Thoughts, Painting & Prose By Imelda Frances

Thoughts, Painting & Prose

By

Imelda FB Maguire

1974 ~ 2013

Timeless Expression by Maguire Historical Website

Web Design by Catherine Hooch, Oshawa Ontario
2007 - 2011

Celebrate Life & Love

"It is the little things in life that mean a lot!"

Quote from Patricia Josephine Maguire

Thomas St. Studio

1971 ~ 1980 Oshawa Ontario

Art With Mel

 

~ Desk & Feather ~

Oil on canvas 24 x 36 1974

Private Collection of Mary Haye
Oshawa Ontario

In Barter for a crochet navy handbag with a double wooden spool handle

~ Tiger Lily's & Things ~

Original oil on canvas 24 x 30 palette knife 1975

Private collection of Mary Haye

Oshawa Ontario

In barter for a crochet table cloth.

 

~ Lost In The Mountains of Mourne ~

Original oil on canvas 24 x 36, Northern Ireland 1974

Collector not recorded

~ Pool of Canopus ~

Oil on canvas 20 x 24, 1976
Collector not recorded

~ Castle Hoathe On The Irish Sea ~

Oil on canvas, 30 x 72 palette knife 1975

Collector not recorded

~ Bunratty Castle ~

Oil on canvas 24 x 36, 1974

Collector not recorded

~ Blue & Red Bouquet ~

Oil on canvas 12 x 14  palette knife, 1975

Collector not recorded

 ~Andrew Frank Maguire ~ Silhouette

 7th Lock

Dublin Ireland 1976

Oil on canvas 24 x 36

Private Collection of Brye Briggs

Oshawa Ontario

~ White Tulip ~

Oil on canvas 24 x 30, 1976

Collector not recorded

~ Bouquet for Mother ~

Oil on Masonite  20 x 26, 1977

Private Collection of Pauline and Wilfred Lindsey

Peterborough Ontario

~ A Touch of Old ~

Oil on canvas 24 x 36, 1977

Collector not recorded

A Touch of Old won Honorable Mention at the Art Gallery of Oshawa 1977

~ Swans~pool Bridge ~

Oil on canvas 24 x 36, England 1979

Private Collection of Pauline and Christopher Westwood

Oshawa Ontario

~ Swans Pool ~

Oil on canvas 24 x 36, England 1979

Private Collection of Pauline and Christopher Westwood

Oshawa Ontario

~ Hibiscus Study ~

Oil on canvas 24 x 36, 1979 

Collector not recorded

Hillside Studio

1980 ~ 1999 Oshawa Ontario

~ Baby Colt ~

Oil on Masonite 30 x 42, 1982.

Private Collection of Shandy-Lynn Briggs

Oshawa Ontario

~ Tara ~ Gone with the Wind`

Oil on canvas, 24 x 35  1982

Private Collection of Armand and Bunty (Lucille)

Oshawa Ontario

 

~ On the Beach with Janie Mac  ~

Oil on canvas, 24 x 30, 1984

Collector not recorded

Whitby Station Gallery

1976 -1982

 
Imelda Maguire, Marg Bird, and Marilyn Clack at work painting the Coach for the Gala ~ Orient Express Ball ~  Heydenshore Pavilion, Whitby Ontario 1982.

As a volunteer for the Whitby Station Gallery in Whitby Ontario for several years, I witnessed many wonderful artists unfolded their work revealing the ~ Grace ~ of their craft.  It was all one could do just sit there silently watching in awe.  During this time I was able to explore the dance of the Sumi brush as well as fall madly in love with the art of Sue Tabuchi who greatly inspired the mastery of the stroke; concentration on the freedom of the brush.

Unfortunately I could not find any work of Sue Tabuchi posted on the web as an example of Sue's brilliant mind.  Might you be reading this and know of any Sue Tabuchi work and  have a link please feel free to add your news in the comment box below the post, most appreciative I would be as would the other viewers of this site.

Many Thanks.

God Bless

~*LOVE ALWAYS*~

Imelda

~ Milk Weed Pod ~

Oil on canvas 24 x 48, 1980

Collector not recorded

 ~ Pink Lady  ~

Oil on Masonite 20 x 30, 1980.

Collector not recorded

~ Shamrock ~

Oil on canvas 18 x 36, 1980

Private collection of Leonard and Lori Manning

Oshawa Ontario

~ Geese Family ~

Oil on Masonite 12 x 24, 1984

Private Collection of Laura Manning

Oshawa Ontario

~ Trillium ~

 Oil on canvas 16 x 20, 1980

 Private Collection of Pauline Lindsey

 Peterborough Ontario

 

~ Calla Lily ~ Flower of Peace  

Oil on canvas 24 x 36, 1984

Collector not recorded

~ Purple Wood ~

Oil on canvas 36 x 48 1981

Private Collection of John and Julie Manning
 Oshawa Ontario

~ Angel Cocoon ~

Oil on canvas 26 x 38 1987

Private Collection of Len and Lori Manning

Oshawa Ontario

Angel Cocoon and Fantasy Flower were commissioned by my nephew Leonard Manning to help pay for my travel expense on the Go Train during my first year of the Ontario College of Art.

Indeed I explained to Len that he did not have to pay his Aunty Mel for his painting, a pleasure it would be to do this for him.  Insisted he did indeed, just like a true gentleman would. I am eternally grateful to Leonardo Da Vinci (my Papa’s nickname for my nephew Leonard) for always believing in the artwork.

Blue Madness

 Canvas #1 & #2

~ Blue Madness ~

 Canvas #1
Oil ~ 24 x 36 1986

Donation to the Women’s Safety Network Haliburton Highlands Ontario.

~ Blue Madness ~

 Canvas #2
  Oil ~ 24 x 36, 1986

Donation to the Women’s Safety Network Haliburton Highlands Ontario.

The concept of Blue Madness is taken from the view inside of the mind behind the lashes of the eye; a view that was brought on through a physical experience of the body when mind automatically blocked the mental and emotional pain suffered as a direct result from being rear-ended in an automobile accident. The image that manifested during the first few moments of shock was one of a very comforting sensation of the self floating on on an ethereal pond under the warmth of the sun as presence became that of being a wee fly or frog upon the leaf of a water lily bloom.


