Our Lady of Light – painting & prayer

What a creative process in communion with community & Mother Mary! Here’s the painting that was inspired by my first visit and channeled meditation at the Grotto de Lourdes in Renews, Newfoundland & Labrador (see previous post). The name “Our Lady of Light”  and this collaborative prayer/poem are thanks to the contributions of 51 of my Facebook and Instagram friends & fans.  Enjoy the read all the way down to the final video.

OUR LADY OF LIGHT

Hail Mary –
Divine Lady of Light & Love,
Mother’s Grace,
Gentle Woman,
Madona du Mondo,
Reine des bois,
Sacred Devi,
Angelica,
Lady of the Portal,
Mother of Light,
Devine Grace,
She who goes by ten thousand names –
Blessed are you
For you hold the Light of the world
In your hands.

Blessed Saphira,
Light of Grace,
Magnetic blue jewel,
Exquisite radiance,
Inspirational Lady of Light & Peace,
Mother of Renewing Life,
You are the vessel,
The Light Bearer,
Virtue embodied,
Radiant all embracing loving Light.

Oh Serene Mother
Light of Life
Connecting with Pure Essence
You have birthed
Divine Vibrations of Radiance
The Essence of Light
The Christ Light
Brought forth from your very being.
Continue to light the way
to Sacred Stillness

I bow to you Radiant Mother,
Luminator,
Wayshower,
Seed Planter of Light,
Mother Goddess.
Glory be thy names.
May you shine your Immaculate Light
That I may see my own divinity
For I too am one
With Mary’s Light
A Particle riding the blue wave
To enlightenment.

I am Light.

So be it. So I let it be. Amen.

Layer by layer this painting evolved over the period of a very focused week. What bliss. I was far from alone in the studio. Not only was my team of Divine Helpers there with me, so were those on social media fascinated by the process.

If my sharing can inspire something good in someone, then I’m thrilled!

After smudging myself, my space and the canvas with sacred Palo Santo smoke, I infused the canvas with a blend of sacred waters from the Chalice well in Glastonbury and the Lourdes Grotto in Renews.

The night before, I’d put my rose quartz crystal in this blend of holy waters on the windowsill to infuse it with an extra dose of  love & compassion energies.

The initial layer was a wash of yellows, oranges, and golds.

Then came layers and layers of letting go, surrendering the concerns of daily life, the chaos, the details.

Getting lost in mark-making is more about finding myself, my alignment, my centre through non-attachment & play.  Very cathartic!

Risk-taking is easy in intuitive painting.

You know that it’s going to keep on changing with every layer. You don’t know where it’s going, but that’s the beauty of it. You don’t need to know. You can simply embrace the mystery and enjoy the journey, not just the destination.

It was such fun that I decided to work on the backgrounds for 2 canvases at the same time. They separated ways after I harmonized the mark-making through more layers of transparent glazing.

The metallic bright gold paint I used for this one contains mica dust, infusing it with even more  love & compassion supporting energy.

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 in this style to meet the deadline for the provincial Arts & Letters Awards.  That one’s top secret until the spring. “Our Lady of Light” is the 2nd in what I’m now calling my “Re-Connecting Collection”.

I designed Mother Mary on paper first. I made a design in my typical bubble style that represents the mix of physical and spiritual energy of which all is made.

The flowing veils were definitely inspired by Newfoundland weather. But you’ll notice that the flame is unwavering. At one point, I so loved the white that I was nervous about changing it to my envisioned blue. I’m glad I did though… And my heart rejoiced when someone pointed out that they were like waves – adding the element of water into the imagery.

The candle:

If you listened to the Mother Mary meditation I channeled at the grotto, there were 3 candles standing in a triple spiral at our feet.

We had brought one of those candles for Mary. One was either for or from a 3rd presence (different depending on your meditative experience).

The last candle was the one Mary brought to honour us, to help us see our love, beauty, light and value. This is the one I painted.

See how brightly it shines? She wanted her love for us to be an example of how to love ourselves. It felt amazing while channeling it and listening to it after.

The dress:

I had such fun scribbling spirals in the still-wet transparent zinc white paint of her dress. I’ve been scribbling spirals for as long as I can remember – the inward and outward movement of natural evolution.

From early on, I could see/sense a whole circle of people on her sleeve – as if she were carrying with her and reaching out to all those who celebrated her, prayed to her, felt with her.

I’ll admit that the very simplified version of my vision came into being because I simply couldn’t paint what I saw. The idea is there though – that she is of us and for us and we of and for her – part of the same big family.

The third eye:

I added a flower at Mary’s third eye. It’s not a Hindu bindi, although it has a similar meaning. The light shining forth from it is her intuition in action – her connection to the Divine.

The triple spiral in which the candles stood in my vision is called a triskele, or triskelion.

This is an ancient cross-cultural symbol of forward movement, representing 3 bent human legs.

It also represents the sacred trilogy. In some cultures, that’s the Father, Son & Holy Ghost. In others, it’s the mother, maiden & crone. It has also represented life-death-rebirth, spirit-mind-body, mother-father-child, past-present-future, power-intellect-love and creation-preservation-destruction. 

In a transmission meditation I was doing for the 7 days of this painting, that trilogy was the Divine Masculine, Divine Feminine & Divine Inner Child. When I teach about intuition, I talk a lot about the divine masculine & feminine, but I’ve never included the divine inner child. I can see it now though – perfect!

This part of the painting changed many times in the process. It eventually included an orb around the diamond – it could be the moon, a crystal ball, or other. I leave that to you – didn’t get a strong message for that one.

Its outside ring is in the same cobalt blue as Mary’s veil to tie those two together. Can you see the pearl mica on top. In the semi darkness, all you’ll see is the sparkle of the 3 mica rings: around the candle, Mary’s outer halo and the glow around the orb.

The sacred trilogy is also represented in this painting through Mary, the stag in the background and the fawn in the foreground.

Did you know a newborn fawn is the size of a large house cat and the weight of a human baby? I had to look that up to scale this blessed creature at the feet of Mary.

It came from a vision and immediately resonated. When I first moved to Saskatchewan, a woman who saw people as their animal energies told me I was a deer. She’d never seen one before. That stuck with me. I think this is the first deer I ever paint.

A memorable part of the grotto in Renews is that it’s covered in ivy. Gorgeous!  So I used this plant to tie the imagery together. It’s a symbol of eternity, fidelity, and strong affectionate attachment – immortality.

On the Thrive on News Spiritual Magazine, it says:

“The spiralling nature of the way Ivy grows is symbolic of the spiral of the self. Spiralling inward and outward, seeking enlightenment and companionship. Its characteristics include binding, restricting, attachment, freedom, uniting and linking with others. It is also associated with fertility because of its rapid growth.

The original 24″ x 48″ is SOLD.
Acrylics & mica on gallery-wrapped canvas.

Prints of your desired size are available on paper, canvas, metal, wood, and acrylic by clicking here.