you can see all of my paintings at www.DominiqueHurley.com

“Letting Go” – a Snake Energy Painting

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Do you know why snakes shed their skin?

First, the old skin can’t stretch enough to accommodate the new growth. So it rubs its head against a rock to make a tear, and sloughs off the old skin by slithering out of it, leaving it inside out on the trail.

Second, it’s a great way to get rid of any parasites that may have attached themselves along the way.

What great symbolism, right?!

I love snakes – always have. They’re a great symbol for transformation –  for letting go of the old to make room for the new.

This new painting, “Letting Go” (9″ x 12″ – buy it here) not only celebrates this time of molting on our planet, in our societies and within my own life. It’s also supporting this great time of change through the energy work that went into its co-creation with Spirit.

Painting Symbolism

The background of this painting represents your Higher Self and the new growth in your life, our societies, and on the planet.

It’s indicative of the size the snake is meant to become – representing just a patch of its beautifully designed skin.

It’s the vision we’re all striving for. It’s fresh, sunny, iridescent in spots, and has a depth and richness that’s made possible from all the inner work and life experience that came before it.

The shape is the old skin left behind.

Created from a thick layer of golden mica chips, it’s infused with the energy of love & compassion. True letting go is not about rejection, anger, new layers of hatred, or disgust. Rather, it’s about loving compassionately enough to recognize what we’ve outgrown and what needs to be left behind.

I chose to include a labradorite stone at the head of the snake – perhaps even the stone upon which it rubbed itself to make the tear that made it possible to crawl out of its old skin.  Labradorite is a powerful stone named after part of my province.

“A stone of transformation, Labradorite is a useful companion through change, imparting strength and perseverance.  It balances and protects the aura, raises consciousness and grounds spiritual energies.  Excellent for strengthening intuition – promoting psychic abilities.  Powerful in revealing the truth behind illusions, Labradorite banishes fears and insecurities, and strengthens faith in the self and trust in the universe.  It stimulates the imagination and calms an overactive mind, developing enthusiasm and new ideas.” (source)

These are the properties we need as individuals, nations, and the world to move beyond the habits, behaviours, prejudices, etc. that act like parasites infecting our lives and sapping energy away from growing into who we are meant to be.

Let’s not blame the rock. It’s just there to help break the skin open. We may have to rub against it and wriggle and squirm for a while. But let’s not forget that love and growth is what will help us move through and past what no longer served us.

As you read this, what limiting patterns of thought or behaviour come to mind in your own life? What are you ready to shed so you can emerge more fully into the individualized expression of the Divine you have always been? 

I’ll share a bit of my story in case it inspires.

Letting Go In My Life

Some patterns of thought or behaviour may lay dormant within you for years if that part of your life hasn’t been activated lately. That’s what happened to me.

As I made a conscious decision to welcome new friends into my life to help me practice the principles of Real Love (unconditional love as taught by Dr. Greg Baer in his great series of books), all sorts of old fear-based patterns came back to the surface when someone reached out to me online. I’d received a clear intuitive sign not to ignore this connection. But I read way more into this sign than allowed me to stay in the present. I’m still growing.

Now, I can chuckle at myself. “Oh, Dominique m’luv, it’s OK. You just had to see those tendencies were still there so you could choose to release them. All is well.”

When it became uncomfortable enough for both people in the situation, something he wrote snapped me out of my mental spin, and I was able to find and then expand on the peace at my core. Thank God for that!

Watch what you ask for! You will receive. I definitely got to practice the principles of Real Love – for myself and the other.

This has also been a rich month in terms of transforming my daily habits.

Another friend and I have been doing the Mindvalley Lifebook & Lifebook Mastery training- creating a vision & plan for the 12 areas of our lives. It’s been amazing! 2 weeks ago, we were asked to choose 12 Sacred Habits that move us towards that vision.

Some of my chosen 12 were already part of my life, but perhaps not on a daily basis: meditation, yoga, dance and outdoor time.

Others were new habits I wanted to incorporate or bring back into my life, based on my overriding & foundational goals for the year: grounding barefoot on the earth, journaling, and morning & night chats with my Team of Divine Helpers.

There’s only so much time in a day, so this meant looking at what low-level activities I needed to let go of and what stop-doing behaviours I would add to my list of sacred choices.

The results have been life-changing after only 2 weeks!

First, my bed is now a computer-free zone. No more eating meals or chips in bed watching movies, which often led to overindulgence on both!  No more working in bed, which had a negative effect on my posture, something I’m focusing on correcting this year. And, and no more falling asleep with the computer  on, affecting my sleep hours and quality of sleep, not to mention exposing me to harmful radiation. So that skin has been shed and left behind! Yay! Now, if I want to watch a movie (something I truly enjoy), I sit at my desk with my rocking chair and limit it to one. Much healthier!

Another major change I’m committed to is not to check social media or even emails before noon. That way, my morning is dedicated to connecting to my Team of Divine Helpers, my morning wellness routine, and focused work.  Instead of responding to each distracting “ding” from email & FB notifications, I dedicate a limited time to it mid-day and then again only near dinner time. I may have been a late comer to the world of cell phones, but I had gotten to the point where I was checking emails and social media 20 times a day or more. Yikes! Bye bye old skin. I’ve outgrown that habit too. It just didn’t serve me.

Lastly, I’ve decided to have 1 day a week completely offline. This Sunday was my first, and it was fine until evening when I really wanted to check… but I didn’t. I know I need to disconnect from the Internet to connect to my Self & Team of Divine Helpers at a much deeper level. I’m set to growing comfortably into this new skin.

What about you? What new growth are you ready for? What skins are you ready to shed?

May the energy of “Letting Go” inspire you to examine your life and thought patterns to make your own set of sacred choices. So be it. So we let it be.

Title: Letting Go
Year: © 2020
Size: 9 “ x 12“ (22.86 cm x 30.48 cm)
Artist: Dominique Hurley
Materials: Professional acrylics, mica, labradorite & channeled energy work on gallery-wrapped canvas with painted edges. No framing required. 
Genre: intuitive painting, visionary art, energism art, spiritual art, inspirational art
Price: SOLD
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Salacia-Ocean Goddess Painting

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“Salacia – Ocean Goddess” (16″ x 20″ on narrow-gauge stretched canvas) – SOLD

Because of COVID-19’s Stay Home Stay Safe guidelines, you’re likely no stranger to that longing feeling for a change of scenery. Perhaps it’s for a very specific landscape. Is it the mountains, forests, or lakes? For me, it was the ocean. I’m definitely a water baby. That’s what inspired this latest painting, “Salacia” – goddess of the sea.

We were lucky here in Newfoundland. Advised to stay home except for essential errands and neighbourhood walks, we could still hop in the car to seek out open spaces close to home. If you watched my Ocean Meditation, you know I borrowed my house sister’s car to drive close to Cape Spear on April 7th. They closed that road shortly after because it was part of a National Park.

There are many other ocean vistas I could have driven to, but I’ll admit, I got comfortable staying in the neighbourhood, hunting for crocuses and purple carpets of Scilla siberica blooms and walking the river trail.

I felt grateful to be out at all, hearing stories of countries where people had to get a permit to go grocery shopping.

Weeks after my last drive, my heart longed for the ocean again. So I took that longing to the canvas.