All reality of the outside world in that very moment ceased; it had been blocked by mind, or perhaps it was the soul to remove all shock and pain from the  unconscious self.

It was my thought that these two pieces hanging in the Women’s Shelter might bring some measure of calm to the families who visit there for a short while through their troubled times.  

Sometimes it is necessary to take a painful memory of the past from fully expressing itself in the moment by releasing those old fragmented stories of ours out into the universe in some healing creative way. 


It is up to us to decide when to let go of the grieving memories of a past.  Once released out from the inner depths of our inner soul in a loving sharing with the rest of humanity, or either privately within your own heart, such pain then becomes just that ~ a memory ~ the past.  I have discovered that it is alright to look back for a glance every once in awhile but only for a fleeting second to remind ourselves that what was, is now truly gone.  Our look back is only a reminder of our lessons learned.  Indeed we will eventually accept our personal part of that drama however large or small from beginning to end in that particular moment of time to heal our own soul, remembering always to forgive the self.

Remaining to be mindful of that moment of reflection will ensure us not to repeat our unconscious decisions again, painful memories released evaporate forever from our precious DNA by the simple choice of surrendering into the moment of now to heal the images of mind.  Be mindful to hold the thought that those memories are indeed truly gone.

Blue Madness was gifted with great respect to the services rendered to women by women in providing support as well as a safe environment for those mothers and children that have had to flee their home in order to find peace, comfort and care from the tyranny of abusive life situations that have run amuck in our life; out of control.

The Women’s safety network also acts as a liaison for those in need with the many Government financial and care services that help with affordable housing, trauma resource, legal and medical services for troubled families.  The many contacts that are opened to an individual are a direct aid to the mothers and children in the challenging effort to continue to look forward to their brighter tomorrow.

It is our choice to decide when we are truly ready to heal the imprint that comes from physical, mental, and emotional pain; simply release them into the wonder of nothingness.

~ Lily Pad Pond ~

 Study in color vibrations
Oil on canvas 36 x 48, 1987

Collector not recorded

~ Bowl ~

Oil on canvas 36 x 40, 1989

Private Collection of artist

~ Maiden Hair Fern ~

Pen and ink study, art board  1987

Private Collection of artist

~ China Lantern ~

Oil on canvas 26 x 30, 1997

Private Collection of Shandy-Lynn Briggs

Oshawa Ontario 

Study in Color Vibration #1

When the eye focuses on where two colors meet that definable line is called the line of demarcation.  When one stares at that line of demarcation long enough where the two colors meet and are equal in all regards, the eye will pulsate ~ creating the illusion of movement, the entry into the mysteries of universe through the creative self..

~ Hibiscus ~

Oil on canvas 24 x 40, 1994

Private Collection of Pauline and Wilfred Lindsey

Peterborough Ontario

~ Flowering Almond ~

Oil on Canvas 32 x 48, 1993

Private Collection of Pauline and Wilf

 Peterborough Ontario

Melbryan House Studio

1990 ~ 1999 Minden Ontario

~ Old Bog ~

  Bat Lake Rd. ~ Black Willow Swamp

Oil on canvas 38 x 20, 1995

Private Collection of Brye and Leah Briggs

 Oshawa, Ontario

Ritchie Falls Minden Ontario, 1995

Ritchie Falls Minden Ontario, 1995

    

~ Grapes on The Vine ~

Oil on canvas 20 x 30,  1995

Private Collection of Pauline Lindsey

Peterborough Ontario

Melbryan House Occasional Willow Furniture
 Timeless Expression by Maguire studio, Minden Ontario 1994

Willow Gone Wild ~ Melbryan House ~ Occasion Furniture 1994, Minden Ontario

~ Cranberries & Hoar Frost ~

Oil on canvas 29 x 36, 1992

Private Collection of Laura Lynn Manning

Ontario Canada

Hoar Frost ~ first frost of winter

Spirit Brye

~ Spirit Brye ~ The Big Leg


Oil on canvas 36 x 40, 1992

Private Collection of Brye Andrew David Briggs.

Ontario Canada

Brye's first year at Carelton University he was captain of the Lacrosse team.  During the last 10 minutes of a London game he was headed in the stomach which put him on the ground, passed out.  When he came to, there were only a few minutes left in the game to win so he got up and went right back into the action without realizing his spleen had been ruptured; he was bleeding internally. When the whistle blew game over, Carelton had won their London game, he went down again. 

Immediately he was rushed to London hospital where his spleen was removed.  Unfortunately he was fused with clotters blood which resulted in a deep vein thrombosis from his navel down through his groin and into his right leg.  Forever in this lifetime Brye is challenged by this condition which keeps him most restricted to all physical activity, he chooses to not let this affliction hold him down.

Spirit Brye is a reminder to Brye that the universe will keep a safe hold on his life force through the intention of the whirling silver cord that will remain forever connected to his staff of life. He truly is the epitome of a Wolf Man Spirit.

Brye Andrew David Briggs,  singing as he carves a pumpkin,  Melbryan House,  Minden Ontario, 1992.

Left: Sketch of Ojibwa Wolf Man Spirit, taken from the original Ojibwa sketch from Curve Lake Reserve, Buckhorn Ontario 1992

Drawn to the mysticism of Aboriginal art, young Brye felt a deep connection to a painting at Curve Lake Reserve Art Gallery not too far from his Aunty Paul's home in Buckhorn.  He purchased the painting and had tattoo work done on his right arm of his favorite Wolf man Spirit only days before his lacrosse accident.

~ Burgundy Mood ~

Oil on canvas 20 x 28, 1993

Private Collection, Brye and Leah Briggs

Ontario Canada

Minden Social Services

Summer of 1991 was our first year in Minden House.  Shand was leaving for Queen's University in the fall, she worried that I would be left on my own while she was away at school. I could not understand her worry, I had never felt better in my life.  Unbeknownst to myself, wise little Shandso called social services to do an intake on her Mom (me).  Dick Schell the building inspector of the Haliburton Highlands as well as an officer for Social Services arrived at the door to my complete surprise, dismay and most wounded ego.

I truly was with the belief that everything going wrong in the house would work itself out in time.  I could work hard and would, all that was needed was to be given a chance to get back on my feet.  A passionate and truly concerned humanitarian Dick indeed was.  He assured me that I would not survive the first winter in Minden without his help.  A plan to amend the wrongs in the listing agreement was immediately put into place.

