Visual Art
There is something within the human spirit that yearns for connection with meaning, purpose, beauty and joy. It finds strength and comfort in having the truth of these experiences mirrored and affirmed, alongside those of grief and trepidation and uncertainty. Every religious tradition and culture has its own unique ways of filling that need. Through study and teachings, through meditation and prayer, both personal and communal, through rituals, sacred art, silence, music, dance, through charity and service, we can learn more about who we are and are called to be.
There are spiritual practices for every stage of the spiritual journey, for every belief system and personal inclination, whether you are an introvert or extrovert, scholar or skeptic. What I've discovered is that it can be as important to connect faithfully with practices that deepen your faith journey as to be able to let go of them when they no longer serve that purpose.
Several years ago I found that the spiritual contexts and practices I had long come to relish and rely upon no longer "worked" for me. I felt unable to feel well-sourced. I started asked others about the practices that help them feel connected and empowered, and began to experiment with them. I discovered that while silent meditation no longer inspired me, walking meditation did. I re-discovered the power of sacred texts and of sung prayer. A whole new world of possibilities opened up for me: I could experience and celebrate life in so many more ways than before. What started out as a disappointment ended up being the best thing that could have happened.
One of the more potent spiritual practices I've connected with in recent years since losing (through Lyme Disease) and then regaining my sight has to do with visual arts.
For over 20 years my focus had been the written and spoken word.
Now, while going through my daily routines, I allow myself to be drawn to something that I see (a movement, a shadow, a shape, color or image). I often take a picture of it without trying to analyze why it calls to me. Later I bring that memory or photograph into my meditations. I open to its meaning by painting it (see examples in the slideshow below). I then write down whatever words come up. Most often the words that arise in response to the image are exactly what I "need to hear". The results, called Visual Prayers, have been posted regularly on my Facebook page, TendingSpirit, as well as printed and posted on my fence!
Many neighbors and TendingSpirit Facebook page followers have told me these paintings and words resonate for them, and that they have made it a spiritual practice to seek them out. I now consider the posting of these "Visual Prayers" part of my TendingSpirit ministry. I also encourage people to participate in the "Sacred Ground" FB page I created under TendingSpirit. (See the drop-down menu for a Youtube link to a collection of Visual Prayers from 2020.)
While I'm continuing to take daily photos and to paint and listen deeply to those images, I'm currently in the process of discerning how else I might engage with, develop, or share this spiritual practice. As a way to inspire neighbors during Covid 2020 I displayed my paintings on the fence around my home.
In 2021 I started a "Soil & Oil" series: paintings of beloved places for which I created pigment by collecting, grinding, sterilizing soil from those places.
During the 2022 Labor Day weekend I displayed and sold my paintings publicly for the first time as a Resident Artist at the Kings Mountain Art Fair in Woodside, CA. Purchases benefitted the Kings Mountain Fire Brigade. In December of that year I displayed at Congregation Beth Jacob, to benefit it's Schoo
My "elevator speech":
I consider painting “a form of prayer, a way to transcend the limitations of time and space, and to connect deeply with the sacred ground of the present.”
SLIDESHOW COLLECTION OF 2020/2021 PAINTINGS:
There are spiritual practices for every stage of the spiritual journey, for every belief system and personal inclination, whether you are an introvert or extrovert, scholar or skeptic. What I've discovered is that it can be as important to connect faithfully with practices that deepen your faith journey as to be able to let go of them when they no longer serve that purpose.
Several years ago I found that the spiritual contexts and practices I had long come to relish and rely upon no longer "worked" for me. I felt unable to feel well-sourced. I started asked others about the practices that help them feel connected and empowered, and began to experiment with them. I discovered that while silent meditation no longer inspired me, walking meditation did. I re-discovered the power of sacred texts and of sung prayer. A whole new world of possibilities opened up for me: I could experience and celebrate life in so many more ways than before. What started out as a disappointment ended up being the best thing that could have happened.
One of the more potent spiritual practices I've connected with in recent years since losing (through Lyme Disease) and then regaining my sight has to do with visual arts.
For over 20 years my focus had been the written and spoken word.
Now, while going through my daily routines, I allow myself to be drawn to something that I see (a movement, a shadow, a shape, color or image). I often take a picture of it without trying to analyze why it calls to me. Later I bring that memory or photograph into my meditations. I open to its meaning by painting it (see examples in the slideshow below). I then write down whatever words come up. Most often the words that arise in response to the image are exactly what I "need to hear". The results, called Visual Prayers, have been posted regularly on my Facebook page, TendingSpirit, as well as printed and posted on my fence!
Many neighbors and TendingSpirit Facebook page followers have told me these paintings and words resonate for them, and that they have made it a spiritual practice to seek them out. I now consider the posting of these "Visual Prayers" part of my TendingSpirit ministry. I also encourage people to participate in the "Sacred Ground" FB page I created under TendingSpirit. (See the drop-down menu for a Youtube link to a collection of Visual Prayers from 2020.)
While I'm continuing to take daily photos and to paint and listen deeply to those images, I'm currently in the process of discerning how else I might engage with, develop, or share this spiritual practice. As a way to inspire neighbors during Covid 2020 I displayed my paintings on the fence around my home.
In 2021 I started a "Soil & Oil" series: paintings of beloved places for which I created pigment by collecting, grinding, sterilizing soil from those places.
During the 2022 Labor Day weekend I displayed and sold my paintings publicly for the first time as a Resident Artist at the Kings Mountain Art Fair in Woodside, CA. Purchases benefitted the Kings Mountain Fire Brigade. In December of that year I displayed at Congregation Beth Jacob, to benefit it's Schoo
My "elevator speech":
I consider painting “a form of prayer, a way to transcend the limitations of time and space, and to connect deeply with the sacred ground of the present.”
- To see my Sacred Ground photographs and contribute your own: please join the "Sacred Ground" FB Group.
- To see my most current paintings: please visit or following the TendingSpirit Facebook page
- To talk about commissions: please reach out to [email protected].
SLIDESHOW COLLECTION OF 2020/2021 PAINTINGS: