♪ NICOLE: IN HER STUDIO, LAURA
TRYON-JENNINGS GIVES LIFE AND COLOR TO HER LATEST WORK OF ART.
FOR MORE THAN THREE DECADES, SHE HAS BEEN SHARING HER TALENTS ON
CANVAS.
LAURA: I ALWAYS LOVED TO DRAW AND YOU COULD NOT GET ME TO DO
ANYTHING ELSE.
MY MOTHER WOULD SEND ME OUTSIDE AND STAND OUT THEREFORE THE
APPROPRIATE AMOUNT OF TIME BEFORE I COULD COME BACK IN AND
THEN START DRAWING.
NICOLE: SHE NEVER QUESTIONED THE PAST.
IT SHOWS HER.
LIKE MANY ARTISTS, HER CREATIONS ARE EFFECTIVE OF HER OWN
EXPERIENCE.
HER EARLY WORKS WERE BRIGHT AND CHAOTIC.
LAURA: THERE WAS A BUSYNESS GOING ON AND THE COLORS WERE
MORE JEWEL-LIKE.
THAT IS WHAT I WAS GOING IN MY LIFE.
I DID NOT KNOW IT AT THE TIME.
I LOOKED AT THEM AND I THOUGHT, THIS IS LIKE LOOKING AT A VISUAL
JOURNAL OF MY ENTIRE LIFE.
NICOLE: IN 2004, THERE WAS A SHIFT.
HER MOTHER WAS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER AND IN HER MOTHER’S FINAL
DAYS, TRYON-JENNINGS FOCUSED ON THE SIMPLE PLEASURES OF LIFE.
LAURA: A BOWL OF CEREAL WAS ONE OF THE FEW THINGS SHE COULD EAT
AT THE END AND THEN SHE DRANK TEA SO THERE WERE TEACUPS AND WE
HAD A CONNECTION THAT WENT BACK YEARS AND YEARS.
NICOLE: AS HER OWN TERMS OF THE BRUSH WERE INFLUENCED BY GRIEF,
OR ARE CHANGED AGAIN.
LAURA: AND MY MOM DIED, MY PALATE CHANGED TO BE MORE
SUBDUED.
WINDOWS VISTA’S BECAME MORE IMPORTANT, THE PAINTINGS CAME
REFLECTIVE.
NICOLE: SHE WONDERED WHETHER SHE COULD HELP OTHERS EXPRESS
THEMSELVES THROUGH ART.
LAURA: I DID NOT REALIZE THERE WAS AN EXPRESSIVE ARTS HE’S
HAPPENING, THAT IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THAT FOR ME BECAUSE
THE SERIAL WAS SUCH -- CEREAL WAS SUCH A CATHARTIC THING FOR
ME TO PAINT.
I THOUGHT, THERE MUST BE ANOTHER WAY TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS, TO
GET THAT EXPRESSIVE PIECE OUT.
FIRST -- >> FIRST, I DID NOT EVEN TELL
ANYONE.
NICOLE: JOANN HAS BEEN BATTLING LEUKEMIA FOR 11 YEARS.
THIS WAS DIFFERENT.
>> WHEN PEOPLE TELL YOU YOU HAVE CANCER, THAT IS PRETTY SCARY.
NICOLE: A FEAR THAT WAS CRIPPLING, SHE CONNECTED WITH
TRYON-JENNINGS WHO HAD BEGUN TEACHING CANCER PATIENTS
EXPRESSIVE ART.
LAURA: SOME PEOPLE CANNOT SAY THINGS VERBALLY.
IT IS REALLY HARD TO TAP INTO.
THEY KNOW SOMETHING IS WRONG, BUT THEY CANNOT FIGURE OUT WHAT
IT IS.
YOUR INNER LANGUAGE CANNOT LIE TO YOU.
NICOLE: TRYON-JENNINGS CALLS IT IN MID-MAKING.
LAURA: IT IS A PROCESS OF SEEING AND MAYBE BEING SURPRISED BY
WHAT YOU SEE.
NICOLE: MARGARET CRAWFORD WORKS AS A HOSPICE NURSE.
>> YOU JUST HAVE A LOT OF EMOTION OUT THERE AND SCATTERED
THOUGHTS.
THIS HELPS YOU TO OUTPOUR THAT ONTO THE PAPER.
NICOLE: THERAPY STARTS WITH A PRIVATE CONVERSATION.
>> AN INTERNAL WAY OF GETTING YOUR HEART AND YOUR MIND TO HAVE
AN INNER DIALOGUE SO THE RIGHT AND LEFT SIDES OF YOUR BRAIN.
NICOLE: THE RESULT MAY LOOK LIKE SCRIBBLES, BUT IT IS EMOTION ON
PAPER, THE FIRST PICTURE, A REFLECTION OF NOW.
>> THIS WAS FLASHING PAIN, THE ACUTE PHASE AND CHRONIC PHASE.
NICOLE: THE SECOND, A WINDOW INTO WHERE THE ARTIST WANTS TO
GO.
>> TO TRANSITION YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE.
THE NEXT ONE WAS MORE ORGANIZED.
IT WAS WHERE I WAS AND WHAT I WANTED.
NICOLE: THREE WOMEN ON DIFFERENT JOURNEYS, CONNECTING WITH THEIR
OWN FEELINGS THROUGH THE COLORS OF LIFE.
>> YOU HAVE TO HAVE A LOT OF COURAGE TO BE VULNERABLE BECAUSE
I DID NOT REALIZE TO ACTUALLY ASK FOR HELP AND TO ALLOW PEOPLE
IN THAT KIND OF WAY.
♪ ERIKA: LAURA TRYON-JENNINGS’
AWARD-WINNING ART IS DISPLAYED IN LOCATIONS AROUND THE WORLD,
INCLUDING IN THE HOMES OF GRAMMY-AWARD WINNING
SINGER-SONGWRITER BRUCE HORNSBY AND JOURNALIST JOAN LUNDEN, AND
ALSO ON THE WALLS AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY AND SEVERAL MAJOR
CORPORATIONS.
IN ADDITION TO HER WORK IN EXPRESSIVE ARTS, SHE ALSO
TEACHES OIL PAINTING ON THE SOUTH SHORE.
COMING UP, MOVING THROUG