06/04/2026
Interview with Chris Amaya: Persevering Through Her Artwork
"When did you start painting and what prompted the desire to discover your love for that hobby?"
"I was bedridden and in a tremendous amount of abdominal pain watching Bob Ross do what he does best as he painted a beautiful landscape painting. I showed my husband and said, "look how beautiful! I wish I could do that." He said, "You can do anything you put your mind to as you're so talented." He then recommended I buy some paints, canvases and some paint brushes and suggested I try it, so I did. At first, I tried by looking at pictures and realized how my focus turned from the unimaginable pain I was in to focusing on what I was painting and I was enjoying it. I wasn't that great at it but I continued to try and watched more Bob Ross videos and later found someone else on Facebook with tremendous talent who put a spin on Bob Ross's style of painting. That inspired me to practice landscape paintings and it became my way of escaping the pain and enjoying the moment. I soon fell in love with painting and it gave me something to look forward to each day."
"Tell me about your favorite painting and the inspiration behind it."
"My absolute favorite painting is called 'A Piece of Heaven.' It is composed of 2 canvases put together to form one complete image. The colors, sky, trees, grass and water make me feel at peace. I often imagine standing inside of the image in the painting and taking it all in. My idea was to make a landscape on 2 canvases-something I hadn't accomplished before, and add my unique style of painting to it. I practiced shading and using vibrant colors and I believe I accomplished just that with this painting. I had only been painting for a year at the time of creating that piece and had only been using oil paints for around 4 or 5 months at the time. I am most proud of this painting and I feel peaceful whenever I look at it."
"What words of wisdom do you have for others who are struggling to cope after ostomy surgery?"
"Some words of encouragement that come to mind for anyone after ostomy surgery or anyone who is about to have ostomy surgery is, "Life isn't over after getting an ostomy. In fact, for many of us like myself, it is a new beginning for a better life. We can do anything we did before getting an ostomy and its also a great motivator to push us into trying new things as well. I swim, take long hikes, I drive, I take care of animals (rescues), I braid my neighbors hair, I cook ect. These are all things I did before I received my ostomy, only now I do it all even better and through this journey, I have learned new things (like painting).
"Even though the journey started because of the pain I was dealing with, I fell in love with painting and it brings me joy. I will always have a degree of pain in my abdomen as one of my conditions has no cure but not like the other pain I had before my ostomy surgery. So while having an ostomy can be challenging it is not the death of us- it's a new beginning and just makes us stronger. We are warriors and can still do everything we did before and even learn new things. What more proof do we need than the strength it takes to deal with already going through so much."
