Creatively Connect & Celebrate

“Spirit of St. Patrick” (12″ x 24″) – SOLD

St. Patrick’s Day celebrations were very different for many this year due to COVID-19. Never one for green beer or hangovers, I played in green paint instead.

I’d just received news from my pre-paid 2019 Ireland tour operator that my May 2020 booking would be postponed yet another year. I’ll admit, I was relieved as I really didn’t want to travel this May. We’ve just come out of lockdown in St. John’s, Newfoundland and a 3rd wave has started in some provinces. Overseas travel doesn’t appeal to me right now.

If you’re wondering, I did have travel insurance, but hadn’t realized that if you buy it through the airlines, it only covers the cost of the flight, not tours. Live & learn… My 2-week tour was the only part of my 2020 2-month self-directed artist residency in Ireland that wasn’t refunded.

All that aside, I wanted to spend last Tuesday the 17th connected to the spirit of my Irish ancestors in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. I also wanted to let go of any disappointment or expectations about my plans to one day visit Ireland.

So, after my yearly “Top o’ the morning to ye!” message to my father in Ottawa, I immersed myself in the joy of creation and the heart-healing energy of green.

Creativity is a great way to connect to a place, thing, person, or concept. Be it through song, poetry, story writing, painting, collage, sculpture, etc., you can energetically dive into an exploration of your feelings and ideas to express them in your chosen art form.

For me, the canvas is my place to process. As I painted, one layer at a time without knowing what wanted to emerge, I surrendered into the mystery of the unknown as one inspired action led to another.

After the base layers of greens & golds, I played with textured edges, reminding me of the elaborate decorations in illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells.

It was only after I’d used the same Clear Tar Gel medium to create the spiral hill and tree that memories surfaced of all the Irish historic fiction novels & stories I read back in 2019.

Could this be the Hill of Tara calling me? Was that the ash tree from which Jesus’s walking staff was made and later given to St. Patrick? Is it the tree of life?

And when a large moon asked to come to light, I knew it had to be a Celtic one. So thanks again to the Irish artist Courtney Davis for allowing me to use the line drawing from his book “Knotwork & Spirals” for this traditional triple spiral design. Once I’d spent hours dotting it, I covered it in a thick layer of clear tar gel and then repeated the main triskelion in floating white dots – adding depth and dimension to both the painting and my experience.

Oh how I relished my hours of meditative dot-therapy, chanting and connecting to the Ireland of old and new in the best way I could… for now.  This was a different kind of St. Patrick’s trip!

So if COVID-19 is keeping you far from the places, people, and celebrations that call to your heart, may I suggest you use your creativity to connect and celebrate in new ways.

Have fun with it.

• Write a song about something you’d like to see happen one day.
• Create a family photo collage as a birthday gift for a dear one that lives far.
• Paint how you imagine a country might feel.
• Draw in warm colours if you’re cold & lonely.
• Make chocolate creations to celebrate Easter and send them in the mail.
• the possibilities are endless.

Dive in without knowing what it’s meant to become. Allow the process to bring you closer together.

Creativity is healing. Creativity is connecting. Creativity is rejoicing.

One thing for sure, I was much happier the next day to wake up to my evolving new painting “The Spirit of St. Patrick” than to a hangover. I’ve never had one, but I hear they’re not fun…

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“Spirit of St. Patrick” – 12″ x 24″ – SOLD