The Art of Navigating Cancer
A Creative Space to Rest, Reflect, and Reclaim Your Joy and Personal Power.
This unique blend of relaxation, conversation & creative expression offers immediate relief from the constant stress of cancer so that you can start living more fully again
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“This simple act of creative autonomy restored a sense of personal power I desperately needed.” - K.V.
Is this how you feel?
"My mind won't stop. Every scan, every twinge, every 'what if' sends me spiraling."
I want a way to quiet my thoughts, settle my body, and breathe again, even for an hour.
"I'm surrounded by people, and I've never felt more alone."
I want to be with people who get it. No explaining, no pretending, no forced positivity. Just people I can talk to.
"I'm tired of being 'the patient."
I want to be seen as a whole person, not a diagnosis, and to find out who I am now.
"My whole life has become scans, appointments, and waiting rooms."
I need a break from all of it. I want somewhere to relax, have a little fun, and feel like myself again.
"I can't remember the last time I did something just for me."
I want something easy and joyful that doesn't become one more thing on my to-do list. I'd love something a hobby I can turn to in waiting rooms, during treatment, or whenever I need a break from cancer.
"Everyone keeps telling me how strong I am. I'm exhausted from pretending."
I want a place where I don't have to hold it together.
"I used to love making things. Somewhere along the way, I stopped."
I want to reconnect with the part of me that creates, without any pressure to be good at it.
"As the caretaker, I'm so focused on taking care of them, I've disappeared."
I want something we can do together that's about us, not the illness.
"Treatment's over, and everyone expects me to bounce back Ito normal.
I'm not." I need support for this in-between chapter, I'm figuring out what life looks like now.
...then you're in the right place!
Welcome to The Art of Navigating Cancer
A creative space where you can put your burdens down and reconnect with peace and joy! This signature blend of art relaxation and conversation offers an immediate way to interrupt the anxiety of cancer.
This approach is different.
Cancer causes our mind to work overtime.We worry. We anticipate the worst. We doom scroll. We tell our story over and over. Then we zone out & try not to think about it.
Distractions only offer a temporary relief and words aren’t enough to express the fears, feelings, and experiences that live under the surface, It's hard to put them into words.
You can’t “think” your way out of anxiety. Creativity to the rescue!
A New Way Through
The Art of Navigating Cancer is a place to express and release and exit the anxiety spiral and enter a creative sanctuary of relaxation and connection.
Your mind shifts from: What might happen? to What do I feel and need right now?
Slow down, relax, make art & connect with yourself & others. You don't have to be good at art because art is good for you...so you can make it ugly!
Feel less alone and have a little fun even while dealing with cancer.
"When you relax, connect & create art...You shift from a loop of anxiety into the present moment — a space of peace and joy."
Experiencing activities where you draw with line and color & listen to relaxing music, allows you express your feelings and to put down the burden you're carrying
•Journal -what's worrying you.
•Meditation connects you to physical peace.
•Making art with freedom of expression no perfection allows let out the fear, sadness and hope.
This is a safe place: Notice what your hands want to make, how your breath slows as you create, and what feelings come to the surface.
"After working with hundreds, clients and people navigating cancer, I’ve seen people lighten up...and find more happiness."
You don’t have to be good at art — because art is good for you.
There’s no doing it “right.” Go for it. Make “ugly art.” Scribble. Play. Experiment. It feels so good to let go!
That’s what makes The Art of Navigating Cancer so unique.
Blending relaxation, creative expression, and conversation gives your attention somewhere else to go besides cancer.
It quiets the worry and creates more room for peace, creativity, and joy — not by pushing fear away, but by giving your mind and body a new way to be with what you’re experiencing.
Come relax, create, and have fun!
The Art of Navigating Cancer
My Personal Journey
For more than thirty years, I worked a professional artist — exhibiting my art in galleries and teaching hundreds of students.
From the outside, my life looked successful. But underneath I was tired and overworked.
I had become a Human Doer rather than a Human Being.
Then cancer stopped everything.
Working harder, staying busy, and controlling no longer worked.
Cancer does not reward the grind.
Instead of asking, How do I get my old life back? I began asking:
How can I live fully in the life I have right now?
These questions changed everything.
I discovered that creativity isn't just about what happens on the canvas. It's a way to reconnect with ourselves and others. To find peace & joy within uncertainty, and rediscover the art of living.
I become a certified life coach. I combined coaching and art so that I could support your well-being. I created and facilitate a program at UT Southwestern, where I serve people navigating cancer.