I didn’t have any of my regular gallery-wrapped canvases stretched on 1 1/2″ wooden frames. But I had a leftover student canvas from one of my workshops, stretched on a narrow-gauge 1/2″ frame.

Do you recognize the figure?

I used the leftover purple pumice gel and foam stencil I designed two weeks before to create the Spirit of Transformation butterfly body on “Visionary“. I had applied it to this blank canvas at the same time, before throwing out my stencil.  That figure had longed dried and was now beckoning for me to bring ocean energy into the studio.

Unlike “Visionary”, “Salacia-Ocean Goddess” (16″ x 20″) only has a few layers of paint on her. That’s all she needed.

Salacia – Ocean Goddess

An important goddess in Roman mythology, Salacia is the female divinity of the sea.

She eventually became the wife of Neptune after he sent a dolphin to search for her. In awe of her suitor, she had hid from him in the Atlantic Ocean. In thanks for persuading her to come back to him, Neptune gave the dolphin a place in the heavens in the form of the constellation Delphinus. Read more on Wikipedia.

Crowned in seaweed and gracefully  rising from the salt waters in the company of two dolphins, Salacia was brought to life on this canvas to help us navigate through the tumultuous waters to find serenity, gratitude, playfulness, and celebration.

“Salacia” (16″ x 20″) – acrylics, pearl mica (energy of love & compassion) & pumice on narrow-gauge canvas. Special price – SOLD

Neighbouring Seas

Within days of completing “Salacia”, I was on my bike for my first ride of the year. This was also the first time in months that I’d spent time with my friend Leslie in person (at a safe distance, of course).

How blessed I feel to have the ocean so close by. It took about 40 minutes to get to the entrance of Fort Amherst on the south shore of The Narrows in St. John’s harbour. Of course there were a few photo stops.

The fort is still closed, but we sat on the cliffside next to some houses to gaze at the open sea through The Narrows before braving the cold headwinds on the much slower way back.

Enjoy this change of scenery through my eyes!

P.S. At the time of publishing, I’ll be on a mini solo writing & walking retreat at an ocean-side airbnb on the Irish Loop. I may not be in Ireland as planned, but I’m definitely making the best of it. How about you? Please continue taking care of yourself in body, mind & spirit. Big virtual hug.  Dominique

 

 

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The Making of “Visionary” – the Painting

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Enjoy this 23-minute video (click above) of the making of “Visionary”, a 24″x24″ intuitive painting based on a vision received during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its creation took a week in April 2020.

In this video, you’ll witness the co-creative process behind its 15 layers of intention, energy, paint, and textured gels. As usual, the process itself informed what the painting was to become.

The original is sold, but prints are available in your choice of size & medium.

The Basic Vision

About one month into the COVID-19 pandemic, I received a vision that reappeared periodically during times of meditation or contemplation.

It consisted of a female face with an Earth globe left eye (linked to the Right intuitive feminine receptive brain) and a right eye (linked to the Left masculine action-oriented analytical brain) covered by a sweeping bang.

I stared at my blank canvas for a week before making a basic compositional decision. Usually, I don’t even bother with that until the background layers get me deeper into the co-creative process.

I know this delay was partly due to nervousness. To get the Earth eye big enough to notice, I’d have to only focus on the face, not the full or partial figure.

Painting faces make me nervous. I still haven’t found my own unique way of expressing faces with paint, despite my focus on sketching figures during my last trimester at the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art back in 2013/14.

So I wanted to get a basic idea down on paper before I started.

Oops…. Being Human

Luckily, there are no mistakes in the intuitive painting process. Every layer becomes part of the overall energy & texture of the final piece.

That’s why I never mind covering up much of those initial soothing, flowing, cheerful, and chaotic layers of colours and shapes.

They not only add depth and interest to the background, they represent the rich full-bodied life experience of the Visionary.

I’ll admit though, I felt rather silly (just for a few minutes) when I realized that I’d based my face’s dimensions on a 20″ x 20″ composition before grasping that my canvas was actually a 24″ x 24″. Oops.

You see, I’d uncharacteristically decided to use a photo to map out the face instead of improvising.

Basing myself on one of the portraits that Christine Radnich took of me in the Chalice Well Gardens in Glastonbury last summer, I zoomed in to the face and adjusted the levels so I could more clearly see where the highlights and shadows were.

Then, I created a grid of 1-inch squares to base myself on for the composition.

It was only after I’d painted the eyes and the nose that I realized that my memory had played tricks on me. I’d bought a 24″x 24″, not a 20″x20″ stretched canvas. My dimensions were all “wrong”!

Once I let go of the woulda, coulda, shouldas, however, I embraced the mystery of what this would inspire.

The eyes were easy to correct – I went back to my original vision, covering up the right action-oriented eye with strands of golden mica – creating a filtering energy of love & compassion inherent to this mineral. So far, so good.

The Spirit of Transformation

As I danced on my mini-trampoline contemplating my improvised bottom half of the face, I decided that the painting needed additional layers.

I asked my Team of Divine Helpers to inspire me as I pondered the evolving COVID-19 situation from a visionary point of view.

A visionary not only sees visions, as I often describe my clairvoyant process. A visionary uses wise foresight and imagination to envision a better brighter future. 

From this point of view, I tuned into the Spirit of Transformation that is enveloping the planet.

Like the caterpillar protected in its chrysalis sack, our worldwide isolation and forced slow-down is pushing us towards radical transformation.

Our way of being is disappearing, bit by bit, opening us up to emerging from our cocoons in a much more expansive way, aligned with our Truth, aligned with Divine Oneness.

It’s an exciting time! We’re not meant to come out of this as caterpillars. We don’t want to go back to the old normal!

It’s time to spread our wings and be the butterflies we were always meant to be.

After my meditative dance session, I was back in the zone, moved moment-by-moment as to what to design and which materials & colours to use.

The butterfly’s highly-textured granular wings fuelled by love & compassion are filled with the passionate fiery energy of transformation.

It was only once these were completed that I was shown the butterfly’s body as a goddess with her arms up in the air, emulating antennae. This gave her a stance of balance, opening, celebration, and appreciation for this new world vision.

Please add your prayers

As has become my custom, I filled the butterfly wings with dots, each one a prayer, an intention or thanks for all those making a difference in these transformational times.

We need them. We need you.

We’re all contributing to our evolving Reality with our allowing, inspired actions, prayers, imagination, focus, and more.

What kind of world are you envisioning?

What new ways of being and doing would you like to see continue or emerge after the crisis is over?

Please comment below so that together we can shape our future in the Spirit of Transformation and with wings of change.

Thank you.

P.S. “Visionary”- (24″ x 24″) – mixed media on gallery-wrapped canvas – SOLD. Prints available in your choice of medium & size.

 

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In Passing – the Painting

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“In Passing” (18″ x 36″) – $2,267 Cad. Purchase here.

There’s a story behind this painting that only revealed itself once my mother had passed from her human form back into spirit form. 

That’s often the case in intuitive painting – the meaning behind the visions and inspiration, gradually comes to light in the space of quiet contemplation. The full picture becomes clearer hour by hour, layer by layer, dot by dot or once something happens that sheds light on it from a different angle.

Back in the Studio:

This was the first painting I’d been moved to create in 5 months following the intensively personal, spiritual & artistic creation of the Re-Connecting Collection.

