Coweta Woman Uses Chalk Art To Inspire Others

A Coweta woman is using art to stay positive and inspire others.

"My neighbors probably think I'm insane, 'Oh my gosh there she is sitting outside doing her chalking again,'" said Calen Bury.

Bury spends a lot of time on her sidewalk, in the summer heat, making art.

"Oh my goodness and I'm usually in a hoodie, because I'm a genius," she said.

She's working on a cartoon character on Tuesday, one of hundreds of chalk art designs she's done over the past two years.

She even made one of Osage SkyNews 6. It's a hobby Bury picked up while taking care of her husband, Michael.

"My husband got sick in December of '20, and it made him paralyzed from Guillain-Barre syndrome, we'd never heard of it … he depended on me for literally to open water bottles, everything. Had to lift him in and out of chairs, change him," said Bury. "Taking care of all them on top of laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, trying to do work, we didn't find a lot of time to play. My babies got the worst part of me and I hated it."

"I had to find something that brought me joy while taking care of him, and so this it what done it, this is what helped me," she said.

She said she tapped into an artistic side of her that she never knew existed.

"I think he was shocked. He was like, 'Oh my goodness you can't even draw a circle, so how in the world can you draw, you can't do that,' so if he tells me I can't do something, I have to prove him wrong," Bury said.

Michael said It’s nice to see her explore this new passion.

"For her to come out here and doing that when I was sick to actually looking pretty good it's pretty amazing," said Michael.

Bury said Michael’s diagnosis changed her outlook on life, and now wants to use her art to inspire others.

"And so I owe it to God to be what I can to be the light for him," Bury said.

Sending a message of hope, to her community, that we could see from the air.