Heart Guardians

It dawned on me one day, a few years after I painted Evita, that maybe I could paint “Guardian Paintings" for people…Yeah I believe we have guides, people that we have a heart connection with. O.k, I’ll paint one for myself, a guardian portrait, and see how it goes. 

It started as an oval shape for a face, lot’s of blue paint, a bit strange, but with this intuitive process, I try to let go and go with it…There will often always be a point in the painting where I will look at it and think, no, it’s not working. This isn’t going to look right. But I let go and just keep painting. Painting is magic, it layers, it can be thick or translucent. It’s very forgiving. I try never to be afraid of paint strokes or strange colours that may suddenly appear from mixing. I had no idea who I was painting. The hair came, long hair, so I thought o.k, female. The face looked kind and brave, the hair had red/copper flecks coming down. A beautiful head piece crossed her brow, then as I was finishing her chin, it hit me, Joan of Arc, and I cried. I cried because I already have a history with her. My heart had connected with this young heroine in my school drama class years ago. We were asked to choose someone in history, and write and perform a monologue, so I choose Joan because of her story. She was absolutely dedicated to God and to her King and most of all listened to the higher voice that guided her. She portrayed the virtue of courage to me and I felt I needed this quality. 

Who is your hero? When you think back on your life thus far, who has stood out to you among the masses? And why? What is it about them that draws you to them? Why is there a heart connection?  Thinking about this will teach you a little about your own uniqueness and about who you are.