DALLAS — When Oprah Winfrey came to Dallas last year, hundreds of entrepreneurs tried to get their newest ideas discovered.
For one local woman, it wasn't about the fame or fortune; instead, she sought to get Winfrey's attention to highlight the battle against ovarian cancer, and she did through a painted portrait of the "Queen of Daytime."
Her hope to create a conversation about the disease now stretches all the way to Oprah Winfrey's Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.
"How do you portray someone's philanthropic spirit and humanitarianism?" asked Shannon Kincaid, describing her thought process behind her painting of Winfrey. "So, I had this idea of Oprah carrying this child."
The painting, created in Dallas, is now displayed at the center of Winfrey's school in Africa.
Kincaid said each brush stroke has personal meaning. "I just wanted her to know that the painting was never about me; it was about my friends with cancer," she said.
Kincaid's mother, Ooma Kincaid, had tumors in her ovaries and uterine cancer. "The psychological blow when you get a diagnosis of cancer -- it's overwhelming," she said.
From her mother to the ovarian cancer support groups her husband runs at Baylor Medical Center, Shannon Kincaid wanted to get the word out about the disease. The answer, she thought, was to get Winfrey's attention.
Kincaid decided the painting was a way to do just that. She finished it in three days and sent it off, but it sat for months in storage.
"I tried everything I could to get it to Oprah and the answer was, 'No, no, no,'" Kincaid said.
Winfrey's Harpo Productions sent the painting back to Dallas. Not much later, Winfrey announced her visit to the State Fair of Texas, and Kincaid's persistence to share the painting paid off.
Winfrey not only accepted the painting, she recognized its purpose. It was one she decided to share with students at her school in Africa.
"To imagine the painting that I did to facilitate that conversation has wound up in the most prominent spot in her school in South Africa is overwhelming," Kincaid said, adding she is humbled to know students pass by the image on a daily basis.
"I hope they feel protected and shepherded," she said.
That is much like her wish for her friends fighting cancer.
"I feel like I just answered the call - inspiration with a capital 'I,'" Kincaid said.
E-mail: sslater@wfaa.com