Minden Social Services hired me as intake officer to help pay for the many expenses of upgrading our new home.  Immediately the plan for fresh clean water from a safe well, safe waste removal and the installation of safe heating with a new to code wood burning fireplace was put into place.  Never was I more grateful for those who truly care about the lives of others in great need.

In celebration for managing to secure a regular paying job, I had decided to search out a new canoe to aid in our enjoyment of the many beautiful waters in the Highlands.  I paid a visit to George Nichols, a local Taxidermist who also restored old canoes and came highly recommended by my new friend Dick.  

George just happened to have one round bottom canoe that needed some work.  We worked out a payment schedule so that when he was finished the work on the boat, the canoe would be paid in full.  "This is a great little canoe" George said,  " it can turn on a dime." 

Finally the day came at the end of that summer, the canoe was ready.

My son Brye and I were so very excited to try out our new round bottom, neither of us ever having any experience with boats.  We emerged the canoe at Horseshoe Lake falls to give it a try.  Well, for the next few hours we were kept busy just trying to sit on the seats and stay erect, no easy feat at all was this as we were both in the Lake more often than we were in the canoe. The boat kept flipping us out, time after time, first Brye then me, then Brye again me, over and over as our faithful Sasha sat watching on the shore.  

It occurred to us at one point that perhaps this was a trick canoe.  I shared the story with George who laughed heartily as he explained once again that a round bottom is a master of the water and that under the right hands the boat can turn on a dime and is truly the safest canoe on the water. 

The main point here is to sit on the bottom of the canoe and not the seats, just like the Indians and steer from the rear,  paddling in sync.  Brye and I tried again following George’s suggestions until we mastered turning on that dime.  We could not help but laugh at the idea that we thought we could enter Horseshoe Falls on our first try never mind survive!  Faithful Sasha would always remember that first day with the canoe and remained smart enough to never get in the round bottom with either Brye or I.

What did we learn from the round bottom canoe?

How wonderful it is to enjoy a day in nature splashing about on top of healing water to discover where the balance of gravity truly resides.

Burgundy mood is a memory enjoyed in the canoe as we sat lazily dreaming and floating near the shore on a quiet small lake one sunny fall day as we lost ourselves in the healing of nature.

My oh my, what a life when lost in the moment of now where true joy resides!

  

~ Reeds  ~

Oil on canvas 18 x 36, 1994

Private Collection, Brye and Leah Briggs

Oshawa Ontario

Wilfred Lindsey my beautiful brother-in-law began a personal journey which only he alone could travel. With great respect for his courage, The Path less Trodden was in celebration of that accomplishment.

The family knew him as The Duke, an absolute dead ringer was he for Mr. John Wayne the most famous American Cowboy in looks but most definitely Wilf was strong like a bull,  yet had the most gentle loving character.

“Well, what da’ ya know Pilgrim?”

Wilf  ~ The Duke

"~ Bad habits are hard to break ~"

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both,

And

Be one traveler, long I stood, 

And

 looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth,

Then,

 took the other as just as fair,

And 

Having perhaps the better claim,
 because it was grassy and wanted wear,

Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And

Both that morning equally lay in leaves
No step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day,

Yet, knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh,

Somewhere ages and ages hence.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I?

Well…

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

 Queen Ann's Lace

 ~ Queen Ann's Lace ~

Oil on canvas 30 x 72, 1994.

 Private Collection, Shandy Briggs

Ontario Canada

Shattered Dreams

    

~ Shattered Dreams ~

Self Portrait ~ Oil on canvas 36 x 42 1997

Donation to the Minden Health Association of Canada

 

Donna Sutherland

Donna Sutherland was the case manager at the Minden Mental Health Clinic whom I met when  Donna came to Melbryan House to have some personal framing done.  We became very good friends as we laughed and cried during many wonderful times sharing our stories of life over tea and hot scones while chatting away at the kitchen island.

Through the sharing of those special moments, we discovered that without our tears and laughter, complete healing of the heart and soul will not manifest. 

Some days it was all we could do just to hold each other and pray for our brighter morrows.  I was putting the finishing touches to the work Shattered Dreams a self portrait, when Donna came for her last visit.  When she entered the studio the image on the canvas spoke passionately to the depths of her soul.  She expressed that day she would love to have this painting.

The following is a letter from Melbryan House to a good and beautiful soul, Donna Sutherland, who worked with great dedication to help others find their way back to wellness and joy.  The portrait still hangs in the Minden Mental Health Centre which is a directive of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA).

Melbryan House letter presenting Shattered Dreams to Donna Sutherland, Minden Mental Health Association, 1997,

Shortly after installing the work in her office to share with her clients, earth lost our beautiful Donna to cancer.

I know in my heart she is well and happy, still laughing, still crying, still caring about others.

I also know that someday we will laugh and cry together again.

Fragmented Souls

~ Almost There  ~

Oil on canvas, 20 x 24 oil on canvas, 2004.

This work is a painting of the sculpture called Almost There

See Sculpture page of Timeless Expression blog posts

New Age Spirituality dictionary on Enlightenment

“A higher state of consciousness in which the person seems to transcend his or her ego, and becomes aware of his/her divinity, and that he/she is one with God.”

The nature of our mind is to accumulate and store countless bits and pieces of jumbled information.

The following three  passages are from books that I read during time traveling on the Go Train while attending the Ontario College of Art.  At the time, I never thought to write down what books, authors or where these words had originated.  The expressions are now altered and edited over time by the inclusion of my own personal thoughts.  On many occasions, these notes helped me through some of my darkest hours.  I would like to take this opportunity to pay due tribute to the many authors that the sharing of their thoughts are not in vain.

As human beings, we are composed of both physical energy and spirit vibrations.

We are the soul that dwells in our bodies.  Our physical body as well as our mind and our intellect are the matter that makes up the self.  Our soul is the spirit, the expressive part of self that drives the accumulated matter of all the combined relevance that makes up our lives.  We are also the same reflection of each other.  We are all one.

