Exhibit shows children's grief expressed in art

Sometimes crayons and paper are the best tools for children to express their feelings.

Eva Castillo, 8, is proud of the picture tha t illustrates her feelings after her mother, Evelyn, died in 2006. She sketche d a vivid-color drawing of her smiling mother in a purple dres s with a cross around her neck.

Lisa-Marie Janotka's five children, who range in age from 8 to 17, all draw a picture each year showing how they feel about the 2003 death of their father, Matt Janotk a.

"The artwork lets them get out their feelings, which is sometimes hard for them to do," the Chesapeake woman said.

These and other works will be displayed at the Children's Museum of Virginia on April 6 during Virginia's fourth annual observance of Month of the Grieving Child. Activities will include arts and crafts, face painting and a parent resource center for grief and loss.

The exhibit is sponsored by Jewish Family Service of Tidewater in partnership with Edmarc Hospice for Children and Kidz 'N Grief.

Funding by Beazley Foundation and other donors paid for the artwork to be framed and also displayed at V irginia Beach Central Library from April 9 to 30.

About 60 pieces, each created by local children who lost a loved one, will be shown, said Debbie Mayer, licensed clinical social worker with Jewish Family Service. The drawings were made during support group sessions of the Southside-based Peace by Piece and the Peninsula-based Kidz 'N Grief group.

" For some children, it's easier to draw a picture than to verbalize. And when they come to the support group and the museum, they see that they are not alone," she said.

Added Eva's father, Benedict Castillo of New Castle, "They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and for Eva this is a way for her to talk about her feelings freely."

Sandra J. Pennecke, pennecke@cox.net