Use your hands and mind to create something that expresses your loss, in a small way, and honors the loved one you lost. Make a pin, journal, T-Shirt, mandala, magnet or bracelet that recalls the core of your affection and love for someone who is gone. Use words, colors, felt, buttons, fabric scraps or beads to memorialize your special person. Create your own monuments to ones loved and lost.

Join me for hands-on artmaking to focus on the part of your bereavement that is expressed VISUALLY. Utilize words, dates, shapes, colors and textures to create a tangible reminder that both channels and expresses deepest feelings. Show your grief on a different level by creating a picture to honor and remember. Each participant in a workshop will take home at least one complete memento.

How can artmaking do anything to ease my endless grief?

Loving relationships continue long after death and we are able to use our imaginations to support mourning and remembrance.

As Maria Sallese said in her 2024 poem;

The magic of our souls is that you are forever in me as I am forever in you.

There are no words to convey the spectrum of your emotions--that is why art and music exist in the world

Hire me

My fee is $300.00 for a 120 minute session for 4-20 students, less than 75 miles round trip. Supplies and instruction provided.

Workshops for larger number of participants adaptable and are priced on a scale.

21-39 students; $400.00, less than 75 miles round trip. Let's collaborate and work together to help others!

Workshop Topics;

Make a Memorial Journal

Create a Memorial T-SHirt

Peaceful Mandalas

Make Remembrance Bracelets

Create Memorial Pins

Design Memorial Bookmarks and Coasters

Make Memorial Charms

Examples of Possibilities

I hosted Art Make & Take for the Out of the Darkness Walk at Hawk Island Park on September 19, 2026, in Lansing, Michigan. The Walk is an annual fundraiser for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention/Lansing Chapter. The weather was rainy but many walkers persisted and honored their lost loved ones and supported those who struggle. A great event!

Kevin's Song 10th Annual Suicide Prevention Education Summit

I particpated in the Summit by serving as part of the Resource Gallery. "Grief is a Verb" offered supplies and inspiration to attendees to create a memorial journal. We convened in Plymouth, Michigan, January 22 and 23, 2026.

On December 6, 2025, we gathered at the Women's Center of Greater Lansing. Thoughtful participants created memorial bracelets in honor of their lost loved ones and for those who struggle. THANKS to the Women's Center for being an excellent host for our session!

International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day on November 22, 2025, hosted by the Lansing Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (https://afsp.org/international-survivors-of-suicide-loss-day/).

We gathered at the Alfreda Schmidt Community Center in Lansing, Michigan, to recognize and honor our lost loved one(s). I got folks started on creating personalized memorial journals with a spiral notebook and various supplies. There was also a great speaker's panel and a powerful AFSP video to view.

Kevin's Song 9th Annual Conference, 2025

"Grief is a Verb" session for survivors on the third day of the Conference. Everyone did a fantastic job of creating their own memorial pieces. The survivor community is an extremely brave group--as Dennis Gillan said in his presentation, "Suicide Stinks." Many thanks to the St. John's Resort for being a lovely host for our creative time.

Grief is a Verb, February 8, 2025 / Lansing, Michigan

Fifteen folks came together and created wonderful memorial pins, magnets and bracelets. This public event was funded by an art grant from the City of Lansing.