Perseverance

January 2, 2020:
When the inner core of Hurricane Michael slammed into Panama City Beach, Fla., last October, Dr. Marlene East, a licensed mental health counselor, was at her house a stone’s throw from the Gulf of Mexico. Construction inside her new home was not yet complete, but she was confident its infrastructure would withstand the deadly Category 5 storm moving ashore.

“It was traumatic for everyone here,” said East, who offered shelter to her friends and neighbors.

After the storm passed, she and her guests were dumfounded by the extent of devastation surrounding them. East lost several trees, and some rental properties she owned were damaged by the storm; however, her home was spared. Many residents in her neighborhood were not so lucky.

Thankful for her good fortune, East wanted give back by helping others. She counseled many who were affected by the hurricane and looked for opportunities to turn helplessness into hopefulness.

Across town, a similar scenario played out in the aftermath of the hurricane. Teresa Jones, manager of patient experience at Ascension Sacred Heart Bay, worried about the future of the medical facility. The hospital sustained major damage. Patients had to be evacuated. Jobs were lost. Livelihoods gone.

Heartbroken, she watched as workers from Servepro of Bay County, a fire and water restoration company, collected five-gallon buckets of debris and shattered glass from the hospital’s iconic gray tower windows, which once stood as a beacon of hope. We should do something meaningful with this, a worker suggested to Jones.

“Right away, Marleen (East) popped into my head,” Jones said. “I’ve known her forever. I said let me see what she thinks.”

East, an accomplished artist, jumped at the chance to turn piles of rubble and glass into a meaningful display of art. The result is a stunning glass painting meant to inspire progress and optimism in the community. The piece, titled “Perseverance,” is on display in the main lobby at Bay.

“I was excited about the opportunity to take that glass and make it something symbolic,” East said. The doctor said she uses art therapy when counseling patients.

“I see it as a way for people to express themselves, especially children,” she said.

The simple art project quickly swelled into a community effort involving employees at Bay, Servepro and local organizations. Together, they brainstormed with East and settled on the idea of fusing thousands of tiny fragments of glass into one large piece that would illustrate the power and destruction of Hurricane Michael.

When that didn’t work, a brighter idea emerged using butterflies as a symbol of recovery and resurrection. It was meant to be.

“The hurricane was going to dominate the piece,” East said. “We don’t want to be reminding patients about the worst time in our community’s history. We want renewal to be dominant.”

Bay gave the go-ahead, and Servepro provided funding needed to cover expenses. East threw herself into the project while simultaneously rebuilding her own life.

She began by washing the tiny slivers of glass on a makeshift sifter by placing a window screen over a fire pit in her back yard. She painstakingly sifted through the debris separating tiny pebbles and pine straw from glass. Anything considered salvageable was placed on a sheet and left to dry in the sun.

“It was all in my head as to where it would go,” East said. She built a four-foot by six-foot backdrop to display her inspirational mosaic.

“I started dreaming about the painting,” she said. “With art pieces, I’ll see it in my head.”

It took a week to paint the background, or underpainting, using a heavy body acrylic similar to a modeling compound applied with palette knives. In a few areas, it was squirted on like cake icing.

Next she glued down the glass. The final step was applying the resin, a two-part epoxy, which was torched to remove air bubbles. The finished piece was set aside and allowed to cure for three weeks.

The result is more recovery and happiness than darkness of hurricane. A very different outcome than where the piece began.

“I added a lot more color with flowers,” East said.

Little by little, darkness gave way to light, hope and healing. Pine straw became butterfly antennae, pebbles morphed into a garden pathway, and the largest pieces of glass turned into shimmering butterfly wings. Soft blue and gray tones were added to reflect the colors of the hospital. In the top right corner, a lone butterfly appears to be on the verge of taking flight.

“It’s very powerful,” Jones said. “It’s a very tactile piece.”

Perseverance will eventually be front and center on the wall overlooking the receptionist area in the main lobby at Bay. For now, it’s prominently displayed on a table near the front door for visitors to enjoy.

The glass painting recently served as a backdrop at a Tree of Life celebration held in honor of donor families and organ recipients and co-hosted by LifeQuest.

“The process of losing a loved one and dealing with trauma can be similar,” East said.

Typically a person goes through seven stages of grief after an ordeal: shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing and acceptance. While every stage is difficult to navigate, at least one study revealed people get really upset when they are told to work toward the final stage of acceptance.

“We focus on reintegration as opposed to acceptance,” East said. “You’re always going to feel a sadness about the loss of a loved one. You have their memories in you. You move forward. Life will never be the same. That just seems to really help people, rather than acceptance.”

The holidays can be especially trying for those who go through tough times or lose a loved one. For one thing, grief is like a window that opens and closes of its own accord, East said.

“You don’t know when it’s going to open or close,” she said. “You can be totally fine one day, then the window opens, and you break down and cry.
Just know that’s going to happen.”

Perseverance was created to offer solace to anyone who is suffering, not just victims of Hurricane Michael. Its imagery can just as easily be applied to the grief donor families experience during the holidays. Glass fragments parallel the shattered lives of those left behind after a loved one dies. Butterflies symbolize families who are picking up the pieces of their lives after doing something meaningful — sharing the Gift of Life.

Every patient and visitor to Bay Medical may get the chance to experience the infectious sanguinity of East’s artwork. Hospital administrators are considering whether to carry the butterfly theme throughout the compound. They’re also batting about the idea of selling limited edition greeting cards or other items in the gift shop featuring glass and debris blown in by Hurricane Michael.

“It’s just a beautiful painting,” Jones said.

To view a video of the Tree of Life event at Ascension Sacred Heart Bay, please click on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZhiZa1NV48.