Re-Connecting – A Big Art Project

It’s coming together! You’ve witnessed its inception, but none of us knew the full scope of it. We still don’t. But it’s becoming clearer.

I wanted to share this with you as a window into my role as Artist/Creator (see previous post on roles). It’s a long read, but you’ll know if you’re meant to read it.

Different kinds of paintings are born in my studio:

1. individual pieces  – see  my online shop.
2. Soul Energy Portraits – an intensely beautiful soul-shifting process that includes 2 weeks or more of creative energetic connection. 2 of 3 spots open until the Fall  Learn more here.
3. big projects, like my 2015 Enter the Mandala: 12 Universal Laws Collection. That series was channeled as a way for my Team of Divine Helpers to teach me the Laws for my own life and now form the basis of a touring & teaching collection that I trust will one day find a good home together.

Now, I’m in the flow of my next big project!

Re-Connecting” is a developing body of work answering an inner call to examine my spiritual roots from my early Catholic upbringing to a more universal spirituality.

Phase 1 consists of 11 church-window-inspired visionary paintings (24″ x 48″) framing my universal spiritual journey.

As usual, I have no idea what the paintings will portray until its revealed during the creative process, layer by layer, painting after painting.

I begin by working on the stained-glass-window-inspired frame and the rest reveals itself from there.

The bigger picture for the collection only became clearer in my mind when I had to get some details down for an arts grant submission to help finance my time and financial investment on the project.

I’m committed to finishing Phase 1 by the end of August. That’s why I only have 2 Soul Energy Portrait spots open until the Fall.

I’ve just finished #4 of 11:

1. Every Dot A Prayer (Top Secret… to be revealed in the Spring as it was submitted to the provincial Arts & Letters Awards)
2. Our Lady of Light
3. With Arms Wide Open
4. Supersoul (full blog post next week)

The individual originals are for sale. Their imagery will form the basis for some future publishing project that is as yet unclear.

September 2018. The light streaming through the stained glass windows caught my attention as I sat with my father in Ottawa’s Notre Dame Basilica for the first time since my mother was moved into long-term care.

We used to attend evening mass when I visited from out-of-province. The change in time and family circumstances offered a new perspective on this familiar context.

As I contemplated the narrative, symbolism, and beauty of these stained glass windows, I received the inspiration for a new collection resembling their style incorporating my spiritual journey.

Back in Newfoundland & Labrador, I immersed myself in the creation of the first piece to meet the deadline for the provincial Arts & Letters Awards. 70 hours of focused meditative studio work resulted in the painting “Every Dot a Prayer”.

Building on what I learned at the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art in 2013/14 and my evolving full-time practice since, it pushed me to the edge of my artistic skills and brought me deeper into the energy healing work that is characteristic of my art.

One unexpected aspect of its creative process was communion with community. After sharing how I was praying & chanting while painting dots for family members and friends, prayer requests flooded in.

This intensity of time, energy, and communion fuelled the evolution of the imagery with every new layer of paint.

As with many of my intuitive paintings, I did not know what it would represent before I started. Visions received in meditation and inspiration from contemplating each new layer informed its content. My usual energy work through the art expanded hundredfold, enhancing the studio experience and final painting.

This reminded me of the value of uninterrupted focused time in the studio – a challenge with the need for income generation as a sole breadwinner and full-time artist.

I was being called to go deeper.

The next 2 Mother Mary pieces in the collection were based on on-site grotto visits, ceremony,  channeling, and different kinds of community involvement.   (see previous blog post 1 & 2)

My process is evolving, becoming richer. The results show it. I feel this is my best work yet.

Another example of the research I’ll conduct is the scheduled 1-week mini-residency at Ocean View Gallery in Carbonear, NL.

Piece #7 on my evolving role within the context of community will be the focus of my one-week artist residency there.

Hosted by the gallery, I will move my studio practice to a public space. This art lab experiment will take place during my scheduled April exhibition (dates TBD) that includes some of the “Re-Connecting” pieces along with other paintings not exhibited in my previous exhibition there.

I also plan to attend the 22nd Goddess Conference with pre-conference pilgrimages and research at the Chalice Well Garden in Glastonbury UK from July 25-August 9th for the final piece of the series.

