Local veteran shows off his art that was made after cancer diagnosis
REDDING, Calif. — — Pop-up Veterans Art Show came to downtown Redding Saturday and featured art from our local veterans.
One of those artists is Michael VanCleemput who used his artistic abilities during his service.
“I started painting when I was 12 but I knew at that point I was going to do some kind of art,” Michael said. “So I got into a scientific illustration with the United States Bureau of Mines. And then I was drafted and then I did illustrations in the service. So things that I illustrated went to the Pentagon.”
The pottery had been a way of healing Michael used for years. However, after developing carpal tunnel he moved to painting, but never at this scale. There were three large canvases he created for this specific pop-up show and he did it all in about four months.
He’s painted before but what pushed him to create art this large was a terminal cancer diagnosis. However, he didn’t look at it as a burden but as an opportunity to pour more into his art.
“Emotional understanding that you’re going to stop here suddenly you know,” Michael said. “That is not an unhappy time. That’s a very happy time. So, that’s what these paintings are about.”
The message in his painting and the one he portrays at the end of his life isn’t sadness, but the opportunity to put a positive spin on life and the things you can’t control.
“[The paintings are about] how to finish life on the surface of this earth happily,” Michael said. “That’s why choosing free will because that’s a very important part of the end of my life. I get to choose how I finish.”
Even now Michael shares his joy for art with a smile on his face and people smile back.
“So this is a positive way to finish my life, happily finish it,” Michael said. “Other people like what I’ve done and that is beautiful.”
