Jane Seymour: How Art Saved Me From Depression

Jane Seymour has triumphed over tragedy on “Dancing with the Stars.”

She lost her mother several weeks ago, and this month she nearly lost her house in the Malibu fires, but through it all Jane has danced every week with that gorgeous smile on her face.

Through thick and thin, she has kept a positive outlook, but now she reveals that she didn’t always navigate her life with such optimism.

Jane overcame a near bout of depression and Christopher Reeve played a role in her recovery.

“This is total therapy for me,” Jane told Access Hollywood as she took us into her home and her art studio. “The whole thing with art started when my life fell apart 16 years ago.”

Jane’s painful divorce from husband David Flynn ultimately led her to the art studio on her property – now a peaceful refuge.

“I lost all my money, I lost everything; I lost my marriage,” she said. “I should have gone and I was heading down a deep, dark tunnel of depression and instead of going there, I discovered art and I started painting.”

And that “therapy” turned into a one-woman empire.

Malibu’s “Martha Stewart” also designs home furnishings, silk scarves and handbags.

Jane’s paintings have raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars for charity, including one intimate piece of Jane and her dear friend Christopher Reeve.

Their friendship spanned 25-years after co-starring in the romantic fantasy “Somewhere In Time.”

“Chris loved this and I’ve been using this to raise money for his foundation,” Jane said of the piece seen above. “He was one of my closest friends and I promised him that when he had that accident, I said ‘what can I do for you?’ and he said, ‘do something for all the countless people that have lost their lives. They need help more than I do.’ So that’s what I’m doing.”