My Team of Divine Helpers are telling me that this will be a gateway for me. That’s all I know. Cryptic, but I’m used to that. It’s scary and exciting. That’s how I know I’ll be growing more into my Self.

It will be my first time there, but I have felt called to the site since 2008, seen it in visions, used its gifted holy waters in my art and often painted its iconic sacred geometry.

This project’s culmination piece will offer a new window into my spiritual journey ahead, exposing me to the work of other spiritual artists and journeyers and potentially opening doors for future exhibitions/ collaborations.

That’s also where Phase 2, if there is to be one, will be revealed.  Fun, eh?

My experiences in the creation of the first 4 pieces are evidence of this collection’s potential impact.

They have already resulted in the significant advancement of my artistic skills, aesthetic value of my work, and scope of the energy practices used during the visionary intuitive creative process.

“Every Dot a Prayer” opened me to the impact of communion with community on the quality of my artistic practice in the studio and resulting imagery that arose from it.

“Our Lady of Light”, “With Arms Wide Open” and “Supersoul” have reconnected me to my roots to honour parts of myself that had been ignored in my art.

I’m excited to explore where the 7 other pieces will take me.

An important aspect of the growing nature of this collection is its invitation to open my happy hermit studio zone to involve community in evolving ways (on-location visionary research, social media engagement, family inquiry, scope of energy work during the painting phase, and April residency).

I’m not a very social person. As the introvert child of Air Force parents, we moved frequently and lived far from extended family. I grew up in relative isolation, which had its advantages and disadvantages. The concept of community was foreign to me until my adult years.

Recently, I have explored how to expand my praxis outside of my comfort zone. Spending a week painting in the context of an art lab mini-residency during my exhibition is a personal stretch and artistic risk I’m ready for. The piece I’ll be working on will be be sourced in part from discussion and meditation on the topic of community. The scope of this art lab will be completely new to me.

Also, my art so far has largely been sourced from what I see with my eyes closed – the visions I receive in meditation or when I channel. They’re visual representations of my inner experiences.

Painting based on what I see with my eyes open at significant sites from my childhood or those that I’ve only seen in meditation or dreamtime (like in Glastonbury, UK) will be a whole new approach.

I look forward to visiting more sacred sites for the purpose of painting my experiences there (such as at the grottos or the Chalice Well Garden). I expect it to help me go deeper into both the personal and universal symbolic archetypes that have long been characteristic of my work.

“What would you do if money wasn’t an issue?” 

Well, I’m doing it.

Because of the timing of the grant deadlines/jurying periods, I won’t find out if I get the grant until July, at which time I’ll have already invested almost the entire amount.

It’s an interesting exercise in faith and abundance mentality.

I have to spend the money to get the grant. But I don’t know if I’ll be awarded the funds. The Canada Council for the Arts gets a lot of submissions!

I’m being asked once again to trust the Universe to provide and proceed without a doubt that either way, it’s all happening perfectly. I’ve been guided. I’ll follow that Guidance.

I’m off to a great start.

During my Christmas visit to Ottawa, it became time to buy a new Mac. My 8-year old one is giving out on me and a lot of my work is online.

So I put it out on FB and in my newsletter that I was fundraising for it. My initial poster sales + 1 Divine Storytelling Time intuitive reading + the payment for my February Soul Energy Portrait Experience on top of what was left in my operational account covers my unusually high January credit card bill. Yay!

I like to live within my means. I’ve designed a simple life that affords me the luxury to be a full-time artist after decades of pursuing that passion part-time.

I invest in my dreams, but usually not before I raise the funds.

Committing to the Re-Connecting project is motivating me to ask my fans to be channels for the abundance of the Universe.

If you’re moved to invest in my dreams and the inspiration that will come of it, I welcome it!

There are many ways to financially contribute:

1. Donations via paypal or Canadian etransfers ([email protected])
2. Buy  original paintings, canvas prints 
3. Commission a Divine Storytelling Time intuitive Reading, or Soul Energy Portrait (March & June spots open)
4. Hire me to lead a workshop, keynote, etc.
5. Order greeting cards, mandala talisman pouches (only 2 in stock) and magnetic bookmarks
6. Other creative ideas. Contact me to discuss.

THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF MY COMMUNITY!