Good Grief – Handmade Resin Chess Set
Good Grief is a chessboard born from both frustration and love. The name comes from two places: the Charlie Brown holiday specials that my family and I watched during my childhood, and the exasperated sigh of “good grief” I found myself repeating while working on this piece. Every time I fixed one flaw, another would appear—whether it was a flood coat, sanding, or trimming edges. That relentless cycle of mistakes, fixes, and trying again felt achingly familiar to grief itself: disheartening, exhausting, but also a process you keep showing up for.
 
Symbolism
This board reflects the reality of loss—not as something neatly resolved, but as an ongoing process of learning to live with imperfections. Just as grief shifts and reshapes us, this piece carries every struggle and adjustment in its layers. The end result is not flawless, but deeply human: a labor of love polished into something beautiful despite its scars.
 
Design & Materials
Board: Hand-poured resin in layered swirls of violet, silver, and white shimmer. Reinforced with an aluminum plate for strength and long-term durability & eight rubber feet on the bottom for stability and surface protection.
Accents: Embedded dried purple baby's breath
Finish: Multiple flood coats polished to a glass-like shine
Pieces: Handmade resin chess pieces with embedded dried purple baby's breath in the tops, shimmer details in the bases and felted bottoms for smooth play
Dimensions: 12 in x 12 in
Materials used: Epoxy resin, mica powders, alcohol inks, pigment pastes, dried florals, aluminum plate, rubber feet, felt
 
Functional Art
Good Grief is a fully playable chess set, but also a personal artwork. Whether displayed as a centerpiece or used in a quiet match, it tells the story of resilience, memory, and the imperfect beauty of persistence.