Valley woman helps abuse survivors through art

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Abuse victims often have difficulty overcoming the trauma they have had to incur.
 
“For me, my life had been closed and I had not talked about myself for about 30 years,” said Joyce White, an abuse survivor.
 
This is a common theme for abuse victims.
 
It's a theme that Vickie Florschuetz, of Phoenix, wanted to help those victims overcome.
 
“Each person has an individual experience, and has a special message to tell people about domestic abuse,” said Florschuetz.
 
She will meet with a survivor, and together they will put the story into words.
 
Then Florschuetz will express the story with a portrait that is unique to each survivor.
 
“I see them as strong and beautiful, and maybe in a way that they might not see themselves,” said Florschuetz.
 
She’s been doing the portraits for about a year and a half, and still vividly remembers her first one.
 
“She is a hero in my eyes because, she is also disabled,” said Florschuetz. “But if you were to talk to her, you would see this vibrant, fearless, intelligent, loving person.”
 
Florschuetz gets the same joy out of each and every portrait she does.
 
“I have to tell you, they are just the most amazing people I have ever met.  It’s really just in honor of them,” she said.
 
Joyce White, who has also turned to art in her effort to recover, credits the portrait process for her new outlook.
 
“It just kind of opened up a lot and I’m grateful to her,” said White.
 
Florschuetz does these portraits for the survivors at no cost to them.
 
She will show the originals at galleries and events to raise money for her Bravery Project, as well as several other organizations that help victims.
 
She can be commissioned to do anyone’s portrait as well, and the revenue from those will also go back into the Bravery Project.

You can check out all of the portraits and stories of the survivors, and donate to the project at the Bravery Project website.
 
If you would like to commission Florschuetz to do a portrait for you, then visit her artist website.
 
You can also check out Joyce White’s, handmade jewelry at her artist website.