“The individual soul is eternal.  It manifests separate from the other, and is very distinct from our body, our senses and our mind.  The soul is infinite, or omnipresent and diffused everywhere throughout space.  A man's soul is as much in New York as in Bombay, although it can only apprehend, feel, and act where the actual body is.  The soul and the mind are not objects of perception.”  This excerpt is from, ‘All About Hinduism’ by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Soul fragments are the wounds that have never healed… it is the part of our being of who we are, that always feels that something is missing from our lives, the part of us that once found, will make our lives whole.  When we experience life altering situations such as accidents, surgery, stress, rape, or a death, we often separate from ourselves in order to numb the reality of emotional or physical pain.  The symptoms of these traumas are feelings of being empty, emotional emptiness, numbness, depression, sleeplessness, faintness, and anxiety, and more important than all… fear.

Lover Iris

~ Lover Iris ~

Oil on canvas 50 x 64, 1996

Melbryan House Studio

Private Collection, Shandy-Lynn Briggs

Celebrating 30th birthday of  Shandy ~ Lynn Andrea Briggs

Lover Iris

Inspired by the beauty in the garden where all life is equal.

Celebrate that even those flowers hidden in the shadows are 

poised and present as they share the beauty of being just as 

balanced in all regards as the next bloom, the next leaf or the 

next blade of grass.

 

It matters not that the light of day has come and gone or is yet to be

What matters is

 Light will always come

WHISPERING SPIRIT

1999

~ Whispering Spirit ~

Finishing cement with oil patina, on canvas, 20 x 40, 1999

Private Collection of Shandy Briggs, Oshawa Ontario

It was Christmas Eve 1999

It was pouring rain that cold wintry night in downtown Toronto.  I had just lost my job.

My footing slipped on the icy sidewalk curb.  With my long Black wool coat and fancy shoes, I tumbled head first into a pile of muddy slush on the road.

Just before I fell, I was deep in thought about the experience I just had with my boss., How on earth was I going to tell my family I was unemployed, yet again.

Great shame and humiliation filled my being, at not being adequate enough to hold down this most basic position.  I just could not figure out the computer at all not to mention how to keep the drink and food orders straight.  Worst of all, my daughter was working at the same place as  she paid her own way through University.  Shandy was great at bar tending, and slinging bear.  She knew that darn menu like the back of her hand.  Her beautiful big smile and happy, warm disposition kept the patrons all laughing and having a good time without the worry of having to deal with bad service.  Topped with her blustery energy she brightened up the whole restaurant and pub.  Shandy had secured this new position for me.  “It will be easy Mom,” she said.  I was worried about the darn cash problem.  I have never been able to count very well at all, or measure or keep orders straight or even read a map without turning it upside down.  Me?  …  Well, I guessed at everything.  She held my hand, looked deep into my eyes, and said;

“You will be alright Mom, the machine does the counting, and the kitchen takes care of the orders”.   

Ok!, I said, as I gulped... if Shandso believed I could do this job, then I believed I could do it too.

I had lasted only a month.  The kitchen and the beer lines had never been so messed up said my boss on that day.  I knew he was every bit right.  I was completely overwhelmed not to mention completely out of my league.  On a more positive note, the boss did say that the pub had never been as clean as it was when he told me to leave.  I thought that if I was busy cleaning, perhaps I would not have to work the computer or mess up the orders in the kitchen or hook up the wrong lines to the beer.

As I left the Esplanade with my mind so preoccupied at this unfolding of events that I had just encountered on a Christmas Eve.,  I did not notice the oncoming cars splashing their way through the icy slush that sprayed all over my long black wool coat.  I stepped off the curb into the lane of traffic.  At that very moment this tiny wee spirit hovered before me to break my fall… all of a sudden there she was… as big as life right before my eyes… blocking me from stepping into the lane of coming cars.  I landed head first into the slushy pool of dirt and snow pooling at the curb, stunned.  Dragging my wet and muddy self to my feet, I looked around to see if this little being was still really there; she was not.

I thought about that little spirit through the whole of that Christmas holiday.

I retreated to the workshop for some reflective time,  and painted the little spirit, the whole time thanking her for saving my life and so grateful to her for manifesting her beingness before me in such a brave act of unconditional love.

Athol St. Studio

2003 ~ 2008 Oshawa Ontario

Study in Color Vibration

When the eye focuses on where two colors meet that definable line is called the line of demarcation.  Should the colors there be of equal value in all regards, when one focuses on that line of demarcation long enough where the two colors meet, the eye will pulsate ~ creating the illusion of movement; the entry into the mysteries of the universe where resides the creative self.

~ Fall Birch ~

Oil on canvas 40 x 40, 2004

Private Collection, Trish Gray

Oshawa Ontario

FALL BIRCH

I lay beneath three glorious birch that touch a cobalt sky

A`gaze am I up into the brilliant leaves a`turned

Only to discover no matter how I lay

The view from all directions

Perfectly the same

Unique in its own right

I cannot help but think

How just like beautiful trees are we, with not one of more fame

 Yet

Just like their brilliance, we too are all the same

What lies behind us and what lies before us

Is nothing compared to that what lies within 

Oh ~ how like the trees are we, not one of us more fame

Fall 2005

During an out of body experience it became obvious to me that the soul searches for the need to feel safe, removed from the part of our self that threatens to split and hideaway the expression of spirit that keeps us in a state of peace.  Our soul will most definitely return after a time, but there are left hidden parts that will continue to remain elusive.  Now, that being said, the out of body experience that I have come to know surely were not pre-conceived in anyway, in fact came as quite a surprise!  

Whenever we leave a part of ourselves behind to change our circumstances we create a soul fragmentation.

All of us have suffered some type of trauma.  The traumas are like imprints on our soul.  Some fragments do not mean to harm you, but actually do.  All attached fragments are psychic drains that inhibits the path of others to wholeness and growth not just our own.

In this damaged state, rage can act out in hateful and hurtful ways.  Fear can become paranoid so that we can no longer tell what is real and what it is not.  The soul becomes small, broken, and easily confused, easily swayed and used by other energy, other beings.  It cannot distinguish what is truth from what is a lie.  We overflow continually with sadness and pain one moment and then joy the next.  This is a message directly from our inner place of universal knowledge to create good, strong, and healthy sign posts to keep ourselves free from the needy desires of others.  This is the necessary survival kit of us all in order for our true self to flourish and grow as a loving and expressive heart.

