Katherine Relf-Canas

Katherine Relf-Canas splits her time between freelance writing, teaching and other projects. She also volunteers for PSE, an NGO that runs a unique school in Cambodia that serves and supports children and families in poverty. She is now involved with the recently established American Friends of PSE. She has written for blogs and contributed to literary sites and parenting magazines since 1996. Katherine began writing about the healing power of art for this site in 2012, and dedicated the project to her mother, Connie Relf, who worked as an artist and died in 2010.

Articles:

The Bitter Taste of Grief: Art and Healing

“Take the bitter taste of this night and move on…” This evening, I read that phrase in a New York Times article “Mexico Earthquake, Strongest in a Century, Kills Dozens.” The reporter […]

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Ode to an Urn Maker: Commemorative Urns of Eliza Thomas

Ceramic artist Eliza Thomas has a unique practice of creating commemorative urns and offering them to those grieving a loss. Hearing of this work, I was intrigued, and tried to […]

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A Daughter Remembers Her Father’s Creative Legacy

My father, Geoff Relf, a longtime San Diego advertising and communications figure passed away July 28, 2015, at 85, after battling cancer, surviving his wife, Connie by five years. The […]

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Healing through Expressive Arts: A Conversation with Patricia Rojas-Zambrano

Exploring the field of art therapy through a series of interviews with practitioners in the Bay Area and beyond has become a new focus for me. Last month I met […]

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Life Coach Empowers Clients Through Story and Craft

“What now?” It’s a phrase we might utter when we’re dealing with too much in our lives and maybe waiting for a let-up after a cascade of troubles, tragedies and […]

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Heart-Shaped Door: A Story of Kids and Art

“What do you think you’d want to draw that’s at home?” asks Gary Vasgerdsian, an artist who today is wearing his volunteer hat, participating in a unique program called Kids […]

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Artist who Lost Mother Collaborates with Family Writings

In the San Francisco Bay Area with its forward-looking culture, we take notice of what’s new. We thirst for innovation. Bay Area artist Belinda Chlouber finds fascination and value in […]

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Man Who Lost Parents As a Child Speaks Through Art

If you have spent any time in La Jolla, California over the last decades, you might have seen Chris Canole in one of his many incarnations. This year, for the […]

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LifeLines: Using Art to Heal Grief

By Katherine Relf-Canas and Nina Koepcke Art is often made alone. When an artist creates something outward-facing and externalized, usually isolation is the ideal environment. But isolation isn’t always good, […]

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Five Artist Perspectives on the Numinous Quality of Portraiture

I asked the five artists whose reflections appear below to write about what I call the numinous quality of portraiture. I want to thank them for providing me with their insight […]

Open to Hope is an online community offering inspirational stories of loss, hope and recovery. We believe hope is the bridge between loss and recovery.