February: celebrating Love

Where I live  February 2016 is delivering some very mild days, but the trees are still bare, stripped to their skeletal shapes. As I did not have one green, living plant in my apartment, I spent last Saturday shopping for planters,soil and green ivy,ferns and aloe, By the end of the day I had built another area for a shrine. February tends to be a time of staying in,for many St. Valentine reminds us to celebrate those we love. There is also an invitation to keep company with the Guest sitting in ones soul, 'in the midst of one's heart.'  Shrines help us to remember that Guest, to light a candle, to be united in rest and peace.

Sacred Art Workshop #2 : Baptism, the end of Christmas and the way in to a New Year

The  Announcement for the first Sacred Art workshop at St. Basil's was posted on November 23, 2015 in this Blog. We are meeting again on Friday,January 29 at St. Basil's in Rm 006, providing two time slots: 10:00-11:30 am and again at 3:30-5:00 pm to see which is the most popular time. If you would like to discuss another time possibility, please contact me at athomewsoul@gmail.com

This months theme is The Baptism of Christ. I have searched through many Icon traditions and Illuminated Manuscripts, and this image is the one we will be tracing and coloring.

                                                                                                         
       

The Baptism
Mesrop of Khizan
Armenian Illuminated Manuscript 1600's

Simplified sketch

"They were overjoyed at seeing....."

I love collage

I love reading the Infancy Narratives from the Gospels of St. Luke and St. Matthew which can be found at the beginning of these Gospels, because this is the beginning sign; "you will find an infant".

Sacred Art Workshop: a visual way to pray

Jesse Tree
Adapted from an Illuminated Manuscript
The Scherenberg Psalter, circa 1260
The Jesse Tree is a visual representation of Jesus' genealogy.
At the bottom,Jesse is asleep and the branch grows upwards from his side.
First are the Prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, then at the top are the Kings:
Solomon and David, the son of Jesse.At the center is Jesus,  held by Mary.

The idea of hosting a Sacred Art Workshop at my Parish Church is simply an invitation to all visual artists or those interested in the visual arts. Our Parish is very welcoming to those who love to sing, what about deepening your prayer life through color and line? We have a rich tradition in the Visual Arts and our first inspiration will be from The Illuminated Manuscript. If the day or time is not working for you, email me at athomewsoul@gmail.com to discuss.  Friday, November 27 from 3;30-5pm in Rm 006 at St. Basil's Catholic Parish at the University of St. Michael's College, Toronto.

Gathering the Fallen

                                                                                                                                         This time of year leaves are falling here in my country. I was introduced to a piece of history from even closer to my home when I learned of the Canadian solider, Leslie Miller, who in 1917 after fighting in the Battle at Vimy Ridge, France, gathered some oak acorns and sent them home to his family farm in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. He never knew if he would make it home to see if they transplanted, but he did make it home and  the Vimy Ridge Oak is growing in Ontario, Canada. Now there is a group who hope to repatriate the Oaks back to France and hopefully to have them thriving for the One Hundredth Anniversary in 2017. Many Canadian Artists are contributing works to tell the story and to remember all the Fallen. I was asked to send in an idea for a Vimy Ridge Oak Angel, and that is what this paper sculpture is commemorating.

I grew up in this eastern section of Toronto, and it is with great pride I donate my imagination and skill to send an Angel to watch over the growth of these original Oaks.

A dear friend has prodded me, "you have not posted anything since May, it is already September!"
What I have I been busy about? Moving.....I have made an even bigger leap into the unknown and I am now south of Collingwood, Georgian Bay, right into the heart of Toronto, living on St. George St.

My Icon of St. George, the Dragon slayer.
acrylic on wood
for sale
contact me:
athomewsoul@gmail.com

It is May. The month to celebrate mother's.

The Great Mother with attending Angels
18 x 24
Mixed Media and Acrylic

This past month I listened to a podcast by Zhena Muzyka from her 'Change Makers' channel.
Zhena was interviewing Julie Ryan, a medical intuitive who is about to release a book titled, "Angelic Attendants", what happens at death. Julie said that the maternal shows up at the time of dying, and this maternal presence brings with her angels, and what she has seen about these angels is that their wings are like birds wings. While I was listening to this I was staring at this painting of mine, I felt like Julie was describing what I had intuited when creating this at the time of my mother's dying.