Comments on: Grief And Art – Using Art-Making To Deal With My Sadness And Anger https://www.howtopastel.com/2018/01/grief-and-art/ Info, opinion, and training on how to pastel with artist Gail Sibley BFA, MA Fri, 07 Jun 2024 21:21:12 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 By: Gail Sibley https://www.howtopastel.com/2018/01/grief-and-art/#comment-58646 Fri, 07 Jun 2024 21:21:12 +0000 http://www.howtopastel.com/?p=8268#comment-58646 In reply to Contextual Review (Week 12) – Jeremy Majoe.

Thank you for featuring and examining my work and for using it as an example!

]]> By: Contextual Review (Week 12) – Jeremy Majoe https://www.howtopastel.com/2018/01/grief-and-art/#comment-58566 Mon, 03 Jun 2024 02:49:09 +0000 http://www.howtopastel.com/?p=8268#comment-58566 […]             Teintes Touch (white), 14 x 20 3/4 in. 2018 https://www.howtopastel.com/2018/01/grief-and-art/ […]

]]> By: Gail Sibley https://www.howtopastel.com/2018/01/grief-and-art/#comment-57243 Sun, 17 Mar 2024 04:06:37 +0000 http://www.howtopastel.com/?p=8268#comment-57243 In reply to Nancy.

Dear Nancy, thank you for such a beautiful and heartfelt response to my post about grief and art. Thank you for sharing your own way – watercolour on YUPO paper – and reminding us of the quiet way of art to help us grieve and express our feelings. And I thank you deeply for the last paragraph. Thank you.

]]> By: Nancy https://www.howtopastel.com/2018/01/grief-and-art/#comment-57231 Sat, 16 Mar 2024 20:37:45 +0000 http://www.howtopastel.com/?p=8268#comment-57231 Dear Gail,
Yes, we have been given a rare gift, a source of both joy and comfort for those who most need it. Art can be healing. I found that watercolor on YUPO perfectly expressed my grief and fear, loss beyond measuring. It is immediate – and tears make their mark on it. It is quieter than screaming wildly like an tormented animal. That helps, too, but we don’t want to scare the neighbors and the kiddies, or our pets. When we do not have the words, art becomes a prayer.
The pain that you feel makes you capable of being touched by the deep sorrow that all people feel at times. It is a gift, a sign of our humanity. It is what compels us to share our hearts with one another and makes it possible to forgive what seems beyond forgiveness.
You were created to be loved. I hope that you know that, and find the greatest comfort in it. nv

]]> By: Gail Sibley https://www.howtopastel.com/2018/01/grief-and-art/#comment-56078 Tue, 09 Jan 2024 06:43:07 +0000 http://www.howtopastel.com/?p=8268#comment-56078 In reply to Robyn.

Ohhhh Robyn, I’m so sorry to hear of your loss. Grief takes time yet I’m glad to hear you have found a way to get back to your art-making. It’s a wonderful place to get lost in for awhile. I hope it will bring you not only some respite from the world but also allow you to let your feelings out. It’s a marvellous way to move through them.

]]> By: Robyn https://www.howtopastel.com/2018/01/grief-and-art/#comment-55827 Sat, 23 Dec 2023 23:49:47 +0000 http://www.howtopastel.com/?p=8268#comment-55827 In reply to Gail Sibley.

I have only discovered this revealing and wonderful post. Thank you for sharing. As I was so intimately involved in the palliative care of my husband ( of 25 loving years) after his passing on early this year , I have been to exhausted to undertake the necessary grief process through my art. My art room had become his “ward” and I have only recently been able to go in there and dissemble it. But now I have relocated all materials to another space, and you have inspired me to pick up my pastels again. Happy Christmas .

]]> By: Gail Sibley https://www.howtopastel.com/2018/01/grief-and-art/#comment-53906 Wed, 20 Sep 2023 17:29:53 +0000 http://www.howtopastel.com/?p=8268#comment-53906 In reply to Kelly Borsheim.

Kelly, many thanks for your comment and commiserations. I’m so glad that it resonated with you. I wonder if you speak from your own personal experience or doing work in art therapy? And yeah, it’s funny how the recording habit is there. I never actually thought I’d do anything with it and yet from it came a powerful post that has touched many.
Thank you! And…your sculptures are amazing. Get well soon!

]]> By: Kelly Borsheim https://www.howtopastel.com/2018/01/grief-and-art/#comment-53852 Sun, 17 Sep 2023 07:33:15 +0000 http://www.howtopastel.com/?p=8268#comment-53852 This is a great post and true to my experiences with art as therapy. I am sorry for your loss and the feeling of isolation that had to have come from not being told about it. Good thing your teacher and/or blogger instinct kicked in so that you thought to photograph the process, as well. Brava!

]]> By: Gail Sibley https://www.howtopastel.com/2018/01/grief-and-art/#comment-50587 Sun, 19 Feb 2023 17:14:21 +0000 http://www.howtopastel.com/?p=8268#comment-50587 In reply to Nolan Kurtz.

Nolan, I am so sorry for your loss. Loving hard brings deep sorrow. Thank you for being so vulnerable and sharing your own feelings of grief so beautifully and poignantly put. I’m glad this post was in some way cathartic. Be with your grief – it is part of your humanity, and an honouring of the person you have lost. I hope you try using art to move through these feelings. No one else needs to see them – they are just for you on your journey.

]]> By: Nolan Kurtz https://www.howtopastel.com/2018/01/grief-and-art/#comment-50126 Tue, 17 Jan 2023 06:55:46 +0000 http://www.howtopastel.com/?p=8268#comment-50126 In the wake of my own loss, I found your post just now, years after you posted this. Your words brought to the fore my own sadness and anger, and tears came rushing down my face. For me, your transparency brought about an emotional alchemy—I felt my anger dissipate as I faced the pain, the sorrow of a beautiful someone no longer in my life. I appreciate how you convey the often inarticulable nature of grief. How I wish I could put into words just how much it hurts. The raw, unapologetic, and unplanned process of your art piece inspire me to focus less on an artistic product and more on living my grief honestly moment to moment. Thank you.

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