Exercise and art help artist to fight cancer

It is control in the face of the uncontrollable. It is how she slowed her world when she says "it began to spin out of control" with the diagnosis of a rare cancer of the uterus at 23 years of age.

Jenna's life from November 2014 became about choices and control.

She could not control the outcome her treatment - the loss of her uterus and with it the ability to carry a child. However, she could control how she fought the cancer and she made the choice to exercise at The Factory in Taree.

"The gym has helped me more than probably anything - aside from my art," Jenna said.

"Exercise is a really good form of release and when you are put in a situation that you can't control - like fighting cancer - it's really important and good to have something that you can control.

"I can control that aspect of my health, I can stay fit.

"Art is exactly the same, I feel in control when I have got a pencil or a paintbrush in my hand.

"When everything is sort of spinning around you it's nice to feel stable in that environment and that is what I found at the gym."

In recent months Jenna has been lifting a paintbrush in addition to weights during her time at The Factory.

Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, now looms large over the weights area and it is an artwork that is created to inspire and motivate people to achieve personal fitness goals.

The painting is powerful, it dominates the space and according to The Factory owner, Mark Grosvenor, "we think Jenna is a genius".

Mark and his son Todd own The Factory and have supported Jenna through her cancer journey.

A desire to add character and atmosphere to the gym, to introduce a new dimension of motivation for clients and their support of Jenna drove the decision to ask her to transform a wall with art.

"We totally trusted Jenna to do the job she said, 'I'm a bit slow and a bit of a perfectionist' but it was well worth the wait," Mark said.

"We'd like to thank Jenna for the time and effort it took to do this amazing thing for us we think it is something special."

Jenna admits to "feeling daunted by the scale of the project."

"I had not painted anything of that size and I normally do graphite drawings," Jenna explained.

"The biggest drawing I have done so far is about six foot by four foot a large drawing but nothing compared to this scale."

Jenna says she loved the challenge and her time in the gym over the four or five weeks that it took to complete.

She says she is now cancer-free and insists that "you've just got to focus on the positives" and says working to create The Rock for Mark and Todd is a positive.

"A shout-out to these guys. They go above and beyond for everyone who walks in here," Jenna said.

For Jenna, exercise at The Factory will remain an integral part of her fight to remain cancer-free, and it may also deliver an opportunity to add more art to its walls with Mark suggesting that a female fitness icon may be next.

Until her next wall at The Factory is cleared for transformation Jenna says she will continue to do portrait commission work.

"I don't have a studio, I pretty-much just take over my mum's small unit and I work out in the garage - we make it work," Jenna laughed.

She looks to her future with purpose and optimism and again repeats, "you've just got to focus on the positives."

To see more of Jenna's art visit her Facebook page www.facebook.com/artbyjen92