While undergoing chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Renee Dieffenderfer took refuge in watercolors.
For much of her treatment, Dieffenderfer continued to go to her job at Audigy Group in Vancouver. But when she became too weak to work — and her immune system too suppressed to be in crowds — Dieffenderfer found herself in front of the TV.
“I was trying to find ways to keep myself occupied,” she said. “I picked up a watercolor kit my mom sent me, and I started watercoloring.”
At first, painting was a distraction. But the more she did it, the more confidence she gained. Dieffenderfer showed her artwork to her husband, then to her friends. She began giving her pieces as gifts.
“I just found it as an outlet, as a way to bring joy to my life at that time,” Dieffenderfer said.
And since January, Dieffenderfer has been sharing that outlet with young cancer patients at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland. Every Monday, Dieffenderfer and other volunteers visit the children’s hospital and lead the patients through art projects. In July, she officially formed a nonprofit, Creations for Cures, to host the monthly art hour, which is open to patients and their siblings.
“It’s unbelievably fulfilling and rewarding,” Dieffenderfer said. “Man, it’s so much fun when you sit down with these kids. They get so creative.”
For the December art hour, Dieffenderfer and Jennifer Anderson — a Creations for Cures volunteer and co-worker of Dieffenderfer’s — made snowflakes out of wooden craft sticks, reindeer headbands and bedazzled Christmas trees.
For 3-year-old Sergio Cano Marquez and his mom, Laura Marquez, the visits from Creations for Cures help to break up Sergio’s weekly visits to the hospital’s infusion unit.
“It keeps him distracted,” Marquez said. “He doesn’t get bored.”
Sergio’s favorite art projects involve paint, Marquez said, but the hourlong art sessions expose Sergio to more.
“He’s learning new stuff,” she said. “He’s learning colors.”
And soon, Sergio may get to see Dieffenderfer every time he comes to the hospital. Doernbecher officials asked Dieffenderfer to expand her program to host a weekly, rather than monthly, art hour. Creations for Cures volunteers are going through the hospital’s volunteer training program. Dieffenderfer hopes to have that process completed by February.
Dieffenderfer, who lives in Gresham, Ore., hopes to expand the program to other children’s hospitals in Oregon and Washington, and then move into California and beyond.
The goal, Dieffenderfer said, is simple: bring a little joy to kids who need it.
“All children deserve the experience of self expression, the ability to be creative and the opportunity to have fun — especially children who are fighting for their lives,” she said.
