Suffering a loss can sometimes result in personal growth and resilience, offering unexpected opportunities for self-discovery. Rather than labeling these newly revealed possibilities as “gifts,” I prefer to view them as offerings. Unlike a gift, an offering provides the bereaved with more freedom to select what is helpful at any given moment, without the expectation of acceptance.

I combined black Japanese lace paper representing grief with colorful iridescent paper representing hope shining through to create this canvas background.

I’ve been fascinated by shells ever since I read Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift From the Sea many years ago. In this piece, I collected fused oyster shells and filled them with feathers, glass beads, crystals, and gemstones to symbolize the mystery and beauty of the grace that can accompany change.