia McGuire

Read more →

PAT LAWSON, PRAYERS FOR A CURE OF MDS: October 25, 2020 is the 2-year anniversary of when he was given the diagnosis of high-risk MDS. After he quit responding to a clinical trial and had no response to the standard-of-care treatment for MDS, at the age of 66 years, he realized he would not live long enough to see a cure for this disease. So he surprised his daughter with a father–daughter dance, and had it videoed so that she could play it at her wedding whenever she gets married in the future.

Pat Lawson

Read more →

SUSAN BROWN, NIGHT: February 2017: This is the view from my hospital isolation window in MSK (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center), overlooking the 59th Street Bridge (“Feelin’ Groovy”), during allogeneic transplant conditioning, transplant, and the start of recovery. I sketched this quickly on my iPad and ran a couple filters on it.

Susan Brown

Read more →

Raul Braylan

Read more →

ALISSA METGE, UNTITLED: MDS diagnosis has been life changing for our family. We are grounded in hope, faith, and love.

Alissa Metge

Read more →

BONNIE VINCI, HIS EMPTY CHAIR: I can't paint or draw much, but I painted this in honor of my husband, Rick, who died of MDS. It's a drawing of his favorite chair — he spent hours sitting in it, watching TV, sleeping, and sitting with our granddaughter. His empty chair signifies our sadness, our loss, our missing him.

Bonnie Vinci

Read more →

CATHERINE SUNDERMANN, WEFT AND WARP: "Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart." — Winnie the Pooh. Machine embroidery stitches on canvas.

Catherine Sundermann

Read more →

GERALD BRODSKY, UNTITLED: Feeling of hope. TLC from family. Caregivers provide hope.

Gerald Brodsky

Read more →

JOHN LOPER, UNTITLED: Transformational hope upon receipt of bone marrow transplant.

John Loper

Read more →

KATHY STERMER, NO FUTURE: Collage made at a holistic healing center, depicting feelings of my living with MDS and feelings of hopelessness of future. Now on supportive care only.

Kathy Stermer

Read more →

KAREN WITMER, SUNSET OF MY LIFE: When I was diagnosed with MDS 2 years ago at 69 years old, I realized that there was a timeline to the end of my life. I don't know when that will be, but I am living as much as I can with the time I have left.

Karen Witmer

Read more →

LISA MCDONNELL, HOPE AMONG TURBULENT WATERS: Living with MDS can feel like rowing a small boat among turbulent waters. With the love and support from my family and help from my medical team, I feel like I have a lighthouse that guides me to shore through those difficult times.

Lisa McDonnell

Read more →

PAMELA HOYLE, UNRAVELED: My life before MDS was ordered and neatly compartmentalized — then, a few worrisome bruises were mentioned to my doctor. BOOM! Diagnosis unraveled my life. The spirals on each side represent my DNA and that of my donor. They come together in the middle, as my donor's DNA overtook mine. The ends are unfinished, as is my story. MDS-U (Primary) Dx, age 57; HSCT 6-5-19; MDS Free Fall, 2019.

Pamela Hoyle

Read more →

RICH BILYK, JOURNEY: I would like the future to seem bright for all who have MDS. This is an extra challenge since I have had a stroke (23 years). Neuropathy and dialysis and diabetic. But hope for the bright future for all!

Rich Bilyk

Read more →

SUSAN URBAN, NEVER FEAR: I did this in honor of my father, who passed away from MDS in 2012. Family and his Italian heritage were very important to him. The heart represents his love for his family and his family's love for him. The red lines symbolize the 89 transfusions he had. The black lines symbolize suffering. Ultimate reward in heaven/God.

Susan Urban

Read more →

KAREN O'DOWD, FLOWERS OF THE FIELD: Wildflowers give us hope as they pop up to surprise us with their brave blaze of color, fighting to bloom among the choking weeds and grasses. Like how having a good blood count report gives us hope in the exhausting battle with MDS.

Karen O'Dowd

Read more →

ALINA DULAU, THE PEACOCK OF LIFE: The peacock's feathers symbolize the diverstiy of the daughter cells stemming from progenitor cells, through the interaction of genes and environmental factors. Life, and even dreams, emerge from cells.

