Lily Pond  (c) 2025 Tapestry, Catskill Views, 25″ w x 21″h, $3,500 + s/h

I am a member of the East Branch Delaware River Plein Air Painters. Several years ago we went to paint in Andes, NY; the landscaped property includes a lily pond and stream garden. It was a sunny warm day, and the stream lazily wound its way around bulrushes and lily pads. I took photographs of the lily pond from various angles, and in 2025 woven this tapestry LILY POND.

The husband, once a vibrant and energetic man who was involved in community events and the Cornell Cooperative Extension, was slowly dying. The serenity and flow of the stream echo his passing, as well as his wife’s grieving. It is so hard when one is in the midst of caring for the other to stop and to remember to say “I love you”, “thank you for taking care of me all these years”, “you have made this marriage heaven on earth for me”…and so many other loving ‘things I never said’

It is too easy for the caregiver to communicate words of anger, frustration, and fear, and to handle poorly the tension and unknowns that the other person’s dying create. Then it is too late: the other, one’s spouse, one’s life soulmate, and partner has slowly passed away, out of sight into invisibility.

Two books I recently picked up and read that have been helpful during these past few months when I believed my husband was  dying are:  Being with Dying, Joan Halifax (which takes more of a Buddhist approach and breathing techniques to assist the caregiver to look after the patient) and Final Gifts, Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley (who share from their experiences as Hospice Nurses).

This tapestry was originally woven for and juried into the Woodstock Artists Association and Museum’s Exhibit SANCTUARY (2025).  It has been also juried into the Roxbury Arts Group’s 2026 Exhibit “The Things I Never Said”.

EXHIBITS

2026  THE THINGS I NEVER SAID, Roxbury Arts Group, Roxbury, NY (juried)

2025  SANCTUARY, Woodstock Artists Association & Museum, Woodstock, NY (juried)