When we survive for example, a divorce ( I use this example because it is real to me) we immediately leave a part of ourselves behind just like we do when we experience a death of someone we love, we can even feel these things viewing the death of a complete stranger.  This experience itself  leaves us with a soul fragmentation.  All of us share soul fragments.

When we lose someone we love, one can easily recognize the qualities that we loved and shared in the missing relationship being manifested in another being.  It is our job to be mindful of not attracting another’s longing and empty needs in order to fulfill our own desires, our own destiny.

In our healed state the soul is capable of manifesting magnificence.  We are capable beings that can sort through our emotions and feelings to decide what is real and what is not.  This is the Creators gift to us in order for us to experience true bliss in this our lifetime.

There are parts of the past that we will continue to dwell on, such as the things we wish we could have changed.  It is these very things we cannot forgive ourselves for which continue to whittle away at our heart and our soul.  We literally have left small pieces of ourselves behind, in some other place and time.  Those fragments will remain trapped in the unfulfilled memory of the past, until we alone are consciously ready to bring them forward and release them out into the universe in order to heal.

Develop your core self to gain a deep understanding of who we are when we peel away the layers of the wounded self.  We must always be mindful of our perceptions in order to insure the intention is nothing short of Love Divine.  Trust your own feelings, they are the messages to you from your soul and are always trustworthy.

It is up to us to accept that there are situations that we can or cannot change.  It is up to us to release the damaged fragments of our life experience in order to heal our broken self.  It is up to us to decide what is right or what is wrong.

Who else would you give that job to anyway?

No one knows you better than you, that is your truth.

The journey of the soul is to search for and find the Divine Light in all things, then to enter  into it to be with the Supreme Source of all love, the omniscient quiet one that knows all things about us; we are that ONE.

However small or however large that place of transcendence might be we will never know, no one knows, it is not our business to know, only to believe that we truly are a being of grace, or perhaps then you would not be reading this article, or even understanding any of this to hold as your own truth. 

That is good.

Meditate on Creativity 

To achieve a successful meditation in creativity, assure there will not be interruptions.

Cleanse and purify the energy of the working space... burn sage or any pure scented oil or incense to celebrate a static energy free environment.  My favorite has always been patchouli oil.

Decide on your medium be it a sketch, painting or sculpture.  Gather everything you will need on hand,  before enabling attention on the work for a complete surrender into the void.

Begin from the point of conscious centre within the soul then work backward in the mind thought... slowly ~ to a point of emptiness ~ to the view of energy unclaimed by you and its all encompassing presence. 

Allow a defined repeating rhythm present in the spiral pattern of life force to enter ~ ever so subtle is this that moves silently within ~ then hold attention there awhile.  The spiral symbol is a safe aid for the entry back from the void to the mind thought as you knew it.  World will never be the same again once one has experienced the empty vastness of the mystery that holds us all so dear.

Be the silent dweller within...  have the aid of soft music low enough not to hold your attention. Heavenly humming, or instrumental solo work nicely as long as the added sound is void of word that distracts the mind from the emptiness of ~*within*~

Allow color to unfold that arrives through conscious mind.  Be free to explore the path of unattachment, worry not about form ~ begin to just be there in the emptiness with your eyes open on the blank canvas, then recognize the heavenly vibrations that emanate from the rawness of the pigment chosen for the ultimate soul expression that you are.

You will know when you feel a great peace and joy that you have arrived in the seat of the omniscient, your inner chamber; the land of now.  Hold attention there on the nothingness that brings with it a grand contentment as you enjoy the dance of Light.

Explore the pure color of the Chakra centers for healing.  Notice the pigments that feel good and easy to be in ~ feel your self in the color.  Be mindful the whole time of great gratitude for the Father's gift of expressive love.  

Feel free and unencumbered before the centre eye, the inner eye as you surrender your conscious mind unto the universe ~ hold that feeling and just be there without thought.

As beings with full mind wrapped around the minutes and hours of the clock, we truly have no concept of what evolves on that fine line of where two colors meet, or even just where ink or pencil touch the white spaces between the color of ink on paper.  If you have ever doodled, it is that place you search for when you felt unattached to time that holds your soul spell bound.

What delight is waiting there for you is absolutely indescribable because it is God's endless love. 

Believe this to be true, because it is!  

Purple Sand Cherry

 

~ Purple Sand Cherry ~

Oil on canvas 24 x 36, 2003

Private Collection of Leonard and Lori Manning

Oshawa Ontario

Purple Sand Cherry is one of my favorite flowering shrubs.  The beautiful little pink flowers in the spring are nothing short of divine.

The painting is taken from the memory of coming out the shop door in the mornings to hang up the OPEN for business sign, whilst taking a moment to admire the strength and speed of which the little bush had grown overnight.  A glorious multi-shade purple bush it was with it's dewed leaves glistening high up to the face of the morning sun.

This particular purple sand cherry was a gift from my work friends at Social Services Minden for my new garden to open the new business Melbryan House, Picture Framing and Fine Art.

Life as it Happens

1996

During this summer of 1996, I began to have out of body experiences that would come on without warning or my awareness. 

On one occasion I was driving through Bancroft looking for the employment office to find a more sustainable job than artwork.  I noticed that I had just passed a Catholic Church when all of a sudden the pounding, beating heart of Christ was projected across the windshield of my car, blinding me from oncoming traffic. I had to pull over and sit awhile until the episode passed.  It was a very stressful time of my life and my thought was that my body was simply saying to just take a few moments and rest.

As I was looking out the window of the car to see where I was, I noticed a small coffee shop just opening for the day.  I decided to go in and ask where the employment office was, and then I could register and check out the current job listings in the area.  I cannot tell you what the lady behind the desk saw when she looked at me with grave concern.  She scribbled an address and name on a piece of paper and sent me to the nearest women’s safety shelter to ask for help as she held my hands in hers.  I remember thinking how strange it was for the employment office to be in the women’s’ shelter, thinking again, what a wonderful idea.

I never made it to that address.  When I began to drive the car again, the broken lines on the road that separate the ongoing traffic were bigger than me and the car.

My physical body and my psyche were shrinking, diffusing into nothingness.

