At age 7, Lori Grassette learned to play guitar, read music and play spoons. Decades later, a two-time survivor of breast cancer, Lori has turned these childhood pleasures into instruments of healing for herself and other cancer survivors.
Lori was living in Kentucky during her first bout with cancer. After completing treatment, she moved to California and reinvented herself as an artist, musician and healer.
A virtuoso spoon player, Lori has had many memorable gigs, including an opportunity to perform with Grammy Award winning zydeco musician Terence Simien. But the audiences she seeks out as a volunteer are cancer patients. She travels to nursing homes and hospitals, raising spirits with her spoons as well as her guitar, mandolin and banjo.
Lori also enjoys introducing cancer patients to the joys of art making. A mixed media artist and jewelry designer with a knack for recycling found objects into dolls and wearable art, Lori shares her enthusiasm and techniques with patients of all ages.
Lori’s childhood friend Shelli Leger writes, “Lori told me, ‘I sing, give spoon demos, teach doll making — whatever it takes. Everyone has been wounded, you know.’ Lori has transformed her wounds into art. She uses her immense creativity and talent for good.”
