Illumination

Illumination

The sunlight is glaring through a window in the Great Hall of the Edinburgh Castle in Scotland.  I overlaid this with a celtic cross from Iona, allowing the light from the window to illuminate it.

Size: (h x w) 16" x 20"

Media" Digital photography

AVAILABLE

Remnant of Devotion

Remnant of Devotion

On the Isle of Iona I searched for the Hill of Angels, a place where St. Columba would go to pray that is now considered sacred. It is easy to miss, you can barely find it on the map. It is just a little hill located inside a fenced-in pasture on someone’s farm. 

I climbed over the fence and headed up the small hill.  I sat in quiet near some stones that had been placed as humble offerings by others who had ventured to this site before me. It felt sacred. 

While sitting on the peaceful little knoll, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Some small sheep were making their way in my direction! They lingered and begged for attention. Oddly enough, this felt like a most appropriate greeting on the Hill of Angels.

Size: (h x w) 10" x 20"

Media: Digital photography

SOLD

Remains

A photograph of the Nunnery ruins on the Isle of Iona, in Scotland, is combined with an image of sheep grazing on a nearby hillside. As such, the remains of the nunnery merge with the flock that remains in the pasture offering a reflection on time and place. 

Size: (h x w) 20" x 16"

Media: Digital composition

SOLD

Meditation

Meditation. An image of a window opening within the ruins of a Nunnery on the Isle of Iona, Scotland, is combined with a labyrinth that was created in the sand on a secluded little beach.  Together they create a quiet, meditative space of solace.

Size (h x w): 14" x 11" (matted and framed)

Media: original digital print on arches paper

AVAILABLE

The Way

Time to start posting new work created from my Scotland imagery!

The Way

A small chapel sits behind the Iona Abbey on the Isle of Iona.  I would guess that not everyone who visits Iona even ventures into this humble, overshadowed space.  

It was very quiet and peaceful-- a thin place for me.  The light coming in the window of the dark chapel made the silhouette of the cross a focal point.

I overlaid this shot of the window and cross with a photo of the Iona Abbey courtyard to create a perspective that leads to, or through, the cross.

Size: (h x w) 24" x 16"

Media: Digital photography on canvas

AVAILABLE

Scotland: Full of surprises and inspiration

Photo courtesy of Connie Collins.  St. Margaret's Chapel in Edinburgh Castle.  My first thin place experience in Scotland, despite having arrived that morning after a red-eye flight and being jet-lagged!

Thank you again to all who supported me with my Iona Imagery project.  Special thanks to: Barbara J., Lexi D., Pamela Daum, Tom and Joyce Waalkes, Sharon and Jim Charmley, Fredlee Votaw, Brett and Brenda Woudenberg, Emil Alecusan, Jeff Dreyer, Su Nimon, Robb Hankins, Heidi Beke Harrigan, Marcia Everett, Barb Walker, & Paul and Gail Wetherell-Sack for helping to financially support this project! (And to my husband, Scott, who is not only helping to financially support my project, but who has supported and affirmed my calling as an artist all along the way!).

I am so deeply grateful for all of your help to make this trip and this project possible.  I have over 2,000 photos to work with for this new body of work! 

My trip to Scotland was productive and full of meaningful surprises and inspiration.  I went to Scotland with the distinct mission of trying to capture the essence of thin places* on the Isle of Iona. What I didn't anticipate was that I would stumble upon thin places in other areas of Scotland as well, not just on Iona.  A pleasant surprise indeed!

This new body of work created with imagery from Scotland will be entitled Traces.  I have been pondering the idea of traces a lot.  Thin places seem to have a spiritual residue, a trace left from the past.  I like the idea that the past seeps viscerally into the present in these places of sacred thinness and beauty.  It inspires and intrigues me -- and I want to portray my experiences of these spiritual traces in my new work.  Wish me luck!


*Thin places are times or places where the veil between the Divine and human is thinner or more permeable, allowing for a deeper sense of God's presence.

Iona Imagery Kickstarter Partners

My sincere gratitude goes out to the following people who are partnering with me on my Iona Imagery project.  Their support will help enable me to create a new body of work inspired by my experiences of thin places in Iona, Scotland.  

Special thanks to:

Barbara J.

Pamela Daum, in honor of her mother, Betty Joan White Zucker Milner

Lexi

Tom and Joyce Waalkes
Sharon and Jim Charmley
Fredlee Votaw
Brett and Brenda Woudenberg
Emil Alecusan
Jeff Dreyer
Su Nimon
Robb Hankins
Heidi Beke Harrigan
Marcia Everett
Barb Walker
Paul & Gail Wetherell-Sack

To find out more about my Iona Imagery project and how you can back my project please click here to visit my Kickstarter page!

The piece pictured above is part of my Thin Places body of work that was inspired by my thin place experiences in Assisi, Italy.  It is entitled Shelter, and is a combination of two images.  One is a photo of sheep grazing on a peaceful hillside outside of town.  The other is of the Eremo delle Carceri, which is the cave in Mount Subasio where St. Francis used to retreat for prayer and contemplation.  Perhaps it was because the cave was integrated in the quietness of nature, but I found it to feel even more sacred, or thin, than the St. Francis Basilica with all of it's frescoed splendor.

Size (h x w) 12" x 9"
Media: Phototransfer on wood panel
SOLD

Iona Imagery Kickstarter Project

I am so pleased to announce that I will be continuing my exploration of thin places in my artwork!  I will be going to Iona, Scotland, an area described by many as a sacred or thin place-- a place where one experiences a more visceral sense of the Divine.  Many people describe thin places as a "thinning" of the divide or veil between heaven and earth.  This concept continues to intrigue and challenge me personally and in my artwork.

While in Iona, I will photograph new imagery and document my "thin" experiences.  Afterward I will begin creating a new body of work that seeks to visually portray the essence of Iona thin places. This project builds upon my recent Assisi Thin Places work, and I am very eager to see how I can push it even further!

If you'd like to learn more about my project or if you want to learn how you can get some artwork inspired by this trip, please click here to visit my Kickstarter page!  Thanks!