Prompt Cards

Grief Prompt Cards. 2025.

These A6 cyanotype cards are designed for use in a grief workshop setting, facilitated by trained practitioners who support dialogue around this complex topic.

The idea for these cards emerged from my own experiences of bereavement, and the many conversations I have had with others about their own experiences.
Over the years, I noticed that each death I encountered affected me in a completely different way. The one common thread was an overwhelming need to talk and to keep talking about the person who had died, about my feelings, and about the confusing landscape of loss itself. I often felt there was little space for these conversations, not least because I didn’t want to burden my friends. It seems that from listening to others that this is a common feeling.

The prompt cards do not seek to define grief or provide answers. Rather, they create opportunities for people to encounter their own unique stories, feelings and memories. Visual images often provide a starting point that can bypass the need for immediate explanations and therefore, opening space for reflection, memory and resonance.

Participants are invited to choose the card to which they feel most drawn.
Once selected, the card is turned over to reveal a written prompt that invites a response to the image, text, or the relationship between the two.
Some images on the cards depict recognisable objects; others function as metaphors suggesting themes such as transformation, absence, or the cyclical nature of life.
The meaning of each image remains fluid, shaped by the experiences and perspectives of the individual engaging with it.
Whether spoken aloud, written down, or held privately, the reflections that emerge can offer moments of connection.

Project History.
The first edition of Grief Prompt Cards were developed in 2022. The project was one of seven Collaborative Conversations initiated through Annabel Pettigrew’s ACE DYCP funded project.
The first deck I made were reproduced photographs of cyanotypes, whereas this edition consists of handmade original cyanotypes. Annabel’s were made using painted prompts and Deep Dream Generator and can be seen on @annabelpettigrew