MANSFIELD — Lengthy infusion treatments have become some of Jeremy Fox’s most creative hours.
A Mansfield native, Fox, 44, was diagnosed with colon cancer early io 2023 — just two months after his mother lost her battle against cervical cancer.
“She (Fox’s mother) was also an artist,” he said. “She’s the one who inspired me to paint… she was like my biggest fan.”
When Fox comes to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital every two weeks for infusion treatments, he brings a suitcase full of painting supplies, an easel and a canvas.
The 44-year-old said painting helps him stay present and typically lifts the spirits of patients around him as they watch Fox work.
He plans on selling some of his paintings to help raise money for children fighting cancer.
The “scariest” prayer Fox ever prayed
Fox grew up in Mansfield and began working as an artist contractor at 24.
He completes jobs for Six Flags and Cedar Fair, including large steel sculptures, murals and roller coasters.
“It all started with airbrushing t-shirts and I just saw an opportunity,” Fox said. “Whatever the big guy (God) starts, he’s going to finish and this year I finally landed my first roller coaster.”
Fox’s cancer diagnosis caused him to take a step back from the heavy workload he was managing. He was also traveling back and forth from Texas to Ohio to visit his parents, before returning to Mansfield permanently after his mother’s diagnosis three years ago.
While grateful, he said he started to become unhappy, which is when Fox spoke the “scariest prayer” he’s ever said.
“‘What’s your will?'” he prayed to God. “‘What do you want me to do?
“Just do whatever it takes for me to get on line with you.'”
Before his mother passed, Fox said she told him he wasn’t living right and his career was consuming his time.
“Shortly after, she passed and then two months later I was diagnosed with colon cancer,” he said. “It was like, ‘OK. I’ll follow (God’s plan).'”
‘I never asked why’
Fox believes when adversity hits, it’s for a purpose — to “change, mold and make” a person.
“If he (God) allowed it, then it’s going to be used for something good,” he said. “That’s my drive right there.”
Art has a way of widening the window of how you look at things, Fox said, putting a person in the moment, which is replicated with a cancer diagnosis.
“It (cancer) puts you in the moment, right now,” he said. “I don’t worry about tomorrow anymore, because today is all I’ve got.”
This perspective can be seen on the canvases of Fox’s paintings, which frequently include subjects overcoming a challenge or adversity.
“I’ve always looked at it (art) as like a super hero kind of thing that you could always tap into, because I can create whatever I want on there (canvas),” Fox said.
“But then I also impact people, because they can kind of resonate (with the artwork)… it’s typically like overcoming (adversity). Art is very important, culturally and individually.”
Using art for good
When Fox comes to the Mansfield hospital for treatments, he said he likes to float around and talk with other patients when he’s not painting.
The 44-year-old artist aspires to someday open a place to offer painting lessons to cancer patients and palliative care patients.
Additionally, he plans to sell original artwork to help raise money for childhood cancer patients — something his mother planned to do.
“She just kept saying, ‘When I get better, I want to help the kids,'” Fox said.
He’s set a goal to raise $2,500 in donations — the highest donor receiving one of Fox’s landscape oil paintings.
The ability to give back is also part of the healing process, Fox said.
“It’s all perspective,” he said. “Whether I’m here in five years or not, it’s all good, because I’m living like my best life right now and that’s what it’s about.”
Visit Fox’s website or Facebook page to stay up-to-date with his blogs, artwork and future fundraising announcements.