A Winner – Every Dot a Prayer

Do you remember last November when I told you about a top secret painting I couldn’t reveal until the spring? This is it!

“Every Dot A Prayer” has just won one of the 2019 Arts & Letters Awards in a prestigious annual competition organized by the Newfoundland & Labrador Department of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.

It was on display along with other category winners & selected entries at The Rooms in St. John’s until May 12, 2019.

This was the very first painting in my “Re-Connecting” body of work that is answering an inner call to examine my spiritual roots from my early Catholic upbringing to a more universal spirituality.

The purpose of this growing collection is to explore and visually express the source, symbolism and narrative that have shaped my path.

If you recall, I received Guidance to create this collection 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.

As soon as I got back to Newfoundland & Labrador, I immersed myself in the creation of this first piece to meet the mid-November deadline for the provincial Arts & Letters Awards.

70 hours of focused meditative studio work resulted “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 on Facebook how I was praying & chanting while painting dots for family members and friends, prayer requests came flooding in.

Every dot became a prayer dedicated to those who reached out to me and to those for whom they asked to have dots/prayers dedicated. It was the first time I’d done that on such a scale. 

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

I’m used to having art created through me with the assistance of my Team of Divine Helpers as I channel energy.

I’m also used to working with my clients’ Teams when creating their Soul Energy Portrait Experiences.

But this was the first time I was connected to so many individuals during my creative process. Each one is a part of this painting. Each one helped bring this piece to life.

My usual energy work through the art expanded hundredfold, enhancing the studio experience and final painting.

It’s really hard to describe how moved I felt, knowing I was doing God’s work. I have tears in my eyes recalling how powerful an experience that was.

This prayerful dotting for public prayer requests has now become a part of my practice.

As with many of my intuitive paintings, I didn’t know what it would represent before I started.

I just immersed myself in the creation of the background layers and stained-glass inspired window frame. It grew from there.

Visions received in meditation and inspiration from contemplating each new layer informed its content.

Now, months later, I see how this 1st Re-Connecting piece was an invitation.

In hindsight, it’s clear how its symbolism was sourced in my Spirit Call to Glastonbury for the Goddess Conference this summer.

I don’t think I was consciously aware of that call yet. I certainly hadn’t heard about the conference.

I’d used waters from the Chalice Well in Glastonbury in its creation – as I have in my paintings for years. But it seems to me that my knowing it was time to finally travel there in person didn’t surface until December.

When my shaman-friend Regina told me that the conference was happening at the time I’d felt guided to travel there, it all made sense.

The dancing women celebrating the triskele orb (which could be the sun or the moon) confirmed for me my decision to attend the Sun Lover Goddess Conference. These dancers portray the essence of female gatherings and spiritual rituals with a flavour of the ancient Celtic lands.

The triple spiral Celtic design (triskele) is a symbol of both the active and passive,  a reminder to balance your being and doing. It also represents the harmonious union, motion and transformation achieved through

• life-death-rebirth,
• spirit-mind-body,
• mother-father-child,
• past-present-future,
• power-intellect-love,
• and more.

Every dot in this sphere is a prayer, a seed, a portal to the Divine – nourishing us, the dancers with Divine Love & Light as we journey on our path to our Highest Good.

Above this celestial orb are the angels guiding us on that Path.

And above them is a trefoil Celtic knot called the triquetra. It’s created with 3 vesicae pisces, my favourite sacred geometry found in many of my paintings – including at the joining of the 2 larger circles in the lower half of this one.

Also known as a “trinity knot”, it has been adapted by Christians from ancient Pagan Celtic images as a religious symbol of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Between the dancers are 5 inverted triangles with a dot in the middle. I often paint symbols I receive without knowing their meaning. I knew from previous research that the inverted triangle is a representation of the female, of the womb, of the yoni. What I didn’t know is that the 5 with the dot in the centre is part of the Kali Yantra, a symbol of the Hindu Goddess of time, transformation, breath, and Divine Love.

Together, the symbols in the upper half of “Every Dot a Prayer” honour both my Catholic roots and more universal spirituality influenced by every dance step of my journey in this and previous lifetimes.

Within the circles joining in a non-delineated vesica pisces is the tree of life, another common symbol in my art.

The chalice behind it evolved as I painted the profile of the man and woman’s faces behind the tree of life. It’s the shape between the couple if you look at the coppers instead of the blue. It takes a while for some to spot the faces. They’re looking at each other.

This isn’t a new symbol. I remembered it from psychology class after I’d painted it. It’s Rubin’s vase – an “intuitive demonstration of the figure–ground distinction the brain makes during visual perception”. It’s a reminder here that what we see changes. Reality isn’t always as we think it to be.

In my painting, this top circle of the vesica pisces represents the sacredness of relationship through lifetimes – the feminine/masculine within each of us as well as the soul mate relationships that move us forward in our growth as we connect to Truth.

The green moss agate stone at the eye level of the couple and at the core of the tree is a stabilizing stone that is strongly connected with Nature. Its metaphysical healing meanings include:

• helping you to see the beauty in all you behold
• new beginnings
• releasing spiritual or emotional blockages
• attracting abundance
• improving self-esteem
• reducing fear and deep-seated stress

It’s embedded in mica for the added energy of love & compassion.

The roots of the Tree of Life reach far below to dip into a shallow bowl of sacred water.

Oh how I wish I’d written down more details about the vision I received during meditation while I was creating this piece and the insights that followed. Months later, I only remember reflections in the water, but no details.

I usually share a lot about the creative process on Facebook as I paint, but since we weren’t allowed to share visuals on social media during the Arts & Letters adjudication period, I don’t have notes to go back to.  Live & learn.

I do remember how significant this shallow bowl was. It wasn’t a chalice but a bowl. Was it a scrying bowl to see deeper within the Self? An offering for our Nature Spirits to drink in the lower realms? It’s wide open to interpretation – as is the whole painting.

For now, the bottom circle represents how our roots take their nourishment from our visions, our dreams. We are sourced from the very flow of ancient sacred waters across the borders of time and space. We emerge from the well of being-ness, beyond what the eyes can see.

There’s so much more to this painting, I’m sure.

You’re only seeing the final layers but there are many layers of symbolism and energy beneath this final layer. I was totally absorbed in the process and only took photos once it was over.

I knew once it was done, however, that it was one of the most powerful paintings created through me and I’m honoured this was recognized by the jury for the Arts & Letters Awards.

What other meanings or feelings emerge in you as you contemplate it? Please share in the comments below.

*As soon as this painting was finished, it told me its price. The number I received is more than I usually ask for paintings this size, but I trust my intuition. 

The exhibition of all winners & selected entries in the youth and senior (adult) categories from poetry to music to visual arts was at The Rooms in St. John’s until May 20th 2019.