Processing Grief Through Artful Memories

August 31, 2023

If there was ever an artist and friend who inspired me as much as my own mother, it was my dear friend and Sister Artist, Catherine Hall. From the day I met Catherine in 1996 at an art festival in Michigan that I was participating in, her impact on my life was profound and felt so much like the gaining of a new family member. Before we parted on that day, her words to me were, “We’re going to be friends!” - and we were…until her last day, August 31, 2016. We’re still friends. She’s now my Spiritual Sister, whose beautiful, artful, loving and familiar spirit continues to guide and comfort me in these, my most challenging times.

Thanks to my dear late husband, Al, who would always make an allowance in our family budget so that I could acquire as much of Catherine’s artwork as possible after I fell in love with just about everything that was produced from her amazing creative mind. From her felted art pieces to the woven images and the beautiful, beaded necklaces and other one-of-a-kind jewelry that emerged from her always expanding mind. Her ideas were always spilling forward into reality. And I was always amazed by her creativity. She would often share advice and ideas with me, telling me how to do things easier and more efficiently so that I would keep growing in my own creative efforts.

One of my favorite pieces of her work is The Tree – a beautiful piece that Al purchased for me shortly after meeting Catherine and her husband, Leroy, because I fell in love with it as soon as I laid eyes on it. It’s a woven piece, created using yarn, twine and jute against the backdrop of framed, linear threads. The intertwined roots of the tree are the most prominent visual part of the presentation, and “speaks”, Strength and Growth. I draw strength and inspiration from it every time I look at it. One of my other favorites is the Felted Angel, created using raw, hand dyed wool that is wet felted into the shape of an angel. It hovers on the wall of my living room and is the “Prayer Holder” for my Constant Prayer that is inserted into the pocket on the front of the angel’s garment.

Catherine’s impact and artistic influence is still all around me. Her nickname for me was, “Baby”, and she always treated me like I was her little sister, even though I was almost 3 years older than she was. She was protective of me and my heart…like family. That’s why I will always remember her…as my sister. I still hear you, Catherine.

The Tree by Fiber Artist Catherine Hall

Roots of The Tree

Wet Felted Angel by Catherine Hall

My Constant Prayer for the World Entire

Fiber Artist, Catherine Hall