Three Inuit or ancient beings out of nowhere appeared before me, suspended in mid-air right before my eyes, chanting in a language I did not know.  It was obvious to me that these beings were sending me a message of some kind.  Again, I had to pull over and rest, the lines on the road continued to grow bigger through the image of the chanting beings.

I tried to blink and shake the vision all away.  That is the last thing I remember until I awoke in a giant field of corn in the arms of a beautiful lady named Mara who was chanting along with my cosmic lady friends that I thought were only of my own mind.  Mara was able to explain everything and she was really there right there on earth with me.

Mara explained there was a universal meditation that night as it was a full moon.  I know nothing about astrology except that I am a Capricorn and have the greatest artistic experiences during the full moon of which I also find it is very difficult to sleep.  My energy and meditation are higher then, than any other moon.  So it did not surprise me the things she knew about nor did I question her explanation of how I ended up in her corn field that day. She continued to explain to me that these ancient ladies knew me from another life.  They knew that I was floundering out there in the universe psychically without knowing what was happening to me, they were surprised I had become displaced and afraid for my well-being.   

Knowing that I was a good soul with much universal work to do, they broke through Mara’s meditation and sent her a message to check her south field.  When she was given the prompt, she acted immediately not knowing why or questioning her intuition, she began her walk through the tall corn husks in her field right to my car.

She was surprised to see an automobile there in her field and could hear the chanting in her head become louder, she continued to the car chanting along with the ancient beings.  She found me lying across my front seat unconscious.  I was not hurt, nor did I even have so much as a tiny bang on my head.  She sensed a lost lamb and began to hold and rock me in her arms as she continued the chanting, lest I wake up afraid.

When I did awake, I was not surprised at all to see her there.  I remember thinking; I had known her all my life and wondered where she had been.

Mara had purchased these 25 acres of land in the early seventies.  She had built this most amazing pentagram shaped house in which she lived without running water, or hydro.  There were big rain barrels on each point of the house pentagram to catch the rainwater for washing.  Mara brought me into her home and took care of me until she felt I was well enough to travel.  As I remember, that was four days.

During that time, I watched and listened to a mother robin teach her young how to swallow and dig for worms until the babies flew away.  I saw flowers bud and then burst into amazing vibrant color as they breathed in the glorious sunlight.  There were stars in the night sky that were so big and close; I could hold them in the palm of my hand.  I heard the voices of little fairies in the woodland singing sweetly to the hummingbirds.  I saw the fairies riding on the backs of dragonflies as they gently glided through the glorious flowers.  There was the heavenly smell of jasmine and sandalwood mixed with the scent of the beautiful blooms.  My senses were alive and heightened just like when I was a little girl sitting at my Goggy’s window, safe and loved.  Thought did not go beyond that very measure of timelessness.

A great calm and peace entered my heart and soul unlike anything I had ever felt before.  My senses were full and my mind very much stilled.

When I left Mara, she put a big piece of rose quartz in my hands as she explained; this would help to keep one grounded.  Surprisingly Bancroft is known for its array of healing minerals.

Through the years of 1996 to 1999, I worked on various home renovation projects and restorations throughout the Halliburton and Minden Highlands.  I had just finished the Wallace Estate and was taking some time out to do some necessary small jobs in my own home.  Upon looking back now at the chain of events that occurred, it is obvious to me that there were impending health issues most likely brought on by the stress of bills and of course not having enough money to pay them.  Most of life was structured around barter for services rendered.  I never was much good at working with money or establishing my worth per dollar.

Everything seems much simpler if you have what someone else needs or vice versa, simply trade to meet each others needs. For this I was surely grateful to the many people who supported the barter system fairly, in particular, I am most grateful to John and Linda Beachli who truly understood the narrowness of my mind and supported with Great Grace our barter arrangement, which managed to replace the old staircase in the Voicey House as well as a new sub-floor in the old kitchen and dining room.

The rest of that year of 1996 and most of 1997 was spent working on the Beachli Estate Mansion on the master suite and bathroom. I was painting an underwater seascape on the bathroom walls when I became very aware of an enormous surge of electrical energy soaring throughout my body and mind as well as an invincible sense of euphoric self as my being fly from one wall to another using tub, toilet and counter without a ladder and in bare feet in order to capture the inner vision.   Once again, something was happening ~*within*~that was not unlike my experience in the Bancroft hills. Surprisingly enough it was easy not to fear what was happening, on the contrary I surrendered into the energy that was electric and charged.  The work on the walls when done was a delightful surprise and was completed on time in the grandest of taste.

During those times in Minden wise young Shandy, who has always been very close to me psychically sensed I was in some sort of trouble, very tired and unwell.  In her great wisdom she arranged a mid-week camping trip for the two of us and our beautiful loyal Sasha, Heinz 57.  We set out for Algonquin Park only an hour away from our home.  It was a most welcome relief to just be there in nature without the demands of the fast pace world that loomed ominously in every tomorrow.

Shandy’s camping feet Algonquin Park , artist sketch book, 1997.

Sleeping foot, Algonquin Park, artist sketch book, 1997.Add caption

One afternoon Shandso slid back into the tent to cap a nice little afternoon nap.  I was sitting at the picnic table lost to the sound of nature whisper in the turning leaf of the crisp birch trees and soft scented pines accompanying the beautiful song of a loon from a distant shore.

I marveled at how lovely and long Shandy’s legs were with her funny wee feet sticking a good foot outside of the tent, I doodled with pencil to paper.  She stands at 5’9.  When she started to sprout up in her early teens, she was dubbed by her Nana as legs eleven.  As I was sitting quietly enjoying the peaceful sounds from the wood I could not resist the urge to capture those lovely feet.  When I look at the sketch, immediately I am transported to that wonderful weekend in the trees with the three of us together roaming the forest and shores until it came time to watch the glorious red sunsets.  We would sit by the campfire enjoying the quiet of each others company until it was time to crawl into our sleeping bags with Sasha snuggling perfectly between us to keep us warm.

That spring of 1997 I survived an aneurysm behind the eyes termed by the doctors as a bleed.  The following autumn I was taken to Lindsay hospital where it was determined that I had uterine cancer and was bleeding internally, the result was a complete hysterectomy.  It was my choice not to take Hormone Replacement Therapy which is now known to activate probable cancer cells.

That decision changed my entire life.

