For Sheila Huff, art has always been a way to tell a story.

After spending 25 years teaching art at Sacred Heart Academy, Sheila became accustomed to communicating through composition, color, line, shape, and texture. Her artwork often incorporated symbols and unusual settings, inviting viewers to find their own meaning in what they saw.

But in March 2025, Sheila found herself facing a story she never expected to tell.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer.

As the anxiety and uncertainty of a serious health diagnosis began to sink in, Sheila turned to the one thing that had always helped her feel grounded: creating art.

“I had not drawn any artwork for years that was my own creation,” Sheila explains. “It was very relaxing and kept me grounded and focused.”

She began drawing spontaneously, using pencil and black artist markers to create intricate compositions filled with letters, textures, organic shapes, symbols, and lines. What began as a way to manage her emotions soon developed into an entire artistic series documenting her journey from diagnosis to remission.

The result became The Journey, a collection of artwork representing six stages of the cancer experience: cancer, stages, surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, and remission.

The six original drawings, each measuring 11 by 16 inches, took approximately five months to complete.

And Sheila wasn't creating them alone.

Her granddaughters, Ellie and Tessa, became part of the process, drawing alongside their grandmother as she worked. When Sheila finished the six drawings, the girls had an idea.

They told her the series needed a name.

That suggestion sparked the next phase of Sheila's project.

Sheila began creating a 26 piece alphabet, with each letter taking on a more human form. The letters have feet and facial features. They walk, rest, cry, drag their feet, sit down, and even change directions.

They are tired and weary, but they keep moving.

The inspiration came from something another cancer survivor once told Sheila: Cancer is just “a blip in the road” in the journey of life.

The alphabet became Sheila's way of bringing that idea to life, with a little humor along the way.

“They are walking, slowly and steadily even though they are tired and weary,” Sheila says. “Until they reach the end of the journey.”

The message is simple:

The alphabet drawings are only one part of a much larger body of work Sheila calls Emotional Symbolism, an artistic style she developed through the project.

Her compositions intentionally use letters, colors, objects, shapes, textures, and movement to evoke emotions. Reptile and animal skin, plants, wrinkles, glass, stone, veins, seeds, glands, cells, pills, ribbons, chains, keys, locks, shackles, eyes, hands, and other forms appear throughout the work.

Letters also carry personal meaning. A can represent Anastrozole or a family member. HT represents hormone therapy. K represents Klarer. C represents cancer. R can represent radiation, remission, recurrence, or Riley. S can represent surgery or subject.

Movement is another important element. Drips, tearing, cracking, breaking, wrapping, holding, and interlocking shapes are used to communicate emotions and experiences that can be difficult to put into words.

“The designs were created with movement, depth, letters and shapes that symbolize people, things, and textures that can evoke fear or calm,” Sheila explains. “Each person will see and understand the works based on their own life experience.”

That personal interpretation is an important part of Sheila's work.

“Emotion is the key to understanding art,” she says.

The Journey grew far beyond the original six drawings.

Sheila completed 26 individual 5 by 7 inch alphabet pieces, along with descriptions and a detailed legend explaining the symbolism behind the work. She also created two coloring books featuring the alphabet and stages of cancer.

She had the pieces digitized with help from Iris Pro Imaging and began experimenting with different ways to reproduce the artwork, including watercolor paper, high quality paper for markers and framing, and metal surfaces.

Six framed 11 by 16 inch pieces were given to her doctors and to the breast centers at Brown Cancer in Northeast Louisville and Downtown. Sheila has also created posters featuring the drawings and their descriptions, as well as multiple sets of the six stage drawings.

More than 27 framed names and initials have been created for friends and family members who have walked the cancer journey themselves or have another connection to the alphabet and its meaning.

And Sheila's vision continues to grow.

She is currently working on a large metal and Plexiglas installation that she hopes to donate to a breast center or women's health hospital.

She also plans to experiment with hand coloring the series and names, printing the artwork on blankets, and using the designs for mugs and water bottles. She would also like to create large letters featuring family last names.

And, naturally, her granddaughters already have another idea.

“There is still more to come,” Sheila says. “The girls say I need to add the numbers to the series.”

For Sheila, returning to her own artwork during cancer treatment brought her back to a part of herself that had been quiet for years.

She studied art in college before earning a master's degree in library science and an educational specialist degree in computerized instruction, with a minor in programming. She spent 45 years at Sacred Heart Academy, including 25 years teaching design, painting, drawing, and sculpture. Later, she moved into layout and animation classes before eventually transitioning into administration.

Since retiring in 2020, Sheila has continued sharing her creativity with Ellie and Tessa, teaching them crafts, mixed media, design, and drawing.

But The Journey gave Sheila a reason to create for herself again.

And while the project began with fear and uncertainty, it ultimately became something filled with connection, family, creativity, and hope.

Sheila has lived in Lake Forest since 1996, when she and husband Bill moved to the neighborhood from Douglas Hills, where they had lived since 1975. Today, their family includes son Josh, daughter-in-law Steph, granddaughters Ellie and Tessa, and their dog, Willow.

Through her cancer journey, Sheila discovered that art could do more than help her process her own emotions. It could give shape to experiences that are difficult to explain, remind others that they are not alone, and perhaps offer a little encouragement to anyone walking a difficult road of their own.

One letter, one drawing, and one step at a time.