Adrienne Ann Seagraves

Adrienne Ann Seagraves, age 71, of Mt. Carroll, Illinois, formerly of Elizabeth, passed away at her home on Sunday, January 27, 2019 with her children by her side. A memorial gathering and retrospective of art will be held on April 6 at the Galena Center for the Arts.

“Adie,” as family and friends knew her, was the daughter of William and Dorothy (Eilenberger) Hickey of Chicago, Illinois. She attended Regina Dominican High School in Wilmette, graduating with the Class of 1965. She went on to Washington University in St. Louis and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting. There Adrienne met David Seagraves, a fellow painter, and they married in 1973. The couple settled in the countryside of Hanover, Illinois, where she remained at home to raise their two children.

Before moving to Elizabeth, Illinois in 1986, Adrienne maintained an immaculate garden at the Hanover “farm.” She displayed a natural gift for working the earth, one of her many talents. She never strayed from her artistic roots, always experimenting with a new medium. There were collages made of pressed leaves, charcoal drawings, masks, furniture painted to look like marble, jewelry, quilts. She began working in clay in the mid-nineties and opened Studio Work in Elizabeth in 2001. The gallery and studio featured her handmade pottery as well as works by other local ceramicists, painters and photographers. She was a founding member of Twenty Dirty Hands, an annual tour of local pottery studios. Grace Episcopal Church in Galena will fondly recollect her presence among its parish for the better part of twenty year.

Adrienne enjoyed taking walks in the woods, sometimes collecting flowers, berries, mushrooms, or pinecones along the way. She was often joined by friends, but was also content on her own. Her admiration for the natural world is embodied in her art, whose themes so skillfully depict birds, insects, trees, and rolling hills. She loved soul music and classic R & B, at times recounting the memorable occasion of seeing James Brown perform in the sixties.

In recent years, Adrienne was delighted by the arrival of two grandchildren. She treasured spending time with them, sharing her love of art through the simple joy of drawing together. She was always eager to show off the children’s most recent photos with friends and found great comfort in their smiling faces in her last days.

Those that knew Adrienne will immediately recall her gentle, kind and gracious nature, her quiet strength. She was witty and markedly humble. Her graceful, creative spirit will live on in the abounding fruits of her artistic career, as they have found their home with art lovers throughout the country.

She will be dearly missed by her two children, Boris Seagraves and Glenda Seagraves; two grandchildren, Josephine and Otto; two brothers, Tom Hickey, and David Hickey; and two sisters, Mary Herr and Joan Hickey. She was preceded in death by parents William and Dorothy Hickey.