While Jeanie Rae was undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer, her mother was losing her own battle for life. It was during this dark period that she conjured up a "black fairy" that was to provide her with endless comfort over the years.

While former nurse Jeanie Rae was undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer, her mother was losing her own battle for life. Jeanie's heart was breaking, but it was during this dark period that she conjured up a "black fairy" that was to provide her with endless comfort over the years.

"I had trained as a nurse at the Western Infirmary and I had always said that, if ever my wee mum was unwell, I'd look after her," explains Jeanie, a mother of two who lives in Balfron, Stirlingshire. "But I had a big swollen arm after surgery and my breast had burst open because of a haematoma. I was in a right mess, and she was dying. It devastated me that I couldn't look after her. When I was in the hospital I can remember thinking: I'm going to get on top of this. I'm going to imagine I've got a fairy looking after me.'"

Jeanie, 62, who is married to Allan, a retired doctor, discovered a lump in her breast in 2000, during a holiday in Cyprus. When she came home, an investigation confirmed it was malignant. "When I went home after they told me, I went down into the woods and I screamed and screamed as loud as I could."

Having screamed herself hoarse, she went home and vowed to get through her treatment without any more drama. She underwent a lumpectomy and had lymph glands removed before beginning a six-week course of radiotherapy. "I told my husband I was going to be fine because I'd got this wee fairy and she was going to zap all my cancer cells."

Despite everything that was going on, she says others had it worse. "There was a little boy who went on the machine before me every morning," she recalls of her radiotherapy. "He was four and he had a brain tumour. He had to get a general anaesthetic every morning because he couldn't lie still. It just humbled me. I thought, What am I going on about, at my age?'"

After her treatment, Jeanie attended a holistic cancer care centre in Bristol, where she realised that the visualisation she had being doing instinctively was a well-recognised therapy. She spoke about her black fairy and was encouraged to try to draw it. "I'm not very good at drawing but I drew this wee black shape and brought it home with me. I had it stuck on the fridge and it got more and more worn."

Her husband Allan could see the comfort the image provided and set about trying to find a more permanent replacement. Soon he had contacted the artist Archie Forrest, who is an old friend of Jeanie. Archie and his wife, Linda, were coming round for a party the following weekend and Allan asked him if he could scribble a black fairy on a piece of paper and bring it along to surprise Jeanie.

Archie, who studied and later taught at Glasgow School of Art, is a leading Scottish colourist whose work has been exhibited at the Portland Gallery in London and the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh. He also created the busts of Donald Dewar in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and the Scottish Parliament. "Archie came for dinner and, being Archie, produced a framed picture," says Jeanie. "I opened it up and I was over the moon. You might think I'm off my head but I look to this fairy all the time.

"Within that year, my husband's younger brothers - twins - were both diagnosed with cancer, and both died. It was just horrendous. I would say to Allan, if I didn't have this wee fairy "

While Jeanie's own cancer has been successfully treated, her operation left her with damage to her breast and spine, which caused excruciating pain. She made medical history in 2005 as the first person in Scotland to be prescribed cannabis as a treatment for her chronic pain. Other medication was having little effect and she was offered the cannabis-based drug Sativex by doctors at the pain-management clinic at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow. While she rarely uses the medication today, she is still undergoing operations - and the sight of her fairy continues to give her pleasure.

"I still take quite strong painkillers, and when I can't sleep sometimes I just lie there and think about this fairy fluttering about me," she says. "It just makes me feel so good."

Now she wants her good-luck charm to give comfort to others. After reading about Maggie's cancer caring centres in The Herald, Jeanie contacted the charity to see if Archie's painting, Wee Black Fairy, on which she holds the copyright, could help raise funds. She had 12 prints made by The Pictures, a Glasgow-based specialist company, which were signed by Archie. These will be auctioned over the coming months. A further 1000 smaller prints have been produced to sell in Arteries Gallery, which is run by her son Neil.

Archie, 58, says his inspiration came from a painting in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery by Sir Noel Paton. "I spent all my days as a wee boy at Kelvingrove. I used to play count the fairies in this big painting of a fairy glen." He spent two days working and reworking the painting. "I thought she was a bit bonkers - but at the end of the day, she needed a black fairy. I mean, I don't do fairies," he says with a hearty laugh. "It's my one and only."

It was through their shared love of art that Jeanie and Archie first became friends. Jeanie admits that, even as a student, she would use any spare money to go to the Barras and treat herself to a print. She was invited to become a member of the Glasgow Art Club, where she was introduced to Archie. Years later, when Archie had his own cancer scare, it brought the friends even closer.

Archie only found out there was a problem after a routine testicular operation. Doctors discovered a rare form of mesothelioma, which is caused by exposure to asbestos. "Unknown to me, they had taken a biopsy - and then I got a letter saying there was something untoward," he says. "I'll always remember that phrase. I went along and it was the scariest thing in my life."

Archie underwent an operation to remove the testicle, but didn't have to undergo radiotherapy. Although he still goes for routine checks, he says the operation was successful. "That was very fortunate for me, because I could have chosen not to have had the original operation done. It's just the wee ifs and buts of life."

While Jeanie found comfort by looking at art and helping out in her son's gallery throughout her illness, Archie tapped into the therapeutic power of art by creating it. He painted throughout his recovery because of the pleasure it gave him. "People would say, You shouldn't be working, you're recovering from an operation,' but it wasn't work for me. It was a joy," he says. "If you're painting a picture, you're thinking about the picture, not that operation you've just had or the way your body looks. So it's just a positive approach to something which is quite horrible."

Both Archie and Jeanie believe their lives have been altered for the better following their diagnosis and treatment. "It changed my life," says Archie. "As a workaholic, I had to slow down a bit. I still work hard, but I try my best to take a couple of days off at the weekend and my perspective has changed. I realise the things I thought were very important aren't as important. It's an awakening. If you can come out the way Jeanie and I have, very fortunately, where the treatment seems to be working, you'd be a fool not to realise how fragile the world is, and your own existence.

"What sticks in your head is the 24 hours after you're told. I'd just lost my brother-in-law the year before to the same kind of thing, only he had the asbestos in his tummy. I was worried about not having painted my kids enough. It was the daftest thing."

Despite her ongoing health issues, Jeanie agrees that the shock of her diagnosis allowed her to crystalise what mattered to her. "It is strange, because you think to yourself: What time I have wasted and what silly things I have done'," she says. "And you think: How could I have done that and not what I really wanted to do? People who have had cancer are quite privileged because it makes you think: what is life really about?"

1000 prints of Wee Black Fairy

One thousand prints of Wee Black Fairy, by Archie Forrest, have been produced and will go on sale at Arteries Gallery in Glasgow from September 8. Sale will be by donation and 100% of the proceeds will go to Maggie's cancer caring centres. Arteries is at 127 Douglas Street, Glasgow. For more information, call 0141 333 0999.