I felt blissful as I delved back into the sacred rituals of creating an energy-infused painting. I was open, listening, and moving with the flow of paint and the imagery dancing in my mind’s eye.

Not My Own:

It had been a strange week.

As an empath and intuitive, I’m often picking up thoughts and feelings that aren’t my own.

It’s why I’ve learned to carefully select how, when and with whom I spend my time. I have to prepare myself when going in crowds, avoiding shopping centres unless absolutely necessary.

Luckily, with the years, I’ve learned to discern what’s mine and what’s just passing through, needing to be released or processed in service to my peace and the peace of others.

Maman Reaching Out: 

For the week before my mother’s passing, however, I was having what many would consider suicidal thoughts. I knew they weren’t mine. They were like mind farts – just passing through.

These, however, repeated several times a day for several days in a row. That in itself was unusual, especially since they often popped up as I was peacefully snowshoeing or happily painting. “I’ve had enough.”, “I’m ready to go.”, “It’s over.”

I even mentioned it to my house sister and to a friend because something about these visiting thoughts was unusual. I wasn’t worried about myself – I had determined they weren’t mine. But I also didn’t stop to ask whose they were,  knowing that many around me are struggling right now.

Two More Intuitive Messages Missed:

In hindsight, the intuitive messages were clear. Part of me regrets not having put 2 and 2 together, but I also know it’s OK.

On the last day of working on this painting, I had an intuitive hit that I’d be spending a long time in Ottawa, where my family lives. I thought it strange since I’d just spent 3 weeks there at Christmas. Again, it was a fleeting knowing, but I didn’t pay much attention to it as I was engrossed in the joy of painting.

When I went up to my room, I looked at my self-love wall chart that was still blank since it was the beginning of the week. It’s where I mark my weekly meditations, yoga, nature breaks, etc to make sure I don’t neglect my needs when I get busy. As I looked at its blankness, my inner voice said it would stay white that week. Again, I didn’t clue in, thinking it strange that I’d rebel against what I so love doing for my highest good. Why would I ever spend a week not fulfilling my commitment to myself?

The News:

The night my painting was finished, I got the call from my sister, who was at the Long Term Care Home. She told me that Maman was in a coma and in her last hours.

It suddenly dawned on me – the source of those intuitive messages was from over 2,000 km away. My leaving for Ottawa on the next flight would also explain why my whiteboard would stay white.

Thanks to technology, I got to speak to my mother’s sleeping body via FaceTime before she passed, leading my family in prayer and expressing my thanks and my wishes for her peace. I continued talking with her heart to heart, soul to soul afterwards as I ran around packing.

She’d been preparing me. I just wasn’t picking up on it consciously.  I’m sure, however, that it contributed to the peace and acceptance I felt at her letting go of her mortal coil to return Home to God.

A few hours later, I was at my father’s side, where I feel so blessed to have spent a month. Our time together was a gift for us both.

“In Passing” – the Symbolism

On the night of Maman’s passing, as I was running around packing for my early morning flight to Ottawa, I found myself standing before my finished painting.

That’s when the name came to me – “In Passing”.

It wasn’t only about her soul passing from her body back into spirit form (notice how the pattern beneath the tree is the same as that of the orb above it).

It was also about her soul having been here on earth to live the life she had lived until her purpose was done. My mother was here in passing – part energy, part physical form – 88 human years, a drop in the ocean of time – her Soul Time and Time on this planet.

So that’s the story behind this painting.

“In Passing” honours the ephemeral quality of souls passing through the earth plane as individualized expressions of the Divine.

Made of the same essence as all sacred beings, we move in and out of physical form, leaving behind the everlasting effects of our love & light.

Thank you Maman for the time we spent here on earth as mother & daughter and for our evolving relationship through time & form.

Peace be with us all!

Tree: The textured tree filled with sparkly fruit symbolizes the human form. Rooted in Spirit and connected to all that it through its many branches, it’s half on the canvas and half beyond – moving between realities. Its sap is of same essence as the spirit orb above it.

Orb: Is it the sun? the moon? Source? a Team of Divine Helpers coming to greet the passing soul? A return back into spirit form? How would you interpret it? Covered in glass beads (see close-up photos above), it radiates light in fascinatingly changing ways as you walk past it.

P.S. As with many of my paintings, it’s the time I spend co-creating it that is important to me. Once the energy-work and artistic process are complete, it is meant to serve others. If this painting calls to you, contact me. I’m taking offers on my paintings to fundraise for a solo spiritual retreat in Ireland at the end of April (God willing with travel being so uncertain these days). 

Title: In Passing
Year: © 2020
Size: 36 “ x 18 “ ( 91.44 cm x 45.72 cm)
Artist: Dominique Hurley
Materials: Professional acrylics, glass beads & channeled energy work on gallery-wrapped canvas with painted edges. No framing required. 
Genre: intuitive painting, visionary art, energism art, spiritual art, inspirational art
SOLD

 

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Reconnect Lesson 11: It’s Birthing Time

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Dedication

It’s very moving when a layer of the big picture reveals itself.

As I sat beside my father on Ash Wednesday at the Notre Dame Basilica in Ottawa after we created this video for the last Reconnect To Your True Self Lesson, it dawned on me…

The first time I sat with Papa alone in the very same pew after Maman had to be placed in long term care, I received the inspiration to create the Re-Connecting Collection – 11 intuitive visionary paintings answering an inner call to examine my roots and spiritual evolution.

9 months later, the collection was complete.

6 more months, so are the lessons.

What had initially appeared like procrastination on this last lesson turned out to be divine timing. My mother’s passing helped me understand the lesson this painting was to offer you as she entered the Gateway back Home to God.

As I sat beside my father again in the same pew during a mass dedicated to my mother’s memory, I realized we’d come full circle.

11:11 – 11 paintings, 11 lessons: a deeply personal and spiritual journey which can now serve others …

I dedicate this blessed project to both my parents, Jerry & Rita Hurley, who helped make my being a possibility in this lifetime. Rest in peace, Maman. Continue walking in love, Papa.

Reconnect To Your True Self Lesson 11 – Birthing Time

Welcome to the last of the Reconnect to your True Self lessons. It’s now time to birth what your Spirit has been calling for – be it a new way of being, doing, or co-creating.

Say yes to this year being the gateway into a new chapter of the life you are meant to live.

How is your Spirit moving you?  What will the next chapter of your life look like?

Every day is a gateway, a choice.

When you align those choices with your True Self, you’ll naturally feel happier and healthier. You’ll be living life on purpose.

In the past 20 weeks, the Reconnect to Your True Self lessons have given you the chance to get to know your Self better.

  • Lesson 1: creating space to listen within and to connect through prayer
  • Lesson 2: recognizing how your Light shines for yourself & others
  • Lesson 3: surrounding yourself with those who see, accept & love you – finding your tribe
  • Lesson 4: uncovering your superpowers through your unique hero’s journey
  • Lesson 5: getting rid of the accumulated dirt to see the truth & beauty of who you truly are
  • Lesson 6: reconnecting to your creativity
  • Lesson 7: consciously choosing your roles in community for a perfect fit
  • Lesson 8: nurturing mindfulness, gratitude & intuition in nature
  • Lesson 9: raising your vibration
  • Lesson 10: re-examining your identity building journey

And now, with Lesson 11, it’s time say yes to emerging more fully into your Self through the birthing of what’s next.