Alina Dulau

Read more →

BETH TONER, THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY (THANKS, COVID): My mom has MDS and is on hospice care in assisted living. This is only an impression of what it was like to only see her through a window as she nears the end of her life.

Beth Toner

Read more →

DEBORAH PIERCE, GENERATIVITY: A blast cell casts the light on the mountain ranges; the colors are warm, to express my mother's uncanny ability to foster generativity and love during her 10-year battle with MDS. The two trees have heart-shaped petals signifying her two granddaughters, and the Chinese character for "love" is for her commitment to teaching English as a second language in China.

Deborah Pierce

Read more →

JERRY & PAM PETRONE, HANDS FORMING HEART: "Hands forming heart" is a collaborative piece. My husband, Jerry, and I have always approached his MDS as a team. We feel it has strengthened our love.

Jerry & Pam Petrone

Read more →

JANE BIEHL, AUTUMN + CANCER: Cancer survivors are like autumn, bruised and battered and blown but come out beautiful and colorful!

Jane Biehl

Read more →

MARGARET DAVIS, SO THANKFUL: I am just so thankful for having been diagnosed early and for being blessed with 11 years' survival!

Margaret Davis

Read more →

MARTIN OSETE, UNTITLED: The love I have for my land, the Sonoran Desert in Arizona.

Martin Osete

Read more →

SUSAN MALMGREN, BLOOD + NUMBERS: I started with all the numbers that seem to control my life. I was diagnosed with high-risk MDS-EB2 in August 2018. The center image represents my bone marrow/stem cells. The bits of teal and lavender represent the medication that gave me a year of remission, feeling like myself.

Susan Malmgren

Read more →

SUSAN MALMGREN, G&T: Since my diagnosis in August 2018 with high-risk MDS-EB2, my world has turned upside down. I miss an occasional gin and tonic and glass of wine with dinner.

Susan Malmgren

Read more →

HEATHER MYERS, PERSEVERANCE: Perseverance, Hope, Grit... all things that are required to fight MDS. My dad is living proof that nothing can hold back the human spirit; that in the face of MDS, he can and will persevere. Such as the fence cannot stop the rose from blooming.

Heather Myers

Read more →

JACQUELINE HULSEY, THE ESSENTIAL TREE: In this piece I painted a tree which represents life, earing the Red cells mu mother so desperately needs. I drew her in an abstract angel form collecting any of the cells from this tree, to give her back life.

Jacqueline Hulsey

Read more →

JOAN POWELL, GET BUSY LIVING: MDS is a new normal of life. You can get busy living or get busy dying. I chose life — "Get Busy Living".

Joan Powell

Read more →

JOSEPHINE DERASMO, 6339: Flowers cheer me up. Sometimes life with MDS is difficult. It takes my blood. It makes you down. Thank you for this opportunity.

Josephine Derasmo

Read more →

KATHY SHAVER, OUR MDS JOURNEY: After 5 years of retirement, we had our own 9/11. That was when MDS came into our lives. We have experienced fear and sadness of the unknown future, love from family and friends and hope for our future being near the stem cell transplant.

Kathy Shaver

Read more →

LOIS PESMAN, BEAUTY OF NATURE: Nature shapes and colours come and go, forever changing. Being part of it, I hope to enjoy it as long as possible. One of my favourite songs created in 1949, Enjoy Yourself (It's Later than You Think) by Guy Lombardo

Lois Pesman

Read more →

MARILYN RUSTAND, MY WORLD OF MDS: The many emotional feelings during my journey of MDS.

Marilyn Rustand

Read more →

MICHELLE TERSOLO, NONO: This is a painting of a photo that was taken at my grandparents' 50th Wedding Anniversary. We lost my Grandfather to MDS in 2012, but I like to think he is still looking down from his place in the stars watching over me.

Michelle Tersolo

Read more →

RIONDA RIDLEY, UNTITLED: Red blood cells in the mix of beautiful purple dots, purple represents my adopted mother who has MDS.

