Art as Prayer

"Prayer Mares" (detail)

It was March of 2016. For weeks I had been in a state of limbo in my creative process. I knew I needed to be working towards creating artwork for the project I had been dreaming of for years which would be called The Council of Horses Oracle.

I had to get started on the art for the project, or it seemed I never would. My creative partner Sandra and I were still in the beginning stages of writing it and we didn’t even have a publisher yet, but I had to start somewhere. Yet I couldn’t get myself to begin. I had to come to an edge in myself and I needed to move out of the stuck mental and emotional state I was in. I didn't know what I wanted to draw. I knew from experience that the only way to get out of this mindset was to start creating something - anything - and to release the need to have a plan.

I pulled out a CD of music at random from my collection. The music was from Libera, titled Free. This told me I was literally on the right track musically and emotionally. What I was missing was the feeling of being free. I became still, released my obsession with foretelling the future, and focused my attention on the present moment. I set my intention and asked for divine guidance, looked at my selection of pastels, picked a color, and put it on the paper.

As soon as I applied the pastel to paper it became effortless. It was such a pleasure and a relief to allow myself to create and to release my expectations of doing it “right” and just draw. Once I let it go, I was in the flow.

I selected a new paper a pale terracotta color I hadn’t worked on before The paper color didn’t matter, I was thinking of using blue tones, but I started with a neutral light grey color. That shifted into pale purple on one side and formed an egg shape. The shape inspired me to draw a dark blue horse on the upper edge of the paper. It reminded me of a piece I had drawn almost 30 years ago of a foal peeking underneath a mare’s neck. The area is called the throat latch. I have always been drawn to that place in a horse. It feels like such a vulnerable and yet comforting place.

I liked how the blue horse’s mane wrapped around and blended with the grey colors. The egg shape was now beckoning for the presence of another horse. Using a lighter grey chalk, I began sketching lines to decide what position and size the grey horse’s face would be. It took me some time to work out the angle and perspective of the face in a pleasing way. The lines were intriguing, almost ghostly, and I decided I didn’t want to fill them in but rather enhance the lines. I liked the pale outlines of the eye, but the eye needed realism, depth, and color. I took the plunge and drew light blue tones for the pupil and a dark iris. I knew there was no turning back now, this was now a stronger color and would be difficult to erase.

I was working faster now – I knew if I hesitated, I would begin to doubt, and suddenly before I knew it, there was an eye looking right back at me. I added a gently curved highlight rather than a round spot, and then I knew the expression was ideal. Now I realized light purple was the mane of the lighter horse. Shadows and lines began to enhance the nose and mouth. I added a darker tone in the lower left corner, and the art was complete. I was quietly astonished. After ages of doubt and creative struggle, the completion of the art felt like a miracle. It was as if the pastels and paper had breathed life into the two horses that materialized before me. They were curving lovingly around each other. The grey horse felt vulnerable, and the blue horse felt maternal, serene, and protective. The question then for the horses remained, “Who are you?”

"Prayer Mares" Original Pastel and Prints 

That day, as I had poured my intentions onto the paper, simultaneously hundreds of miles away unbeknownst to me, Sandra’s prayer for the recovery of her mare, Grace, was being answered. This became evident later that evening when Sandra called me after seeing the photo of the painting. She recounted the profound experience of how the miraculous timing and composition of the art coincided so uncannily with what she experienced. We then knew these horses would be called ‘The Prayer Mares’.

This first painting for The Council of Horses was a confirmation of my commitment to creating the Oracle, and my faith that it would find its way into the world. If these beings could make themselves known when a friend and her horse were in the depths of a crisis, surely The Council of Horses were truly present and waiting for the visions and words to manifest their wisdom on earth.

"Prayer Mares" card from The Council of Horses Oracle deck

My experience of creating the Prayer Mares aligned with what the card came to represent: making the intangible tangible by manifesting feelings and thoughts in vivid ways..

"You might wonder how horses pray. We celebrate the warmth of the sun on a winter’s day and sigh at the touch of gentle rain on our coats. We revel in the nourishment that surrounds our feet and drink in reverence from the cool source that fills the stream. We are in constant connection with the divinity of nature. Each feeling is a prayer, every thought is a prayer. Our lives are an act of prayer."

~ The Council of Horses Oracle: A 40-Card Deck and Guidebook by Sandra Wallin and Kim McElroy © 2024 Bear & Company. Printed with permission from the publisher Inner Traditions International. www.InnerTraditions.com

Some people only notice the dark horse when she has been brought to their attention, or once they have been affected by the peace that can be found in the eyes of the blue-eyed mare. Just like when I struggled to begin creating this artwork, we often feel alone and vulnerable in life's challenges, but the guardian mare is always with us, just like the answers to our prayers.

'Prayer Mares' on display with photos of me, my grandmother, Martha, and a 1930's marble statue my great auntie Florence imported from Rome.

"Prayer Mares" Framed Original