Two weeks after the surgery, my mother surprised me with a ticket for a Caribbean Cruise that would have us set sail along with my cousin Kathy Shaughnessy right after that New Year’s Eve.

Mam and I left in my little Volkswagen Fox for Florida on Dec. 16. to stay with cousin Kathy until the departure of the cruise. That was truly one of the best road trips ever with Mam sitting right alongside in her first mates seat reading the map and plotting our journey.  My mother also has dyslexia although she had never been diagnosed.  Lost we were many times, creating wonderful adventures as we discovered how to find our way again with many good laughs along the way and without a care in the world.  Beautiful memories are they of our little road trip to Kathy’s.  

 Regal Cruise boarding Pass January, Miami Florida, 1997

Silver Springs Cemetery

1997

Once at Silver Springs, along with my cousin Kathy (a survivor of breast cancer) we would walk around the park grounds every morning and night rebuilding lost strength as we talked, sharing our life stories.  The oldest black cemetery in Silver Springs was right next to the park.  Well, now I am a sucker for an old cemetery, I could not resist a walkabout on my own through this magical resting place of devotion and once celebrated life and love. 

I happened upon a field of Calla Lilies growing wild under the weeping Spanish moss that hung so lazily from the cypress trees.  There was an old brick wall that sat as a backdrop to this beautiful wild display of the white peace lily.

Sitting there lost in the scent of the earth and in wonderment of the old grave site with all its natural gold and red patina iron work amidst the glorious blooms, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a moving shadow bristle along the tops of the lilies.  I looked back to the brick wall and there before my eyes stood a spirit being gazing out in great thought into the same direction. 

Surprised I was that he did not notice me, he brushed the top of the lilies once in a while with his hand and then just as effortlessly as he arrived, he disappeared.

Well, needless to say, I was compelled to produce something right there in this wondrous place in great honor and respect for the lives buried in testament on the weathered headstones.

Within the next few days, I set up a little camp and began to paint and sculpt the energy that was coming from the ground below.

The following are some of the impressions that were captured during meditative and peaceful healing time in Silver Springs Black Cemetery in 1997.

~ Spirit of the Calla Lilies ~

Oil on canvas, 12 x 16, painted on location, Silver Springs Cemetery 1997.

Private Collection of Leonard and Lori Manning

Oshawa Ontario

~ Water Spirit  ~

Oil on canvas, 12 x 14, painted on location, Silver Springs, 1997.

Private Collection, Kathryn Shaughnessy

Silver Springs Florida

~ Angel ~

Paper mache’, jute, oak leaves and Spanish moss, Silver Springs Cemetery Florida, on location 1997.

Private Collection of Silver Springs, Black Cemetery

Florida

~ Baby Bird & Egg ~

 Offering study #1

 Paper Mache’ and Spanish moss

 Baby Bird & Egg Offering
 

Father Time with baby bird offering
 study #2

 Paper Mache’ and Spanish moss
 Silver Springs Cemetery on location 1997

 

Shandy~Lynn Andrea Briggs (daughter), taking a moment to enjoy her garden, 2007

Athol St. Studio

2003 ~ 2008 Oshawa, Ontario

~ Red Window ~

Oil on canvas,  36 x 48, 2004

Private Collection of  Timm David Estate

Newcastle Ontario

MEDITATION

2000

I am a loving soul

I am a point of light, a place of spiritual energy

I am not this physical body

I am peaceful calm energy

Light I am
So light that I can float as a star
Separate from this body soaring beyond this physical world

I enter a region of sublime golden, red light

This is my original home, my supreme soul and where God resides in my body

In this silent place

God as my Father and as my Mother send powerful vibration
through Holy Spirit

So that I might express and share this pure vibration of love and peace with others

I absorb these vibrations with great humility

Aware of nothing but pure, peaceful healing energy

I am all that I am

I am love

Lupin’ and Red Cardinal #1

Oil on canvas, 24 x 40 canvas, 2003.

Private Collection of Elaine Forbes McCallum LLB.

Oshawa Ontario

In barter for studio rent

Lupin’ and Red Cardinal #2

Oil on canvas, 24 x 40 canvas, 2003.

Private Collection of Elaine Forbes McCallum LLB.

Oshawa Ontario

In barter for studio rent

~ Fantasy Flower ~

Oil on canvas , 30 x 34, 2001.

Private Collection of Gail McCrae L.L. LLB

Ontario Canada

In barter for lawyers’ fees

~ Tiger Lily ~

Oil on canvas 30 x 40 2001

Private Collection of Shandy-Lynn Andrea Briggs

Oshawa Ontario

Lupin’ and Red Cardinal

Oil on canvas 24 x 40, 2003 

Private Collection of Elaine Forbes McCallum LB.

Oshawa Ontario

 

~ Hollyhock ~

Oil on canvas 30 x 40, 2001

Private Collection of Miss Ayden~Sloan Briggs 

Celebration of Miss Ayden Sloan's birth date

~ Flowering Almond ~

Oil on canvas 40 x 40, 2004

 Private Collection of Elaine M. Forbes LL.B

Oshawa, Ontario

In barter with great gratitude for studio rent.

If it is not from the heart

It is meaningless

~ Sunrise & Grapes ~

Oil on canvas 36 x 48  2004

Private Collection of Laura Saunders

Ontario Canada

THE GIFT OF SELF

Be a seeker of truth wherever, whenever such chance may find you

Be mindful to keep communication open

In the face of all adversity

Stay true to the loving nature of yourself

Allow your own Magnificent Divine power to dominate your action

Define your destiny

Know all the aspects of your loving self 

Then

Love you

Know you now ~ and love me

I know you ~ I love you

The greatest gift of all is the self to the self

The hardest of all of the quests that we will undertake in this lifetime

The only one that makes this whole life worthwhile

~ Devil's Paint Brush ~ St. John's Wart

Oil on canvas 30 x 34, 2003

Private Collection of Anna Visconte

Oshawa Ontario 

Pen and Ink Study for color vibrations on art board 1993

~ Alizarin Spider ~  

Oil on canvas 36 x 48,  study in color vibrations 2004

In Celebration of  Madelaine Kassinger 21st Birthday

She is still waiting for you Mad...

Where two colors meet of equal value, the eye will pulsate creating an illusion of movement.