Rionda Ridley

Read more →

PATRICK DWYER, EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!: Inspired by having been a vegetarian for the past 50 of my 75 years, to which I attribute my present health — despite chemotherapy (2011–2018) for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, now in clinical remission, and being diagnosed with MDS 2 years ago. I try to have optimal nutrition as my foundation for dealing with cancer and its aftermath, a regimen endorsed by my VA oncologist, cardiologist, nutritionist, and primary care doctor.

Patrick Dwyer

Read more →

MAURA WILLIAMS, ‘A SURVIVOR’: The artwork is meant to convey a sense of warmth and strength using wood "framing" and metal type, including tree-related images — intended to inspire hopeful thoughts of trees cycling through the seasons of life, yet enduring despite fierce storms. It represents the journey from diagnosis to now as a grateful survivor. There are references to testing, treatment, location of specialized care, a donor who made a bone marrow transplant possible, as well as post-BMT effects — GVHD (graft-versus-host disease). The artwork also acknowledges and honors the importance of education and two vital ingredients — love and care. On display is a digital photograph of the artwork, taken with an iPhone 11. The image is reversed for readability as hand-set type, meant for printing, was used in the making of this artwork. It is an honor to have this opportunity.

Maura Williams

Read more →

JEANNINE WYATT, FAITH AND HOPE....ALWAYS WITH ME, ALWAYS ENDURING: I submitted a recent photograph I took following the funeral of a friend who died of leukemia. This friend was a Benedictine monk. As I left the abbey, I looked to my left and noticed the twin steeples of the nearby local parish church. I pulled over and sat in my car and gazed at the steeples and crosses against the cerulean blue sky. I could not help but think of my own cancer, the MDS that fatigues me with the anemia I have. I was very tired that afternoon. But my thoughts as I looked at the crosses atop the twin steeples were of “Faith and Hope…. Always With Me, Always Enduring”.

Jeannine Wyatt

Read more →

PEGGY FINSTON, WHEN A DIFFICULT PATH BECOMES DOABLE: Several years ago, I stumbled across these weird railroad tracks that seemed to shoot straight up to the sky. Pennsylvania’s Johnstown Inclined Plane is possibly the steepest on the East Coast. I could barely look up at this awesome arc to take photos without wobbling. I doubted I could walk or even crawl up those tracks. The anguish of this image came back to me in January 2018. I’d been diagnosed with MDS. I wanted to hold onto my “normal life” while being forced by this illness to take stock of what I could no longer do. Like these tracks, I could see that navigating this new life would take all my will to stay connected and stay moving forward, even when I could not see the next few feet ahead and had to crawl to keep my balance.

Peggy Finston

Read more →

PRAFULLA BHAGAT, UNTITLED: The art work depicts the central idea of a patient's life and that there is always light which can make our life beautiful. Just have to be open like the window to let that light shine.

Prafulla Bhagat

Read more →

ASHLEY CAMARA, BRIGHTER FUTURE: From the darkness of illness to the light of life, love and happiness.

Ashley Camara

Read more →

ROCHELL OSTROFF-WEINBERG, A LIFE SHATTERED MISSING PIECES: My husband of 36 years, Robert Weinberg, died on April 27, 2013 having battled MDS since May 1998. I just want my life back, my life with Bob.

Rochelle Ostroff-Weinberg

Read more →

CLAIRE MESSIER, CELEBRATE LIFE: With this disease I celebrate every day I am alive!

Claire Messier

Read more →

VALERIE ANN FONS, MANDALA: Drawing with my non-dominant hand is a practice of vulnerability. The circular mandala represents spiritual eternity. Invitation to participate in MDS Awareness Day acknowledges survivorship, and invites re-entry into terror of platelets registering zero, transfusion dependency, Vidaza injections, and donor lymphocyte infusions while MDS morphs into AML. Deadlines came and went to submit art for the MDS project. Why was I putting off my story? I closed the window shades in my bedroom and confronted my need to feel safe. Viewing the courage of others in the MDS Awareness Day gallery encouraged me to raise my hand and be counted.

Valerie Ann Fons

Read more →