No matter if you’re clear on the big picture or simply need to take the next inspired step on the journey – enter the gateway.

My Gateway

When I started the Re-Connecting painting series in late 2018, I only knew I was being called to paint 11 2’x4’ paintings. Each piece was created intuitively over a period of 9 months, guided by my Team of Divine Helpers.

It was while creating the first painting that I understood I was being called to travel to Glastonbury near the end of the series, before creating the last piece.

I accepted that call, knowing the journey through the co-creative process for the series would prepare me for what was to come.

My trip to the UK to spend time in the sacred Chalice Well garden and participate in the Sun Lover Goddess Conference led to this final piece “The Gateway”.

It celebrates Divine Procreative Energy and the bridge between Heaven & Earth, the Etheric Field, the Akashic Field. That’s the sacred geometry of the Vesica Pisces that so fuels my creative quest.

Still, I wasn’t clear on what that gateway was inviting me to.

Birthing is not an immediate process. Just as I learned when being guided through the creation of the Law of Gender mandala, there are 2 aspects to consider.

First, there’s a need for both the feminine & masculine – the intuitive, receptive, open aspects of ourselves and the action-oriented implementer.

There’s also a gestation period – 9 months for humans and for my Re-Connecting Collection and various other time periods for various projects, transformations, etc.

I knew that my gestation period included the time to create these 11 video lessons for you. This is part of what I dedicated myself to after completing the collection. It also involved a 5-month hiatus in painting.

I thought I’d been procrastinating in the preparation of this last lesson. Known for being goal-oriented, organized, and efficient, I uncharacteristically delayed it.

Then, on February 3rd, my mother passed away, transitioning from her earthly body back to her Spirit Self. I knew she was ready to go, although I only understood the messages I’d intuitively received after she’d died.

At the age of 88, Maman chose to enter her gateway back Home to God. I was at peace with her passing and have been blessed to spend this month at my father’s side.

So, as this painting celebrates the Sun Goddess giving birth to the Earth and the birthing process itself, I said goodbye to the one who gave birth to me in this lifetime. Exactly one month later, I offer you this final post of the project.

Had I been procrastinating, or was the delay in designing this last lesson perfectly timed to understand what I was meant to share with you?

Divine Patience During Your Gestation Period

In our modern rushed times, when most have gotten used to running on the hamster wheel, we’re not always patient with the gestation time.

But as you wouldn’t want to rush a mother’s 9-month pregnancy, so too do you need to nurture your birthing or re-birthing process.

First, the seeds are planted through listening to your soul and implementing the inspired actions that will eventually bring your dreams and soul callings to fruition.

Then, divine patience is needed, focusing your attention on nurturing those dreams. Where attention goes, energy flows.

Going on Maternity Leave

What’s next for me now that the birthing of this Re-Connecting Collection project is over? I’m not sure.

The full picture of my next chapter is a mystery. I’ve only been shown the next Gateway and my heart is saying YES! to it. What I’ll birth at the end of it is unclear.

I know changes are required as the status quo of my career in the arts doesn’t seem financially viable.

Something has to change, but I’m not sure what or how. 

What I do know is that my soul has called me to travel to Ireland to spend time soaking up the energy of the land in solo contemplation at various hermitages, retreat centres and pilgrim walks.

It’s time to go deeper within – to pray, write, sketch, photograph, listen, and open to the next inspired action.

I’m ready to disconnect from the Internet and from the distractions of my everyday life. That’s the gateway I’m saying yes to at this time.

Excited & scared (the kind of fear that comes from a call to grow by healthily stretching our comfort zones), I bought my ticket. I’ll be there from April 27 – June 22.

The seed was planted a few years back on my intuitive vision boards.

When I applied to an art residency in Ireland in late in 2019, my excitement was a sure clue. One artist from Newfoundland would be chosen to spend a month, paid, in County Donegal.

Reading historic fiction novels, stories and researching spiritual travel on the land of some of my ancestors has fuelled that dream.

Residency applicants were told we’d know if we won by the end of February, so I guess that route wasn’t meant to be.

As I awaited the announcement of the residency winner, I became clear of my need to prioritize investing the time and financial resources into this project no matter what. Interestingly, submissions for other projects were also ‘unsuccessful’, leaving 2 blank months in my calendar.

Do I know what creation might come out of this? What I’m birthing next? No. I don’t need to know. I trust in the journey. Life has taught me that.

This spiritual maternity leave after the birthing of an intensive 15-month project will become the gestation period for the next birthing.

What about you?

Your Birthing Time

Is your status quo fulfilling? Or is your soul calling you to birth the next chapter of your life?

Is it a new project? A relationship renewal? A career change? A course of study? A soul-nourishing trip? The start of a family? A move? A letting go? An adoption?

Your gateway can take many shapes and open to many new possibilities.

The question is which gateway will you consciously say yes to, embracing the mystery of what lies beyond it while taking each inspired step necessary to make it happen.

Listen in, act, trust and be patient – knowing that each inspired step leads to the resources you need to take the next step. That’s the Law of Action.

If you’re feeling discontent, depressed, disconnected – these are all signs that your soul is calling for change.

If your whole being comes alive around a particular focus, that’s the direction you’re being called to.

Changes can take so many forms – within yourself and the details of your life.

The more you know who you truly are, which I hope this series has helped you with, the clearer you’ll be to knowing which gateways to say yes or no to.

Once you’ve said yes, put your trust in it and allow the Universe to reveal the “how” to make it all happen. Be patient as this can take time.

Birthing is a miracle, be it of a new life or a new chapter in your life. Here’s wishing you a life of miracles!

Discerning

Make sure to discern if your calls feel like you’re moving towards something and not running away from something. Let your intuition & love guide you, not your fear.

For more on how to access your intuition, I offer a free online tutorial here.

Revelation UPDATE

Sometimes, the meaning of an intuitive process only becomes clear years later. The pandemic hit before my trip to Ireland, canceling most of my plans and delaying the 2-week bus tour (for which I couldn’t get a refund) until 2022.

When the pandemic hit, I realized that this painting’s messages were not personal but global. Oops…

My message to isolate for 2 months for a re-birthing of my world turned out to be a glimpse of the Gateway our entire planet would experience through 2 years of isolation. 

It is time for a re-birth of the planet, for a harmonizing of the Divine Feminine & Masculine for the Good of All.

When we started hearing reports of pollution lifting and wildlife thriving, I kept coming back to this painting and its messages.

Focus on your inner peace, the marriage of your Feminine and Masculine to birth the world you would like to see. We’re entering this Gateway together – this is a message of hope!

How has that manifested for you? Feel free to write a comment below.

 

P.S. You can read the original post on the co-creative process for the painting “The Gateway” on my blog here. 

P.P.S. You can order prints  in your choice of size and medium or purchase the original. Thank you for supporting my art!

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Reconnect Lesson 10: Who Are You?

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Some of us spend our whole lives seeking the truth of who we are. That’s why we’re called seekers.

Both sides of the nature vs. nurture argument influences our self-concepts.

Our identity is shaped by our growing understanding during this journey of self-discovery. It’s part of the fun of being human.

The question remains – who are you? Or better yet, who do you understand yourself to be? 

