Our guest today is Vicky DeMaio, Co-Author of “The Art of Our Healing;” her Co-author, Jill Zientek, could not make it today, so Vicky will be discussing their new book. The Co-Authors
met when they joined the same Life Group at their church outside Nashville, Tennessee. While much about their lives is very different, Vicky DeMaio and Jill Zientek share a love for creating art. Their budding friendship soon became a bond when they discovered they had even more in common — each having endured devastating grief through the losses of loved ones. That bond and artwork eventually led to their new book, “The Art of Our Healing,” a book of heart writings and art. Vicky DeMaio spent most of her adult years in Florida until she relocated to the Nashville area when she married her husband, Mark. Before her new life with the “love of her life,” Mark, and their blended family, Vicky was widowed, divorced, and endured the pain of losing an adult child to suicide. She enjoys painting abstract art, a newly discovered talent for the former educator who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Special Education and a Masters in Learning Disabilities. She tutors children in her community, is passionate about the gospel, teaches Bible studies, and serves as a pastoral counselor. She and Mark share a blended family of six children, four grandchildren, and a son who is now with Jesus. Her greatest desire is to see people become followers of Christ, living their God-given purpose while fulfilling their destiny.
Jill Zientek, unable to join us today, has lived in the Nashville area since she was a young adult, growing up on an eighty-acre farm in Brownsville, Indiana. There she would ride her pony “ninety to nothing” across the open fields. At eleven, Jill gave her life to Christ while attending a Southern Baptist revival and was later baptized in a flowing river. That still-vibrant faith continues to sustain her as she endured caring for and then losing her husband after a lengthy illness, and then just recently facing another shock, losing her mother through violent death. Jill continues to serve God in ministry with her church and works as a radio host, songwriter, real estate agent, and artist who created the Jill Zientek Christmas Line depicting the middle Tennessee area.
The Art of Our Healing: A Faith-Based Journey of Loss, Hope, and Healing (ISBN 978-1954437-52-4, $34.99), an 8 x 11-inch hardbound coffee table book featuring original color artwork, releases in November from Carpenter’s Son Publishing. It is available from selected bookstores and online retailers. For more information about the Co-Authors, go to their website at www.theartofourhealing.com.