I am a grief counselor (LMSW) working at Chautauqua Hospice & Palliative Care. At the 2019 Anger Management Workshop, participants drew their anger in the form of a weed in a garden in an effort to put a graphic to their grief anger and added angry words to expel them. They were then given a cup of paint and a brush. Maria Smith, Art Specialist, educated them on three types of angry grievers: those who sprinkle their anger by dipping the brush and spewing little spots everywhere, those who pound their anger into their surroundings by grinding it in, and those that let their anger pour out of them wherever it may land. They determined their style and let the paint fly.

Maria took the finished products and made a series: Angry Art. This work is entitled “Path Out of the Forest.” It represents how often we feel lost in our grief and anger and do not know how to make our way out of it. This piece offers hope that there is a path, if one can allow the journey, feel their feelings and move toward healing.