When I was offered this question by my Team of Divine Helpers in the opening session of painting #10 of my Re-Connecting Collection, all sorts of symbolism and memories surfaced in my consciousness.

Today’s 2 exercises offer you the same opportunity – the first a creative project and the second, an opportunity to share your most influential books with others.

Exercise 1: Your Journey of Self-Discovery Artwork

What would your “Journey of Self-Discovery” artwork look like?

Whether you like to sketch, paint, or cut & paste magazine images and photographs into a collage, find a way to visually represent who you believe yourself to be.

In the case of my painting, I included

  • my ancestry,
  • the religion I was raised in,
  • the Akashic Record library holding information from all my past and future lives,
  • a representative from my Team of Divine Helpers,
  • my nationality,
  • my western & Chinese astrological signs,
  • spirals that I’ve been drawing since childhood
  • other spiritual symbolism that drives me (Vesica Pisces)
  • my eye with birthmark through which I see the beauty in the world,
  • my lifelong mission to harmoniously marry my Left masculine side with my Right feminine side (intuition into action)
  • my relationships that helped shape me
  • many of the books that helped me understand my human journey from my teenage years onward (the focus of Exercise 2).

So I ask again. What would your “Journey of Self-Discovery” piece look like?

Take the time to brainstorm, reflect and put it all together in your unique way.

Only include what matters to you. It all depends what you feel has shaped your belief in who you are. 

You may or may not identify strongly with your career, roles in your family & community, causes, your leading values, etc.

As you spend time seeing, accepting and loving yourself for who you are, you’re better able to see, accept, and love others for their unique make-up. It’s all part of being individualized expressions of the Divine.

Who knows?! This exercise on your self-discovery journey may help you make the life-changing decisions you need to get back on track with your True Self.

Exercise 2: Book Share

I’m not known for my memory, so when I was inspired to include a stack of important self-understanding books on my painting, it sent me digging both in my mental files and on Google.

I’m sure there were many others before and in between, but I started with some of the books I read in high school, including a life-changing gift from one of my teachers.

Since I give my books away as soon as I read them, I had fun looking for the titles, authors and cover designs to make up this stack of books from scratch using Photoshop.

That is not your task in this exercise.

Your mission if you so choose, is to put together a list of your most influential self-discovery books and share them  – on social media or however you choose.

When I posted this photo during my creative process, many responded that their list was similar. They added a few of mine to their reading list and shared a few of their own.

What has helped you in life can help others. So why not share? That’s the spirit of this exercise.

To start off, please share a few of yours in the comments below, I’d love that!

 

P.S. You can read the original post on the co-creative process for the painting “Journey to Self-Discovery” on my blog here. 

P.P.S. You can order prints in your choice of size and medium or purchase the original. Thank you for supporting my art!

 

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Reconnect Lesson 9: Rise Up Rise Up!

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Have you heard? We’re in a time of ascension! It may be hard to believe with all that’s happening in the world, but I believe it’s true. Of course there will be resistance. But together we can help raise the vibration of the planet and all those on it. How? By raising our own consciousness, our own vibration.

What you do for yourself, you do for others. It affects everyone else in this Divine Oneness.

So rise up, rise up dear one! It’s time to live in alignment with the divine essence you truly are.

Don’t let yourself spiral down in a funk from the many distractions, details and dramas that bombard our senses from every direction.

Remember that you are an individualized expression of the Divine. Yes, you’re human, and being in a funk is part of being human. But you’re also Spirit. 

Often, unhappiness, loneliness, despair, depression and other unpleasant realities of being human happen when we believe we are separate from God (or whatever term you resonate with) and from others.

So part of your job as a spirit in a human body is to recognize when you need to take the time to recognize, allow and process what’s triggering a funk and to then raise your vibration.

As the Law of Vibration taught us, our job as vibration managers is to raise our consciousness, our vibration so that we can attract more of the people, places, and events that resonate at that frequency. This is closely related to the Law of Attraction.

So don’t deny your sadness or frustration. Listen to it, love it, and then let it go. You’re often being shown things that are ready to be released as they’re leaving. Acknowledge them, and then let them leave.

Don’t hang on to the stories or feelings or allow them to drag you further down. That’s wallowing and yes, it’s also part of being human.

Instead, reconnect to your True Self, remembering who you truly are. Asking your Higher Consciousness to make wise choices to bring you back into alignment with the love, peace, and happiness at your very core.

Exercise: Create & Post your “Raise My Vibration” List

When the mind and heart are clouded by lower vibrations, it can be hard to motivate yourself to change gears. You may not even know you need to if that black cloud over your head is so thick you can’t see what’s happening.

That’s why having a very visible “Raise My Vibration List” can be such a blessing.

Whether you’re in a funk or simply busy, it’ll be a daily reminder to prioritize time to raise your vibration.

What does that for you?

I know that listening to one of my own meditations (available on YouTube) or an energy transmission from Steve Nobel- The Soul Matrix (which inspired this painting) helps me start my days on the right foot.

And if I’m going to have to deal with technical issues, lighting a candle, smudging, or saying a little prayer first can help me stay higher on the emotional guidance scale longer.

I also know that there’s no way I can get stuck in a bad mood if I sing & dance a few Sanskrit chants on my mini-trampoline.

And if at all possible, I make it outdoors to breathe the fresh air, take a few photos, and bask in beauty.

What raises your vibration? Make a list. Post it where you’ll see it every day. On the mirror where you brush your teeth is a good place.

After a while, you won’t need that reminder. As soon as you feel yourself dipping, you’ll recognize your desire for a higher vibration and make Higher Consciousness choices faster.

Do you need inspiration? Here are a few ideas.

10 Ways to Raise Your Vibration” List

* Meditation

* Stretching & exercise – even standing up tall in a power pose for a minute.

* Healthy eating

* Music

* Gratitude list

* Time with pets, children, loved ones

* Affirmations, mantras

* Time outdoors – lying on the ground, hugging a tree, etc.

* Smudging, prayer, or other sacred rituals

* Service to others, random acts of kindness

Leave room on your list so you can add to it.

The idea is to have a variety so that when you are heading down the emotional guidance scale, you can easily access what you already know will help you change directions.

Once you’re grooving in the higher vibes, you’re bound to feel more connected to Source & humanity as a whole.

What you do for your Highest Good, you’re doing for the Good of All.

You have an important role to play in the ascension of the planet. Thank you!

P.S. Click here to go to the blog post that describes the creative process for the painting “Time of Ascension”.

P.P.S. You can order prints in your choice of size and medium or purchase the original. Thank you for supporting my art!

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Reconnect Lesson 7: Your Piece of the Puzzle

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Imagine you’re a piece of a puzzle, connected on all sides to others in various ways.

Looking at the big picture, you can see that all the pieces are interconnected. If one piece of the puzzle is missing, there’s a hole. The picture is incomplete.

Can you see how you’re a necessary part of the big picture, an essential piece of the Divine Oneness that is our human community?

What your piece looks like and where it fits within the puzzle will depend on your personality type and preferences.

Which communities you choose to be a part of will be different than for others. What’s important is that you find a good fit for you.

On the one hand, as an introvert who thrives in my time alone, I connect deeply with community through prayerful painting, creating and sharing inspiration online or for exhibitions, and serving clients at a distance. On the other hand , I also enjoy occasional roles as an in-person leader and teacher.  And although I prefer to see friends one at a time for a deeper connection, I also enjoy group retreats, my French improv theatre group ,and my kirtan chanting group. Those last two resulted from a conscious effort to get out more now that I’m not in the classroom every day.

