For most of my life, cancer has been present in my day to day thoughts.  My father was diagnosed with renal cancer when I was a senior in high school and fought his battle for five years. During this time, his father, my grandfather, died with cancer. My father's illness crept into all aspects of life. Shortly after my daughter was born he lost a lung.  On the operating table he told his doctors to hurry because he had a new grandbaby to go see.  Later, she could only go see her granddaddy on his "good" days.  My father succumbed to his cancer when my daughter was four years old.  She never knew her grandfather when he was not ill.  Years later, my fraternal grandmother also died of cancer.  I am acutely aware of my family history and I definitely am proactive with medical tests and screenings.

Art soothes the mind and spirit.  As a landscape painter, I attempt to put my viewer into my scenes.  Time of day, temperature and season are usually quite obvious in my work.  Perhaps while looking at my art, the patients and caregivers at West Clinic can find respite from the day to day struggle of their lives.  It is my desire for my work to transport my viewer to another time and place, perhaps to a memory or to a dream of a future reality.

http://www.louhoover.com/