Some years ago when I was doing a project on the Tarot cards, I instinctively drew a circle into which I would paint my design. It somehow seemed a safe place to bring forth my intuitive feelings about the meaning of the Ace of Wands Tarot card. The design just flowed out effortlessly and at the time I remarked that I “was just doodling”. Excitedly I put the circular painting, the mandala of the Ace of Wands on a blog post. A few months later I saw the image all over the internet. It had been taken and used by bloggers, new age writers, new age mums, and some large not-for-profit companies! (All without my permission). You can see an image of the mandala here.

At the time of drawing this design, I knew that the mandala shape was a literal porthole for the rest of my tarot and oracle card designs and those paintings which would come from a different realm.

So in the same manner, before I start a channelled piece of work, I draw a circle and let my inner eye do the work. Often what will emerge is the essence of the scene or portrait. I’ll see the colours, smell the flowers in the painting, and hear the person speaking to me; telling me how they want to be depicted and what images they need in the painting which will best convey their life-path and life-purpose to those who feel called to tune into them. What is produced is a kind of cartoon. I then have the long task of doing research to find the physical items and faces that I will work from for the final painting.

At a Mary Magdalene workshop last year at Chalice Well in Glastonbury, we brought through the energy of the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine, through Mary Magdalene and The Christ. We were invited to do this through a guided meditation. I had a full sense of meeting with Mary Magdalene and Yeshua and after the workshop, decided that I would create a special painting of Mary Magdalene on her fest day 22nd July. So I was fully primed to create her portrait. Little did I know at the time that I would physically see her face in one of the pilgrims that came to the Chalice Well the following day! (You can read more about it here.)

I’ve been a watercolour artist for the past 35 years and have been so captivated by its fluidity and the spontaneity of the medium. Often you’ll hear watercolour artists talk about “happy accidents”. This is when the colour on the paper, still wet, is moving and makes marks that the brush alone cannot make. This is exactly what happened when I was painting the candle flame that Mary Magdalene is holding. Instead of one flame, two flames emerged. Twin Flames, intrinsically linked. In the same strange way, I was told to put two suns into the sky. I am still not sure what this means. (I’ve done a few designs in the past where I would have the sun on one side and the moon on the other.)

The colours and their intensity in this portrait are warm and hot. Flame orange for the sky and red for her cloak. Some might say that red is associated with the archetype of the Femme Fatal, but in Asian countries, brides wear red at their marriage ceremonies. Red is also connected to the base chakra which grounds us, so I see Mary Magdalene one who represents the everyday woman.

I hope to continue with these mandala-style portraits for new oracle deck which unite the divine masculine and feminine. Although I have many ideas I get the feeling that the project will grow organically and there will be much learning along the way.