Communing with community can take many forms.

Exercise 1: Conscious Community

Take a look at the shape and size of your puzzle piece and how it touches all sorts of communities on every side.

The knobs represent the communities in which you’re giving. The sockets represent the communities in which you’re receiving. The flush edges are those in which the flow of giving and receiving are equal.

Sometimes, you’ll be more of a giver in one community and more of a receiver in another.

A puzzle piece that fits comfortably in the big picture is one in which there is a balance of knobs, sockets and flush edges.

In this exercise, take inventory of all the communities you’re a part of – family, work, social groups, volunteer positions, leadership roles, audience roles, etc.  Also look at the balance of online and in person communities.

Are you feeling a sense of support and nourishment from some communities?

Are you feeling a sense of purpose and contribution in others?

Does the energy flow feel balanced in your life overall? This doesn’t always mean from the same community. You might be a big giver in one group, a big receiver in another and more of a passive presence in yet another. And sometime you receive so much by the very act of giving.

What often happens, however, is that we get involved in various communities out of obligation or inability to say “no”. We might overcommit ourselves to the detriment of our need for solo time.

Or perhaps we retreat from community for a variety of reasons and end up feeling lonely, separate, or useless.

Here’s your invitation to look at and reshape your puzzle piece if needed.

Is it time to drop some communities that deplete you? Is it time to find new communities that nourish you?

Are all your communities work related? Do you need to join new groups for fun or spiritual sharing?

What works  for you? Consciously create your way of communing with community in a way that’s aligned with your True Self.

Your puzzle piece may change shapes many times in your lifetime, depending on circumstances, location, etc. That’s OK!

Exercise 2: Follow the Community Spirit

Have you ever felt moved to be somewhere or do something but you had no idea why? Did you act on that inspiration or did your logical mind talk you out of it because it was out of the ordinary or a stretch of your comfort zones?

Better yet, have you ever acted on an inspiration to go somewhere or do something to later have it revealed how you ended up being an important piece of the puzzle in a bigger picture you couldn’t have foreseen?

Exercise 2 is all about following those Spirit Calls and trusting that you’re acting on behalf of something greater even if you can’t see the big picture.

It’s not that we’re the Universe’s puppets. But the Universe will act through those open to its messages to answer prayers, manifest dreams, and more.

Trust that if you’re called to do something, even if it’s outside your comfort zone, you could be helping someone in need or placing yourself in a situation to receive the help you need.

When I took inspired action to be artist in residence at Ocean View Gallery for a week last April during my exhibition, I had no clue how my intention to be in community would be so interconnected to what was happening there and in the world.

I was painting “Communing With Community” and was guided to include the Rose Window from the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. I’d been moved to study its design for a few weeks already but wasn’t sure which painting it would be included in.

After deciding this was it, we heard about the devastating fire in Paris. The next day, after I’d started painting it, I learned that one of the gallery owners’ son, Liam, was supposed to sing there in 2 weeks. Instead, once my painting was finished, his Mother found him in the studio singing his solo in front of my painting.

Was I guided to paint this window to help process the waves of feeling sweeping the planet? Was I guided to be in Carbonear to support Liam in a time of disappointment? Was I guided there so he could support me in my time of shock? One thing for sure is that we were both guided there to share in the creation of a beautiful song-infused painting that connected us to a world-wide community of builders and grievers.

I’m not privy to the full extent of it, but this was a wonderful example of how acting on several inspirations led to a very touching community experience that was a highlight in my year.

For this exercise, start your mornings with your version of Saint Francis’s prayer – “Make me an instrument of Thy peace”. Then stay open to how you might be moved to act in the service of community. 

It may be through:

  • a random act of kindness
  • reaching out to someone who crosses your mind
  • being directed to be in a certain place at a certain time
  • etc.

You may never know how big a difference you’re making in your community. A simple smile can save a life.

P.S.   “Communing With Community”  – Original SOLD –  prints in your desired medium & size are available for purchase.Thank you for supporting my art!

P. P.S. You can read the original post on the co-creative process for the painting “The Perfect Unfolding” on my blog here. 

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Re-Connecting #11- The Gateway

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“The Gateway” – #11 in the Re-Connecting Collection. (24″ x 48″) – $3,700 CAD. The original as well as prints are available for purchase.

Warning: I had to leave my childhood nickname ‘Goody Two Shoes’ aside for this post. Painting “The Gateway” was nowhere near the stretch of my comfort zones as writing about it. If you’re not comfortable reading about female genitalia, you may want to skip this one.

But why? As Becky Johansson wrote in the Goddess Conference program for her workshop “Honouring the Sacred Temple; Yonic Wounding, Forgiveness and Honouring”,

“The yoni has been reviled as a source of shame by most of the world, and we as women judged as dirty and unclean for simply having one. This sacred part of our body, the source of life itself, needs to be reclaimed and connected with so that healing can happen for our body as well for the wider world; in healing ourselves we also heal Gaia.”

So here it is – the final piece in my Re-Connecting Collection. Welcome to #11, “The Gateway”. That’s what my Team of Divine Helpers told me my trip to the UK would be and it’s now the name for this creation that was birthed through me.

It wasn’t until a few layers in and the design of the overlapping  Vesica Pisces shape that I realized I was being asked to paint a giant representation of the vulvar anatomy.

But following my time at the Sun Lover Goddess Conference in Glastonbury, it didn’t surprise me.  This sacred geometry represents, among other things, the Yoni, a Sanskrit word literally meaning the womb, the source, and especially the vulva as a symbol of divine procreative energy.  

I confess, I had to Google diagrams to get a better idea of element placement. As a heterosexual woman working in unrelated fields, I don’t have close up exposure to real ones. And high school sex-ed class was a long time ago. As you’ll read in the symbology sections, this led to some powerful and humorous moments.

“The Gateway” has become an important part of how I’m integrating the work I did in body, mind & spirit during my sacred pilgrimage to the UK. Now, it’s your turn to enjoy a visual and energetic discovery of all it has to offer.

Layer by Layer – The Evolution of The Gateway

I started my weeks of painting by massaging the holy waters from Glastonbury’s Red & White Springs into the canvas and smudging my self, the canvas, and my space with the sacred smoke of the palo santo tree. I’d invited my Team of Divine Helpers to join me, set my intentions, and remained open to receiving what wanted to emerge.

As per usual in the intuitive painting process, I started without knowing where it was going. After the first fiery layer, I received inspiration of some of the basic shapes but none of the content. This evolved one layer at a time, one day at a time.

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The Symbolism in The Gateway

The Chalice Well Cover

Visiting the Chalice Well was the main reason I felt called to Glastonbury this summer after using its waters and energy in my art for years.

I always knew that the cover of the well would make its way somewhere in this painting. I was drawn to this symbol for years before I knew what it was. I then embraced it as a visual representation of the marriage of Heaven & Earth and of the Divine Feminine & Masculine. It’s all about Oneness!

” (The cover) was “designed in the nineteenth century by archaeologist Bligh Bond. Crafted of wrought iron and wood, it depicts the Vesica Pisces, a symbol of the divine feminine, and Excalibur, the sword of the legendary King Arthur, who is believed by some to be buried at Glastonbury.

