Grief

Rather than addressing the stages of grief, the author - a visual artist - painted how it felt to be in the midst of grief. It was created in response to the death of her mother, at a time when words seemed inadequate. "Grief" - a series of 22 images - begins with a single tear. Over several pages, more tears fall, pool, slowly filling the frame. A (purposefully) too-long period of dark pages follow. Just when the dark seems overwhelming, an image with a single star in the midst of...
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Rather than addressing the stages of grief, the author - a visual artist - painted how it felt to be in the midst of grief. It was created in response to the death of her mother, at a time when words seemed inadequate. "Grief" - a series of 22 images - begins with a single tear. Over several pages, more tears fall, pool, slowly filling the frame. A (purposefully) too-long period of dark pages follow. Just when the dark seems overwhelming, an image with a single star in the midst of that darkness shifts the reader's perception of the dark from ocean-of-tears to a gentler dark of night-sky. Stars slowly return. Clouds come, but eventually dissipate. A long-awaited dawn finally brings light and hope.Since "Grief" has no words, it can be "read" by children as well as adults, and understood by non-English speakers. While the author created the book in response to a death, it is applicable to other situations of loss: assault, a serious physical injury, natural disaster, displacement, loss of a pet, etc.