We were lucky to catch up with Tiffy Sea recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tiffy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

When I first returned back to my creative space, I started out by taking commissions, which allowed me to challenge myself, find my niche, and be able to give back to those who were supporting me. And one of the first projects I did was for a friend of mine at the time, and it was a cross that they wanted personalized for their grandmother. Now I should preface this with I don’t hold ties to religion but I am a spiritual person. And the beautiful thing about taking commissions was that they all taught me something different and managed to create an openness within me. So looking back I now understand that we all need and want something to believe in and hold onto in this life; and that cross symbolized that for their grandmother.

The second and most recent piece I did was for a very dear friend of mine. They requested a personalized acrylic pour with their choice of colors, as well as mentioning wanting the semicolon symbol. And I was doing this piece while finishing up my treatments and many appointments pertaining to my breast cancer journey, which had become monotonous and draining in about every aspect possible. So while I felt this was such a personal and intimate piece for them, it also was able to speak to me through every brush stroke, outline, word, detail, and mixture of colors. This piece connected two people with two different struggles at the time and I can’t put into words the way it made it feel to stand back and admire the medicine of art.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Howdy, I’m Tiffy! I’m a Stage Two Breast Cancer survivor, who has always had a passion for the creative arts since I was a kid. From tech crew with school plays, to making it into the plays, writing scripts, poems, short stories, acrylic pours, pottery work, and now I’ve been doing social media management work for a year now. And I firmly believe through each creative outlet I’ve mozied my way through had come to a full circle for me, because now I have so many tools in my arsenal that I can continue to build on and share.

Being a social media manager for my best friend’s business (April Graber Photography) since April of 2023 has been such a gem of a journey. She gave me the encouragement and support to dive into graphic design, website design, and even experience behind the scenes of her shooting an engagement shoot that I was then able to edit and showcase for her. We are currently working together on a new website design for her and one thing I’m very headstrong about when it comes to client work is, making sure that their brand is an extension of themselves and true to who they are. And then taking all of that and portraying it through graphic designs and aesthetics. So I’m stoked to see the outcome of it all and it is already my most proud creation in that realm of arts!

As far as my writing goes, I’ve been told for years to write a book and I’m now at a place in my life where I can sit down and fully put myself into something very meaningful. Granted that is a process and because it’ll be my first it will take time to learn all the curves, but it is an adventure I’m fortunate to start!

Recovering from my hysterectomy and oophorectomy, I found myself back in my art room and hands messing around with clay again. I’ve learned to not restrict myself so much with my art and allow it to take me to where I need to be. And by doing that I plan to start showcasing my art process through my Twitch stream and maybe even start submitting pieces to shows; because i have always been very quiet with my art and now I want to share it with everyone.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I’ve always wanted to get to a financial standing where I could create a space for those who might not have the resources or for like minded individuals who share a love for the creative arts. And have a spot where they can showcase their work for people to purchase or support as well. Some of the best artists I would have in class with me would confide in me about their homelife or personal struggles and though I was just a kid, I did my best to make them feel apart of spaces that constantly told them they didn’t belong. And since those experiences, it will forever be a goal of mine. Because we deserve to take space and reserve it for those who might not be able or ready to do so.

Art is healing and it is how many of us cope and manage our feelings, thoughts, emotions, and beliefs. Sounds like accessible therapy for all to me!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Well this isn’t my whole personality…BUT it is a good 51% of my personality. Heh. In 2022 I was diagnosed with Stage Two Breast Cancer when I was only twenty-nine years old. And I knew it didn’t run in the family, but the genetic testing came back and further proved that it wasn’t genetically inherited; but yet I had this thing growing inside of my body and silently threatening my life. Triple positive and HER2+ were terms I never even knew about. The plan of chemotherapy, lumpectomy, and radiation would soon take nearly a year and a half of my life. Not to mention the constant appointments, going in for IVs because my body wasn’t handling chemotherapy well at all, surgeries, visiting an allergist for the first time in my life because my body was reacting to the medicine by covering my body in hives, or the weekly WalGreens visits because of the burns that radiation had given my body. It was always an up and a down. A symptom from the medicine, that you would then have to manage just so you could take the medication. It drained my mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual. There was a time where I was ready to give up and let go.

But then something changed. The movies I would watch as a child soon became comfort to me again, not “childish”. Playing video games with my friends, helped improved my comprehension and focus again. I started to work for April Graber Photography and my creative outlet was opened again and waiting for me. Cancer did not save my life, but it did change the trajectory of my life. It made me look so far into the depths of myself, I was meeting pieces of me that I didn’t even know were alive. It showed me that I will always find a way and that I will help others to find their way.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/datiitz_
• Other: https://www.twitch.tv/iam_itlddles https://www.tiktok.com/@iam_itiddies