The wellspring at Glastonbury is considered to be one of England’s most Holy sites. The well itself dates back over two thousand years, and was sacred to both early Pagans and the Christians who later built an abbey on the site. Today, the well is a place of pilgrimage for Christians and Pagans alike, many of whom believe the red, iron rich water has healing and miraculous properties. …

An old legend holds that after the crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea traveled to England and hid the Holy Grail on the premises, accounting for the water’s red hue. Modern Neopagans who use the site equate the waters with the menstruum of the Goddess.”  (source)

Here, I had to choose between the inside or outside cover of the Chalice Well. They’re slightly different. I opted for the inside to symbolize the open well – access to the flowing sacred waters and deep inner wisdom of the well.

If you look at the cover design, the shape between the two interlocking circles is the same as the two vertical elliptical shapes on my painting. That’s the Vesica Pisces.

Not coincidentally, I just found in my web research that The Chalice Well is thought of as a “gateway to the spirit world”.

“This oval space between the circles, this Gateway between the worlds, is called the Akashic or Etheric Field. It is the “bridge between heaven and earth”. The Etheric Field carries vibrational frequencies, sound, color, Light. When we meditate and search the Spiritual Realms we approach the Gate. When we work with Healing Energies, Psychic energies, Mysticism and Magick we enter the Etheric Field and begin to co-create.

If we but trust, and be still we can connect with the Spiritual Realms by entering the Gateway. Whether we seek healing and changes, peace and comfort or guidance and belonging, attuning to the energies of the Chalice Well will help us.”

The Vesica Pisces is also a symbol of:

* Joining of God and Goddess to create an offspring
* Symbol for Jesus Christ
* Halo in medieval art
* Vagina of the feminine- Yoni
* Flower of Life Mandala
* Sacred Geometry of harmonic proportions

At first, I thought I’d be placing the Chalice Well cover design in the smaller orange Vesica Pisces shape (the vaginal entrance), but was redirected to painting it at the site of the clitoris. Divine marriage, gateway to the etheric world, source of ecstasy …. I can understand why it was meant to be placed in this most sensitive spot.

The Sun

When I told a friend that I’d finally been guided to travel to Glastonbury, she told me that my dates coincided with the Sun Lover Goddess Conference. I immediately bought a ticket, figuring it was part of my discovery process of why I was inspired to be there at that time.

For over a week, hundreds of women & men dressed in sun colours delved deep into the realm of the Goddess. What an intense experience I’m so glad I said “yes!” to.

Every day, sometimes more than once, we sang and danced the “Blessing Song” written for the conference by one of its ceremonialists, Sally Pullinger.  As we got to the lyrics “bless you”, we’d extend our hands sideways to meet with our neighbours’. Then, with “bless me”, we’d turn with hands in prayer position. As a few turns were involved, we got to join hands with the neighbours beside us as well as in front & behind.

“Goddess of Sun, Fire, Passion and Love
Heat from below and Light from above
Bless you, Bless me, Bless you, Bless me
Bless you, Bless me, Bless you, Bless me
Goddess, Goddess, Sun Lover Goddess
Shine your Love into the World
Goddess, Goddess, Sun Lover Goddess
Shine your Love into the World.”

I spent a lot of time singing that song while painting the Sun Lover Goddess. It was only once the painting was finished that I noticed how the white dotted arched shapes mimic that of the hands extended and the higher rays of the hands in prayer. Love it!

That’s how it often happens. It was also after I’d intuitively cut the stencil for the basic sun shape (much like we cut paper snowflakes) that I realized that the magenta shapes in between the shooting rays looked like an embrace from the Goddess Herself. It’s a top view of the breasts and two arms around a big gold dot, representing the light within me & you.

Birthing the Earth

In the Goddess tradition, the sun is Mother to the Earth.

Here, she is giving birth to our beloved planet, surrounded by ivy, symbol of loyalty, fertility and eternal life.

You’ll notice that this time, I placed the island of Newfoundland in the centre. That’s where I live. This view of our planet also shows the UK.

One day, while reading the book “Anna – Voices of the Magdalenes” (sequel to “Anna- Grandmother of Jesus”- two books I brought back from the Chalice Well Garden), my brain waves were somewhere between sleep and wakefulness.  That’s when I saw in my mind’s eye a crimson ring with the healing energy symbols of the Karuna Reiki training I received in Glastonbury before the conference.

At first, I painted these around the smaller Vesica Pisces, part of the labia minora. But then, after following up on a hunch about the appropriateness of revealing these sacred symbols, I decided to cover them up with another coat of crimson red, the colour of our moon blood and of the iron-rich Red Spring water at the Chalice Well. The energy is still there even if the symbols aren’t as visible anymore.

The Lion

Ha ha! I got a belly laugh from this one. My Team of Divine Helpers have a sense of humour!

When I first reviewed diagrams of the vulvar anatomy online, I thought to myself ” I won’t be including the urethra.”

Was I wrong! About 5 minutes after receiving the vision for the lion spout from the Chalice Well Garden, it hit me that I’d be painting gushing waters out of the urethra.  I may have been slow to make the link, but I still get a giggle from it.

Upon further reflection, including the lion’s head was also perfect for 2 other reasons.

First, I’d spent a week admiringly gazing at the 2 giant lion heads on stage at the Sun Lover Goddess Conference. Second, I spent all of August 8th (Lionsgate) cloistered at the Chalice Well Gardens.

Here’s what Donna Virgilio, my tour guide to Tintagel-Cornwall the day before, wrote about the Lionsgate Portal, when the sun in Leo aligned with Sirius.

” This is a time of healing, awakening, and opening of the heart.

The Lionsgate Portal is open from July 26th to August 12th, sending beams of high vibrational energy to planet Earth. The zenith energies are at their peak on August 8th.

In numerology, the 8th day of the 8th month is a highly spiritual and charged time. The number 8 represents infinity, the infinite soul that we are and the infinite journey that we take. It represents the “forever conscious” part of our soul; the soul that has lived and will continue to live long after and long before this incarnation.

We will also see the sacred alignment of Venus and Jupiter. This is luscious!

Venus is the planet of love and Jupiter is the planet of abundance, and together on 8/8, they make magic! This is truly special energy and such a gift from the Universe!

These two celestial God & Goddess are aligning in what astrologers call a trine, and this is a harmonious, wonderful aspect that will really help to strengthen the loving, heart-centered energy of the 2019 Lionsgate Portal.

Under this energy, it is going to be easier for us to open and expand to love, beauty, sensuality, compassion, abundance, and all the feel-good emotions that come along with it!”

I must have spent over 4 hours layering and glazing the water, eventually adding sparkly 3-D paint. As you’ll see, this sacred water pools at the bottom of the vaginal orifice before going underground and emerging again in the lake & stream that pass between the dancing flames.

The Dancers

At first, I envisaged the dancing crowds of the conference adorned in sun coloured clothing, celebrating the Goddess in nature.

As I painted them, I understood that we, humanity, dance our days as the sacred flames of creativity, love, purpose & passion. Not only are we witnessing and celebrating the birthing represented in “The Gateway”, but are part of the ongoing process, generation after generation.

Sparkles of mica (the energy of love & compassion) were added to the figures amidst the stained-glass-window look of the scenery around them.

