This time of year stirs familiar emotions of sadness and grief. I created this image after reading Mary Oliver’s poem ‘The Uses of Sorrow’. The image was carved from linoleum and hand-printed on cotton paper. Due to the hand made nature of relief printmaking there may be slight variations between prints (it’s what makes the medium so special).

The image size is 2.5”x6”

The paper size is 4.5”x8”

The Uses of Sorrow

(In my sleep I dreamed this poem)

Someone I loved once gave me

a box full of darkness.

It took me years to understand

that this, too, was a gift.