First Memories…..

The first “knowing” that there was some higher life/purpose/quality that existed beyond my body came at a very early age.  I would have been about 4 years old when my Grandad was very sick in hospital.  The whole family went together to visit him and I remember my Mum preparing me and saying that it was really important to be still and quiet because there would be many sick people in the ward and they needed peace and quiet to get well. When I saw him laying there on the bed, I knew exactly what to do.  I sat beside him on his pillow and placed my hands on his right shoulder.  I wanted to fidget because I got stiff and bored after a while but at the same time, I was intrigued by the movement of energy through my body and my hands into Grandad.  There was a constant flow of tingles and I kept getting goosebumps. I remember thinking that I was” helping him” and it was the right thing to do.  I just accepted this as being perfectly normal and eventually the tingles and bumps stopped coming so I got down from my place on the pillow and probably did my fidgeting and got impatient till it was time to go.

The ability to draw and paint did not come to me so easily I’m afraid.  When I went to school I saw children who were very good at drawing and I so very desperately wanted to draw the images that appeared in my mind’s eye.  From the beginning of my life, I have thought in pictures.  I understood that everyone did but apparently not.  I always had beautiful images in my head and I tried so hard to replicate them on paper but it wasn’t to be.

When I turned 12 and started high school, as part of the curriculum I was required to go to Art classes.  I was actually rather reluctant because I knew I would fail the subject for sure.  On the very first day we were given homework and that was to go home and draw the first person we saw as we walked in the door.  It just happened to be my Grandpop and so I got the shock of my life when a very good likeness of him just found its way from my pencil and onto my page!

No one could have been more surprised and delighted than me…….this began a daily practice and evolvement of technique.  Interestingly,  the only thing I was remotely interested in drawing and painting was the human face.  I would sit for hours in my room with magazines laid out on my bed and drew the faces in them from every angle possible.There were even some self portraits in the mix.

Mostly though, I loved to draw the faces that were in my mind’s eye.  Sometimes, I would purposely not look for a face there but simply allowed a face to flow onto the paper as I watched, detached from the process and simply observing it unfold.

Little did I know that it was this very technique that I still employ when drawing Spirit Guide Portraits for my clients.

Over the years, I have experienced dozens of beautiful moments when my clients recognize  the face of a relative or dear friend who has passed over.  Many tears of Joy have been shed in the realization that they are still close to them and able to communicate with them in such a beautiful and tangible way.  It gives so much hope to so many.  I am deeply honoured and grateful for this extraordinary gift.

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