Cheryl Childers, a licensed medical social worker with Bon Secours St. Francis Health System in Greenville, S.C., recalls growing up in Newtown, Conn., "a sleepy little dairy town, never heard of before" Dec. 14, 2012, when Adam Lanza fatally shot his mother at home, then 20 children and six adult staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown before killing himself. Her memories of waking up to an untouched blanket of fresh snow contrasting with the bare branches of trees inspired her winning artwork for the 2013 St. Francis Festival of Trees wine label design competition, shown here.
"I was thinking back to that peaceful image in my mind when I created this piece," she said of the design that will be seen on all bottles of the private-label wine created by Biltmore Wines for sale during the monthlong Festival of Trees. One of the main holiday events for Greenville, the Festival of Trees features displays of decorated trees at three downtown Greenville locations.
Forty percent of the sale price of the wine will go to the St. Francis Foundation to support the Mack Pazdan Neonatal Care Center.
Childers works with Bon Secours St. Francis' Open Arms Hospice, which is an in-home hospice care ministry, and its McCall Hospice House of Greenville. She says art can be healing both for those who view it and those who create it.
Soon after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at age 15, Childers discovered that "when I worked on a piece, I felt no pain." She added: "When I create artwork, the world around me goes away, and it's just me and the canvas."
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