Warrnambool girl Naomi Philpot's art full of hope and joy shines bright during brain cancer treatment

Yet according to the 11-year old artist, the bold colours - radiating even in the brightest light - are far more simply a source of ongoing joy.

"I feel really happy," Naomi says of making art.

Boxes containing hundreds of Naomi's pictures and framed pieces in the Philpot's home are the result of work her mum Anna jokes could support a new exhibition every day.

At the Royal Children's Hospital, art therapist Matilda 'Tilly' Dawson says Naomi is the most productive painter to attend the paediatric oncology ward.

"She could do up to 17 pieces a day," Ms Dawson said. "She's pretty special in how prolific she is; she is an art-therapy star."

Art therapy helps children with cancer at the hospital process and make sense of the environment, Ms Dawson says, and returns choice and control.

For Naomi - who in July and August underwent three brain surgeries and has now tallied up seven in her life - art takes her mind off sickness.

"It helps distract me from the pain," she says.

Doctors diagnosed Naomi with brain cancer when she was four years old after discovering a tumour when she was three.

She spent 120 nights in hospital around that time. Since 2017 she has been airlifted from Warrnambool to Melbourne four times, most recently for urgent surgery in July.

The tumour began growing again a year ago, triggering a new round of treatment.

"I have had four brain surgeries but I never, ever, give up," Naomi told The Standard before her most recent surgeries.

Naomi's love for art started in kindergarten, her mum explained, but it was the Royal Children's Hospital's former art therapist Michelle Atlas who nurtured Naomi's talents.

"She loves mixing colours and putting colours together," Ms Philpot said. "It was one of the most effective therapies for Naomi."

The therapy was expensive and difficult to secure until the NDIS in 2018 provided regular sessions in Warrnambool with south-west art therapists Amanda Lines and Christine Samantha Burford.

"She shows joy throughout," Ms Burford said. "Even at times when she expresses that something is a bit out of her comfort zone, she will go ahead and discover something new about the art."

In intensive care in the past two months Naomi was unable to paint but could instruct Ms Dawson and another clinician to make art at her bedside.

"We can make the image they are unable to make at that time," the RCH's Ms Dawson said.

Naomi left hospital three weeks ago and was relieved to reunite with her brothers, Levi and James, at home after coronavirus restrictions kept them apart.

"I was really happy to see my brothers," she said.

Ms Philpot said Naomi had now stopped treatment after a clinical trial not tested on children was unsuccessful.

"The clinical trial medication was effective until the dosing went over 75 per cent. We are having an MRI later on to see what we should do from here," she said.

"Naomi has always been known to be 'non-text book' to a lot of the doctors. We are Christians and believe in the power of the miraculous working God, which Naomi has experienced in the past.

"We don't know if there is going to be any more medical intervention."

In June, a collage of Naomi's art was published on the cover of world leading medical journal The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health.

"I was really excited," Naomi said.

Retired Warrnambool doctor John Philpot, Naomi's grandfather, proudly joked to the family that he was never published in the medical journal but his granddaughter was the cover girl.

Ms Philpot said she and Naomi were also considering an art sale for fundraising, while offering standout works to services that supported them.

Naomi gives her artwork names such as Wind is Blowing, and she titled The Lancet journal work Into the Light after a biblical significance of light dawning on a new day.

"We believe that this hope is what propels Naomi and our family to continue to say 'never give up' throughout our journey so far," Ms Philpot said.

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