Dear Life, Woke before sunrise. Bloodwork yesterday was overall good but showed a “slight inflammation of the liver”. No answer as to why. So I will have bloodwork again in a month. Not an emergency but my brain sounded alarms. I have the tools to quiet my mind after years of practice: prayer and meditation. And if it is dark, turn the light on. The monsters leave the room. I gratefully saw the soft pink beauty of sunrise.
Yours Truly, Pamela Rose
Collage and Paint 11.10.2025
Dear Life, I read inspirational writings in the morning to remind my thoughts of a greater intelligence: Spirit. This helps me be conscious of my words and actions throughout the day. Like all humans, I have a dark thread that can get tangled up in negativity. When this happens, I pause, discover the cause, and discard the thoughts. It helps to have some humor. When something says BOO in the dark, my light shines and says I AM BIGGER THAN YOU!
Yours Truly, Pamela Rose
Collage 10.20.2025
Dear Life, I showed my studio and work to an artist friend yesterday, saying, “The project, INSIDE-OUT, is scary and brave”. Making transfers of my x-rays onto canvas, painting, drawing and collaging images that represent my body; it is certainly a different wheelhouse for me. Only now, a year out from 4 years of cancer treatments, can I begin to process this. Thankfully I can.
Yours Truly, Pamela Rose
Collage and Painting 10.28.2025
Dear Life, In 2021, after 6 months of chemo, a cancer biopsy was done between my heart and lung. The doctor had difficulty and said, “I will try one more time. I don’t want to hit your heart because it will bleed out. But if I hit the lung, we can repair and inflate it”. The third attempt was successful. No bleeding and lungs breathing. The biopsy confirmed Lymphoma cells had spread. More chemotherapy, stem cell replacement, clinical trial, more chemo. Today I am healthy, heart beating, still breathing, living gratefully a day at a time.
Yours Truly, Pamela Rose
Heart Painting 24″x’18” 10.17.25
Dear Life, For my presentation, I hung eleven pieces of my art and read a Love Letter about “being exploded by an atomic bomb”. There was a visceral response from the group. Most people did not know I am living with cancer. I question whether to reveal this but then hear their comments: “Thank you for speaking about your personal experience. Your work impacts me knowing this.” I am a messenger through my creativity.
Yours Truly, Pamela Rose
Dear Life, I made transfers from xerox x-ray images onto canvas for my Inside-Out project. The work triggers deep feelings, how out-of-control my body felt while I had intense chemotherapy and Stem Cell Replacement. A doctor said, “We set off an atomic bomb in your body”. The project is near completion. Presentation is on Tuesday. I appreciate the periods of time that I feel healthy and can make art.
Yours Truly. Pamela Rose
Transfers of X-ray Images
Dear Life, Figurative Painting prompt: complete a project using yourself as the subject. I went inside-out to begin and will continue this week. I hung pieces together to see what there is and what needs to be added. My teacher and I laughed during a studio visit > “I always have to add a little blood and guts.” >”Yes, you do!” Consistency and innovation. I’ve been turned inside-out by chemo and stem cell replacement but my Creative Spirit remains, changed, but consistent.
Yours Truly, Pamela Rose
Acrylic on Paper and Studio Wall 09.26.2025
Dear Life, This little guy showed up on my daily walk. He found his space in the landscape and makes me smile. Today I am happy to move back into a studio space at the Santa Fe Community College. I am grateful to be feeling healthy, strong, and able to work. I am an artist living with cancer. Diagnosed in 2020 with Stage 4 Large-Cell Lymphoma, I am always aware of how vulnerable and precious life is. Thank you Life and for all the little things along my journey.
Yours Truly, Pamela Rose
Dear Life, My dictionary app helps me to understand my body of emotions. Pensive: musingly or dreamily thoughtful, sometimes suggesting sadness. After 5 years of treatments, aggressive cancer cells cannot be detected in scans but small B-cell lymphoma is lit up near my aorta: the great arterial trunk that carries blood from the heart to be distributed by branch arteries through the body. Are we ever out of the landscape of cancer once it has been diagnosed? Many people are living in this question. I use words, art, and community to cope. We help one another to navigate life. Thank you for listening.
Yours Truly, Pamela Rose
Contemporary Figure Collage 08.2025
Pamela Rose Markoya 