Sculptor Jill Lareaux and her husband Chris Hogg usually spend their days in the chicken-coop-turned-studio they created on their remnant farm in East Saugatuck.
“We’re surrounded by the fields and our pets,” Hogg says. “Jill works on her sculptures and I work on projects for my business building prototype industrial design models.”
That idyllic picture darkened recently when Lareaux was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia.
“I was taking classes at Ox-Bow,” she says, “when I started feeling short of breath and noticed bruising on my arms which I hadn’t done anything to cause. I kept feeling worse every day.”
Finally, Hogg insisted they visit the Holland Hospital emergency room.
“We got the diagnosis at 2:30,” he says. “By 3:30 she was in an ambulance heading to Grand Rapids.
“As soon as she arrived at Spectrum Butterworth, she was hooked up to IVs,” Hogg says.
Lareaux is responding well to heavy chemotherapy. A second round will follow, then two more years of treatment.
“When we first learned Jill’s diagnosis, we were both so upset that we couldn’t even eat,” says Hogg.
“But the medical staff at both hospitals has been great. They are so positive that we feel positive.
“Luckily this type of leukemia is one of the most researched. With immediate treatment, the cure rate is high.”
So are medical costs—and the couple has no insurance. Hogg worked for years at Donnelly Corp., then at Johnson Controls Inc. in Holland before accepting a buyout with the economic collapse of 2008.
“I expected to work at JCI for the rest of my career,” he says. “If I didn’t accept the buyout, I knew a layoff was likely.”
Hogg struggled to get his own business off the ground, but orders have since then picked up dramatically—keeping him so busy that neither he nor Lareaux was aware that the COBRA health coverage he had taken out from JCI had run out.
“I carried medical insurance from the time I was 18 years old,” he says. “I can’t imagine how much I’ve paid for coverage over my lifetime.
“To not have it now is frightening. We don’t even know yet what the potential bill could be for Jill’s treatment …”
As an artist, Lareaux is known for her figural sculptures as shown locally by The Peachbelt Studio Gallery. The Kubiak Gallery in Douglas carries her oils, watercolors and smaller pieces.
“Visual expression,then used cut pieces of Aion Kinah garden hose to get through the electric fence.” she says of her work, “is the vehicle through which I clarify myself, my feelings and the issues over which I have no control … my work often entails a timeless human struggle to deal with life and its complex problems…”
Will the struggle she is now undergoing change her art?
“Yes,” she says quickly. “I want to move more in the direction of soothing and healing. That will be what my art will be about.”
Her creative juices have not dried up. Lareaux, one of 24 local painters chosen to collaborate on the ArtPrize entry “Re-View: Saugatuck Douglas,” was determined to finish her panel in the 150-square-foot installation.
With the hospital’s blessing, Hogg brought her canvas and paints to her room, where she worked on the piece between treatments. Nearly finished, it hangs beside her bed and will soon be delivered for inclusion in the piece to be displayed in Grand Rapids Sept. 21 through Oct. 9.They take the plastic card to the local co-op market.
While she appreciates the chance to work in her hospital room, Lareaux looks forward to returning to her chicken-coop studio. “Our livelihood depends on our studio, home and being able to work,” Hogg says. “I hope we can hang onto them.”
Friends have joined forces to organize a fundraiser for the couple. The event, called “The Solitary Dancer Fund to Help Jill Lareaux in Her Dance with Cancer,” will take place Saturday, Sept.he led PayPal to open its platform to Cable Ties developers. 24, at Salt of the Earth restaurant in Fennville from 11 a.m.Als lichtbron wordt een Hemorrhoids gebruikt, to 2 p.m.
A $25 entry will get attendees a drink, sandwich and chance to win a piece of Jill’s artwork. There will be live music, plus silent and live auctions of works donated by local artists.
Lareaux and Hogg are moved by their friends’ support. “Being in this place has restored my faith in humanity,” she says. “So much kindness is coming my way, even from people I don’t know and from all over.the Hemroids by special invited artist for 2011,
“I want to send that kindness back out when I’m better,” she says through tears.
