Winter Garden artist creates with melted crayons

The process of creating art is therapeutic for many people, and for Winter Garden resident Teri Dovidas Velasquez, art has seemed to have direct impacts on her health.  

A few years ago, Velasquez saw the melted crayon art that was popular on Pinterest at the time. DIY enthusiasts used a hair dryer to melt crayons over a canvas and formed designs with the melted wax.

Velasquez liked the idea, but she wanted to incorporate a style that was unique to her. So instead of allowing the crayons to melt in long streams of wax, she melted the wax and then dotted it onto the canvas — similar to impressionist paintings.

“I kind of got immersed into it, and it was like my own little world,” Velasquez said. 

At that time, because she had been cutting out her parents’ obituaries for all of her family members, Velasquez had accumulated a lot of newspapers. So she reused the pages she didn’t need as the background for her artwork, which she preferred over a blank background.

But Velasquez’s crayon artwork also has helped her cope with a chronic illness that runs in her family, and which she has suffered from for more than 10 years: lupus. 

“Your body is overactive — it doesn’t know bad from good, so your body attacks itself,” Velasquez said. 

Every day is different, and even from hour to hour, Velasquez’s physical state can change, but she generally has a lot of aches and soreness. Lupus has attacked her knees, causing her to rely on a walker and wheelchair for a time, and her bladder, after which she went into kidney failure. Earlier this year, she was hospitalized with gastrointestinal problems. 

“Either you laugh or you cry, so I laugh,” Velasquez said. 

The physical symptoms get worse when Velasquez is stressed, which is why her art is so important to her. It is an enjoyable activity that lowers her stress level and makes her feel better, both emotionally and physically. 

“It’s like coloring with a twist,” she said. “I feel like a kid.”

Each piece Velasquez makes requires a few hours of work and a lot of crayons.

She said the experience also has helped her connect more easily with artists in the community, such as those she and her husband meet at conventions they attend.

Velasquez can’t work or drive, so she spends a lot of time at home but tries to stay busy with her hobbies. In addition to art, she enjoys baking and knitting. She sometimes sells her knitted items, such as scarves, baby booties and caps, on Etsy. Her online shop is called Kuhnuhndruhm.

“I’m a bit of a conundrum,” she said. “Everything’s a little bit different.”

Contact Catherine Sinclair at [email protected].