I made my first Angel in 2019 as my mother, Dorothy, was coming to the end of her life. My mother was 89; she had lived a long and productive life. She was loving and loved. In 2019, she was tired and ready to leave this world – and we were ready for that too. Family and friends gathered to support and farewell her. It was a profound and special time. 

Death, like birth, can require labour. It can take time, and hers did. I would come home from sitting with her sort of exhausted and needing to do something with myself and my emotions.

In the week before she died I made two angels and a porcelain birdlike figure to rest in a boat I had made many years before.

When I looked closely at the statues again last year, I wondered why I had given the larger ones such tiny wings, before realises that I had made her preparing to die – sprouting her wings. In the second piece, her wings were fully formed, she was ready, and so were we.

I have since made angels for friends whose loved ones have died. The Angels evoke a sense of peace and can help transform a difficult and painful time of parting into something beautiful and bearable.

If you would like to order an Angel, let me know via the form below and we can have a chat about your needs.