As a trained Death Midwife and Ordained Minister I have officiated several home funerals and body honoring ceremonies where burial shrouds were used as the final embrace of the Beloved dead. At times, given the opportunity to plan, I have sewn fabric shrouds in favorite colors or even purchased a large sheet to wrap the body in.

Recently I've been inspired to do more. My desire to create hand-crafted and painted shrouds and burial blankets is balanced by the necessity to guarantee impermanence by using all natural and biodegradable products. 

Of course, the creative process, which begins with a spark of inspiration, changes me. The Beauty of impermanence seeps into my bones and I realize how challenging it can be to release our attachment to what we create - which is deeply connected to how we see ourselves and how we want to be remembered. That in itself is a definition of death work.

There are layers of learning. Large-format work brings unique challenges and fortunately, I have a personal history of contemplating the importance of what and how I create. In my video Imagining Beauty, I reflect, "Will what I create matter? When I bring that which flows from my imagination into form, will it improve the world, touch a life, or inspire others?"