We Are The Creative Flames! Let us join together to co-create the world we dream of living in.

The Marriage of the Divine Feminine & Masculine

I knew that my Team of Divine Helpers wanted me to paint a figurative representation of the marriage of the God & Goddess, Divine Feminine & Masculine (within us & the world) at the top of the labia majora, near the mons pubis.

I procrastinated for days because of my lingering limited thinking about my ability to paint human forms. The ideas gestated until I got myself out of the way enough to receive a vision of how to encircle them around the Chalice Well cover. The initial inspiration happened while sitting on the bus thinking about totally unrelated things. It was like an instant download that had me take a deep audible breath!

That last part of the design is so far from what I’d envisaged and drawn on paper first. I had to remind myself several times that there are no accidents in intuitive painting. I had to be gentle on myself and my painting, loving its awkward teenage stage as we figured out what it wanted to become. In the end, I’m loving what is because I let go of attachment of what I thought it would be.

Entering The Gateway – The Mystery Continues


Although my post-UK painting is finished, Glastonbury isn’t finished with me yet.

First, there are many references to it in the fascinating Anna books I’m reading.

Next, while the varnish was curing, I was at my friend Leslie’s house for our weekly business mastermind meeting. During a dancing break (yes, we know how to have meetings!), I felt called to open the glass door to one of her many display cases to pick a card from a deck I hadn’t noticed before. What was it? The cover of the Chalice Well! On it was written, “Follow your heart and be true to yourself. There are no limits”. Leslie had no idea she had this card!

A few days later, I was watching “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” on Netflix. It’s like a James Bond meets Get Smart movie. One of the controversial scenes involved inserting a tracking device inside a woman’s genetalia at the famous Glastonbury Festival. It happened inside a luxurious sleeping tent, one of the many topics of conversation between myself and a man wearing a kilt on the bus from Glastonbury to London. He lived in Glastonbury, but grew up about 3 blocks from me in Ottawa, Canada. We’d started chatting while waiting for the bus and then he asked to sit with me for the ride. When the bus started getting busy, I’d suggested he look at the seat number he’d been assigned when he purchased his ticket online so we could give it to the person who’d say he was in his/her seat. We were both surprised to find out he was already in it! It’s all very very interesting.

Oh, and this may be too much information – but why stop now. After reflection, I’ve  been assured that this last tid bit will be helpful for someone. They say that where attention goes, energy flows.  Well, after weeks of intense focus on the vulvar anatomy and energy work in and out of the studio, that’s not the only thing flowing. It truly is meno-pause, not meno-stop. After at least 21 months since my last period, I’m experiencing my menstrual flow again. It happened on the day I brought my painting to NL Canvas for scanning so it could be made available for prints – the last step in the creative process. Have I reversed the effects of aging like in the book “Anna”? Maybe not, but despite the Internet’s advisement to get this checked out, I feel strangely happy about this not-coincidence. I certainly don’t want to get pregnant like the 73-year old that my housesister told me just had twins, but I know there’s meaning here. There’s a sense of rejuvenation to it…

“The Gateway” may be the end of my Re-Connecting series, but it’s definitely not the end of the mystery.

Layer by layer, our lives also evolve as we listen to and act upon Guidance. I’m sure glad I did!

What’s calling you?

Title: The Gateway
Year: © 2019
Size:  48“ x 24“ ( 122 cm x 61 cm)
Artist: Dominique Hurley
Materials: Professional acrylics, mica & channeled energy work on gallery-wrapped canvas with painted edges. No framing required. 
Genre: intuitive painting, visionary art, energism art, spiritual art, inspirational art
Price: $3,700 CAD
 You can order prints of “The Gateway” in your choice of size and medium in my print-on-demand shop. If you’re moved to bring the original into your life, it’s also looking for a home 
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Permission Granted – On Summer Sabbatical

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horse painting with sunset colours

“Spirit Horse” (12″ x 24″) – $867 – Buy it here

How good are you at giving yourself permission?

I still can’t believe I’m doing this, but what a relief! Permission granted! 

I’m taking a break from online work while on sacred pilgrimage to Glastonbury. No blog posts. No newsletters until September. I’m not even bringing my computer! I have my skating injury to thank for inspiring this lightening of the load since my shoulders can’t take the weight.

As a full-time artist, sole bread winner & ex-workaholic, this decision wasn’t made easily.

But who would I be if I didn’t practice what I preach, including self-care.

I haven’t missed a newsletter since I started 5 years ago or a blog post in almost twice that time.

But all year, my eyes have been drawn to a magazine clipping in the corner of my Intuitive Vision Board that says “Yes, you can pull off a sabbatical.” 

So I am…. I’m taking a summer sabbatical. This will be your last blog post until September.

That’s not all. I’m going on a total digital detox! 

Despite what the marketing experts say about “out of sight, out of mind” and the potential impact on my income, I’m breaking my pattern of persistency and consistency.

In this day & technological age, we’ve not only become dependent on technology for our life but have started living for it. 

You know I enjoy sharing the love & beauty I experience. I’m all for exploring & expressing it. But I too have been guilty of living only partly in the moment while thinking of what I’ll be posting about it.  I’ll even draft the accompanying text in my mind as I swim, walk, or cycle.

I need a break from that to break that pattern.

This is no ordinary holiday I’m on. It’s a divinely guided sacred pilgrimage and what my Team of Divine Helpers have called a Gateway. 

So I’m giving myself permission to get off my personal Facebook and Instagram while I’m out of the country.

It’s time to disconnect to reconnect. After all, this trip is part of my Re-Connecting project and the build-up to my last painting in the series. 

I have, however, pre-sheduled 3 posts a day on my professional Facebook Page, so feel free to login there if you’re in the mood for a bit of Dominique Hurley art & inspiration. Or peruse the wealth of resources here on my website.

Or maybe this will inspire you to try a digital detox of your own.

Turn your social media off for blocks of time. Check emails only every few days. Give yourself the time and space to be with and for yourself.

And if you’re already great at this, take a look at what other area in your life you don’t give yourself permission in.

Have a great month and I’ll be in touch sometime after I get back. Until then,

Love & Blessings,

Dominique

P.S.  A few days after preparing this post, I found out I didn’t get the $25K art grant I was hoping for to cover my investment in the 9-month project I’ve been working on. The Universe obviously has other plans.. “When one door closes, God opens a window”. I don’t regret spending 2 full weeks preparing the grant application package early in the year. It helped me open up to the inspiration for the details of this guided project, including my amazing week as Artist in Residence in Carbonear. My job is to stay happy no matter what. I appreciate all the abundance in my life, and there’s so much of it. I’ll admit the ego had its few minutes of coping with rejection and expectations. But after grieving what I thought was going to happen, it quickly became time to embrace the mystery of what’s to unfold. I’ve always been creatively resourceful in the past, and so it continues. May we all journey on our Path to our Highest Good with ease & grace. Peace be with us.

Title: Spirit Horse
Year: © 2019
Size:  24“ x  12“ (61 cm x 30.48 cm)
Artist: Dominique Hurley
Materials: Professional acrylics & channeled energy work on gallery-wrapped canvas with painted edges. No framing required. 
Genre: intuitive painting, visionary art, energism art, spiritual art, inspirational art
Price: $867 CAD – Buy it here
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