In addition to my hospital work I offer The Art of Navigating Cancer, an online program for people navigating cancer and their caregivers. These programs are the culmination of my research, my personal coaching experience and three decades as an artist and educator.
Cancer was the pause that taught me that I couldn't control everything in my life, but I could participate in my well being. Now I help others do the same.
What to Expect...
Relax ✴︎ Reflect ✴︎ Create ✴︎ Connect
6 Weeks • 2-Hours Live Group Sessions Online • NO Art Skills Needed
Relax
Unwind with guided meditation, creative visualization, and music to slow down, breathe, and feel more grounded.
Reflect
Use simple journaling prompts to connect with what you're feeling, what you need, and what you may be ready to let go of.
Create — No Perfection!
Explore guided expressive art activities using lines, marks, and color. No art experience or skills needed. Let go, experiment, and express yourself. “Imperfect art” encouraged!
Connect
Share, laugh, listen and connect with people who understand what you're going through. No explaining, pretending, or forced positivity. Group coaching available.***Sharing is always optional.***
Need to miss? No Problem.
Replays available 24/7 — Watch and participate from your bed, a waiting room, during treatment, or whenever you need a little space for yourself.
Simple Art Supplies needed
All you need to get started is a sketchbook and markers. Paint is optional. I'll give you my supplies list to order online if needed.
“You don't have to be good at art — because art is good for you.”
Ready for a little more space to breathe, create, and reconnect with yourself?
Come as you are.
Join Marianne — A certified life coach, professional artist, and experienced hospital-based cancer program facilitator, who brings together her professional expertise and her own experience navigating cancer to guide six live sessions of creativity, relaxation, and conversation.
Art Meets Neuroscience
Why is Art Is So Good for Anxiety?
Cancer can keep your mind and body on high alert. We are tense about scans the treatment choices, test results...
That’s where creativity can help!
Making art engages all your senses.It gives your busy mind somewhere else to go. Your attention shifts away from the fear of the future. You enter into a present moment of imagination, flow and happiness.
A Drexel University study reveals that after 45 minutes of making art 75% of participants experienced a drop in cortisol —the body’s primary stress hormone.
It didn’t matter whether they had experience making art!
A 2025 review of 15 studies involving more than 1,100 people with cancer found that art-based interventions significantly reduced anxiety and depression.
Relaxation + creative expression + meaningful conversation give you permission to express what you’re feeling without pressure, perfection, or the need to push your worries aside.
This is not your typical art class. We don’t care about making a pretty picture.
It’s about creating space to breathe, release, and reconnect with yourself—no matter what you’re navigating.
“Today I had three scans, baked two loaves of bread, and made art that I hung in my house. I don't understand how, despite my cancer... I am fully living!” -B.H.
The Four Pillars Experience
Meditation gives you moments to relax and ground into the present. Letting go of the stres is proven to be good for your healing and wellbeing.
Listening, reflecting and journaling to soothing music lets us connect to what we're feeling beneath the surface.
Doodle, paint & play with lines and color. Expression without perfection is freedom. Let go and shift your focus. I’ll guide you every step of the way.
Come hang out with people who understand what you'r going through. Create easy routines that bring more light and joy to your day.
The Art of Navigating Cancer
A creative space experience peace, joy, and calm—even while navigating cancer!
JOIN THE PRIORITY LIST !
What Participants Are Saying …
“I can’t recommend Marianne highly enough! She has helped me rediscover the joy of creating art. Each session blends , art, meaningful talk therapy. It's a holistic approach to healing and self expression. Her classes were a sanctuary where I could disconnect from daily stresses, recharge, find clarity, and connect to my inner source.” — M.T.
"I began this journey believing I wasn’t creative but Marianne proved me wrong! Through her guidance, I discovered my creativity, learned art techniques, and explored meditation and self-reflection.
She created a safe space where we could share our thoughts, feelings, and stories. I learned so much about myself, tried new things, and made wonderful new friends.
Marianne’s inspiration, kindness, and understanding helped me not only survive, but truly thrive" — C.M.
“When the word ‘cancer’ entered my life, it felt like the world stopped... I felt disconnected from myself and overwhelmed by fear. During our art sessions, I was in charge. I chose the colors; I determined the shapes; I made the decisions. This simple act of creative autonomy restored a sense of personal power I desperately needed... It was where I learned to breathe again. It helped me navigate the darkness and find my way back to the light.”
— K. V.
