Kindred, by Roger Hutchison

It was a simple oak table adorned with plain dishes and a bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables.” So begins Roger Hutchison’s book The Painting Table: A Journal of Loss and Joy, a combination storybook and guide, inspired by a table left to him by his grandmother. Readers are invited to paint while they explore grief, loss and relationships. The gift of the table is one that Hutchison, canon for children’s ministries at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, South Carolina, passes on to people of all ages in schools, churches and community groups. In response to his work, painting table groups have formed across the country.