Shannon Kincaid couldn’t look away from the Lilly Oncology on Canvas art catalog. It contained page after page of paintings from artists around the globe, all expressions of the journey through cancer.

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“It’s like Frida Kahlo on steroids — how painful and difficult so many of her paintings are to look at, but so beautiful at the same time,” says Kincaid, a neighborhood artist. “There was a painting of a woman’s torso with a scar where her breast used to be, and images of great hope where people are rising toward a rainbow or a sunbeam.”

Married to a gynecological oncologist who treats cancer in women’s reproductive organs, and a daughter of a two-time cancer survivor — once breast and once uterine — Kincaid knew some of this pain and hope, and she wanted to contribute to Lilly Oncology’s cause.

“But you can’t just call upon yourself to be inspired by something so moving,” she says.

As the deadline to enter the art contest was nearing, Kincaid had an epiphany.

“All of a sudden, all I could feel was what would it feel like if you were told you had cancer and were going to lose your breast. It struck me profoundly and personally,” she says. “The thought kept recurring in my mind, ‘Would he still love me? Would my husband still love me?’ And it knocked me over like a ton of bricks.”

Filled with inspiration, she holed up in her studio, and by the end of the afternoon had completed the 12-by-12-inch canvas. With the painting finished, all she had to worry about was whether it would dry in enough time to get it to New York City before the contest ended in August.

Shortly after the artwork reached its destination, she received a letter from the contest’s director telling Kincaid her painting, “Will He Still Love Me (Without My Breast)?” perfectly fit the theme.

“I thought, oh, that’s so nice. They write everybody a letter,” Kincaid recalls.

Then in October she received another big envelope with no return address and no letterhead. It looked like a sweepstakes offer, something she would normally toss in the garbage, except that it was postmarked “.”

The contents floored Kincaid. The letter inside stated that out of more than 2,000 entries from 43 countries, her painting had been chosen as the global winner in the category of best oil by a family member, friend or caregiver.

“You could have knocked me over with a feather,” Kincaid says.

On top of that big news, the letter stated that the painting was on its way to the London’s Royal College of Art where it remained on display until it was shipped back to New York for the opening in December. Her painting will remain on tour throughout 2007, visiting cancer centers, hospitals and advocacy groups to inspire others on their cancer journey.

Lilly Oncology, an Indianapolis-based medicine manufacturer, created the biannual contest in 2004 as one of its support programs to help cancer survivors heal from the emotional scars, says Christine Van Marter, a Lilly Oncology spokeswoman. The contest pieces are judged according to what best depicts giving the cancer journey meaning.

“I think this is a beautiful painting,” Marter says of Kincaid’s piece. “It depicts the fear and uncertainty that many cancer patients go through upon their initial diagnosis.”

For her work, Kincaid was awarded 500 euro, roughly $620, to give to the cancer charity of her choice. She chose to donate it to her husband’s research fund, the Lucy Burnett Research Fund through Baylor University Medical Center’s foundation.