“We’re surrounded by the fields and our pets,” Hogg says. “Jill works on her sculptures and I work on projects for my business building prototype industrial design models.”
That idyllic picture darkened recently when Lareaux was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia.
“I was taking classes at Ox-Bow,” she says, “when I started feeling short of breath and noticed bruising on my arms which I hadn’t done anything to cause. I kept feeling worse every day.”
Finally, Hogg insisted they visit the Holland Hospital emergency room.
“We got the diagnosis at 2:30,” he says. “By 3:30 she was in an ambulance heading to Grand Rapids.
“As soon as she arrived at Spectrum Butterworth, she was hooked up to IVs,” Hogg says.
Lareaux is responding well to heavy chemotherapy. A second round will follow, then two more years of treatment.
“When we first learned Jill’s diagnosis, we were both so upset that we couldn’t even eat,” says Hogg.
“But the medical staff at both hospitals has been great. They are so positive that we feel positive.
“Luckily this type of leukemia is one of the most researched. With immediate treatment, the cure rate is high.”
So are medical costs—and the couple has no insurance. Hogg worked for years at Donnelly Corp., then at Johnson Controls Inc. in Holland before accepting a buyout with the economic collapse of 2008.
“I expected to work at JCI for the rest of my career,” he says. “If I didn’t accept the buyout, I knew a layoff was likely.”
Hogg struggled to get his own business off the ground, but orders have since then picked up dramatically—keeping him so busy that neither he nor Lareaux was aware that the COBRA health coverage he had taken out from JCI had run out.
“I carried medical insurance from the time I was 18 years old,” he says. “I can’t imagine how much I’ve paid for coverage over my lifetime.
“To not have it now is frightening. We don’t even know yet what the potential bill could be for Jill’s treatment …”
As an artist, Lareaux is known for her figural sculptures as shown locally by The Peachbelt Studio Gallery. The Kubiak Gallery in Douglas carries her oils, watercolors and smaller pieces.
“Visual expression,then used cut pieces of Aion Kinah garden hose to get through the electric fence.” she says of her work, “is the vehicle through which I clarify myself, my feelings and the issues over which I have no control … my work often entails a timeless human struggle to deal with life and its complex problems…”
Will the struggle she is now undergoing change her art?
“Yes,” she says quickly. “I want to move more in the direction of soothing and healing. That will be what my art will be about.”
Her creative juices have not dried up. Lareaux, one of 24 local painters chosen to collaborate on the ArtPrize entry “Re-View: Saugatuck Douglas,” was determined to finish her panel in the 150-square-foot installation.
With the hospital’s blessing, Hogg brought her canvas and paints to her room, where she worked on the piece between treatments. Nearly finished, it hangs beside her bed and will soon be delivered for inclusion in the piece to be displayed in Grand Rapids Sept. 21 through Oct. 9.They take the plastic card to the local co-op market.
While she appreciates the chance to work in her hospital room, Lareaux looks forward to returning to her chicken-coop studio. “Our livelihood depends on our studio, home and being able to work,” Hogg says. “I hope we can hang onto them.”
Friends have joined forces to organize a fundraiser for the couple. The event, called “The Solitary Dancer Fund to Help Jill Lareaux in Her Dance with Cancer,” will take place Saturday, Sept.he led PayPal to open its platform to Cable Ties developers. 24, at Salt of the Earth restaurant in Fennville from 11 a.m.Als lichtbron wordt een Hemorrhoids gebruikt, to 2 p.m.
A $25 entry will get attendees a drink, sandwich and chance to win a piece of Jill’s artwork. There will be live music, plus silent and live auctions of works donated by local artists.
Lareaux and Hogg are moved by their friends’ support. “Being in this place has restored my faith in humanity,” she says. “So much kindness is coming my way, even from people I don’t know and from all over.the Hemroids by special invited artist for 2011,
“I want to send that kindness back out when I’m better,” she says through tears.
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