Bowling Green, Ohio artist Dorothy Bryan's battle with cancer was fought like many other area residents -- with surgery, drugs and chemotherapy. But Mrs. Bryan's gift for painting was an added therapy, one that allowed her to express her anger and frustrations, her hope and joy. Bryan's fight with cancer and how it affected her family and her art are the subject of The Chemo Paintings.

Developing her talent had been a
long delayed process for Dorothy Bryan. For years, she played the traditional role of supportive wife
and mother. At the age of 45,
with her children grown and her husband a successful banker, Dorothy returned to college to
take art classes. For the next
three decades, she went about learning the techniques of
artistic expression.

Mrs. Bryan's survival goes beyond the biological circumstances of her illness. The cancer and the medical treatments that followed also created other significant concerns for Dorothy and her family -- while the illness was life threatening, it was the surgery and subsequent chemotherapy that invaded and altered the life that they had known.

The Chemo Paintings looks at a time when Dorothy Bryan the artist, wife and mother became Dorothy Bryan the cancer patient. Throughout the period from prognosis through recovery, Dorothy the artist continued to function, though sometimes with great physical difficulty. The art created during her illness, eventually grouped together as a 10-piece series, helps provide a unique insight
into some of the issues faced by a cancer patient. With the physical impact of
the disease and treatment came potential losses in her lifestyle, personality,
control and privacy -- the aspects of daily living that helped define who Dorothy Bryan was.

The Chemo Paintings is an intimate portrayal of one person's experience with cancer and their use of art as therapy and as a communication tool. From the honesty of one woman and her family, the program provides a touching message
of encouragement and empathy. The program was written, produced and directed
by WBGU-PBS's Emmy Award-winning producer, Shawn Brady. A grant from The Medical College of Ohio Foundation made production of
The Chemo Paintings possible.

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