~ Dawn of A New Day ~

Oil on canvas, 30 x 60, 2004 
Private Collection of Dr. Pettyan 
Adelaide Family Health Clinic

In barter for Chiropractic Service 

~ A New Dawn ~

Oil on canvas  30 x 60 2004

Exploring Computer Graphics with the original photo of artwork Dawn of A New Day 2010.

~ Maidenhair Fern ~

Oil on canvas 30 x 36, oil on canvas, 2005
A study in color vibrations taken from pen and ink study 

Private Collection of Sully Grey
Oshawa Ontario

Maiden Hair Fern

Oil on canvas, 30 x 36, 2005

A study in color vibrations taken from original pen and ink study with added computer graphics

~ Gypsy Thistle ~

Oil on canvas 36 x 24, 2004

Private Collection of Gail McCrae B.A. LLB.  

In barter for Lawyers Fees

Ontario Canada

~ Forget Me Not ~

Oil on canvas 26 x 24, 2004

Private Collection of Gail McCrae B.B. LLB. 

Ontario Canada

In barter for Lawyers Fees

~ Ritchie Falls Swamp ~

Oil on canvas, 40 x 40, 2003

Private Collection of Gail McCrae LL.B.

Ontario Canada

In Barter for Lawyer fees

Be Not In Doubt

Be not in doubt the power of love

Do not pulse fear… only love

Participate, or do not complain

Look not at the unknown, Look not into the past

Be here

If you choose to look forward, project only light and love

When you wake up, do not judge yourself

St. Germaine

~  Purple Wood ~

Oil on canvas 36 x 48 , 2008

Private Collection of Elaine Forbes McCallum LL.B.

Ontario Canada

In barter for studio rent

Lush Eden

~ Tomatoes On The Vine ~

Oil on canvas, 25 x 36, 1996

Private Collection, Pauline Lindsey

Peterborough Ontario

I had my own wee garden, where grew the most lush and sweetest tomatoes on the vine.

Amazing it was to witness the sun shine its Divine rays of Love into the misty quiet hours of early summer morn where time seems to stand still for just a little while.

Voluptuous tomatoes with their delicious fresh scent filled the air.  Leftover dew drops from the cool of the evening before, sparkled with violet light and crystal garnet shimmer upon their lovely round face.

Green ones and ripe, I would inspect them all for their perfectness, then place them in a wooden basket.  A deep breath into the soul,  fills the senses with fresh moist air embracing all the sounds and smells of the wondrous morning light.

Filled I was with great gratitude for special moments shared in my garden with glorious Mother Nature.

The tomatoes once washed, would be placed whole and still on the vine in the little deep freeze to ensure that there would always be fresh tomatoes in my little larder, long after the season passed.

The series Lush Eden celebrates with honor and gratitude our loving universe for providing the healing rays of sun that make nature’s gifts grow so abundantly.

~ Tomatoes On The Vine ~
  Study #2

Original oil on canvas 20 x 30, 2004
Private Collection of Karen Paton
Oshawa Ontario

~ Green Beans ~

 Oil on canvas 20 x 30, 2004

Private Collection of Pauline Westwood
Oshawa Ontario

~ Cauliflower ~

 Oil on canvas 20 x 30, 2004
Private Collection of Leah Briggs
Oshawa Ontario

~ Beetroot ~

Oil on canvas 36 x 48, 2004

~ Natures' Gifts ~

Watercolor 12 x 16, 1990

Private Collection of Patricia Maguire

Oshawa Ontario

~ Pomegranate ~

 Watercolor 10 x 12, 1988

Private Collection of Shandy Briggs

Oshawa, Ontario

~ Red Maple  ~

Oil on canvas 24 x 36, 2005

Private Collection of Gail McCrae L.L.B.

Oshawa Ontario

In barter for Lawyer fees

Heat Wave

~ Heat Wave ~

Oil on canvas 36 x 48, 2004

Private Collection of Shandy Briggs
 Oshawa Ontario

There was a heat wave happening.

There was no insulation in the attic above the  lawyers office, only a black shingled roof.   Not a breath of air was in the studio. The heat made the paint as soft as melted butter in spite of the open windows and fan. 

The paint had to be thrown on by the palette knife, by using the brushes the pigments would fuse together turning the beautiful colors into a wet slithery mud.  Shandy came for a visit to the studio that day and called this piece Heat wave.

 

Shandy-Lynn, Andrea Briggs, Christmas 2007

Shandy and her beautiful little Santosha 2007
Santosha ~ Peaceful Being

Nana and Toshi, 2008

New chakra colored OM wall painting for Shandy,  after editing to remove all color 2008.

Through an exercise of playing with digital colors on Shandy’s OM wall, I removed all the pigment from the photo of her wall to discover an orb almost directly under the light patch reflection; fascinating to say the least.

Goodness in another inspires us all, on both this side of the spiritual veil and beyond.

 Father Time

~Father Time ~

The Wedding Gift
 Oil on canvas 40 x 60 2008
Private Collection of Brye and Leah Briggs
 Oshawa Ontario

Through the years of living life as fully as one can,  it has become obvious to me that the one commodity most people find elusive is indeed, time.  Everything we think, say and do is measured by the little hands of a clock that measures the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and years of our existence.

When Brye and Leah decided to wed, what was uppermost in the mind's eye was to manifest a blessing of sorts that would remind the young family that it is our choice, to make more of our life by creating more free time to explore the gifts of the heart and soul.

  Father Time represents the magical powers we all have inside of the conscious self; the master of our own time. 

Imelda Maguire, Athol St. Studio, begins the work on Dead Man's Bay, Swamp Grass,
Oshawa Ontario, 2005

~ Dead Man’s Bay ~ Swamp Grass

Oil on canvas 30 x 40 Algonquin Park 2005

Private Collection of Seamus Andrew Briggs

Oshawa Ontario.

On July 01 2009, beautiful Leah and young Brye brought forth a new member to our family, my grandson Seamus Fisher David Briggs.

 Nana singing an old Irish melody Tour a Lour a to wee baby Seamus, one day old

Baby Seamus Briggs 2009

 There is so very much joy in life to celebrate.

Swamp Grass was given to Leah for her Birthday in 2006 with great love for sharing beautiful photos of their holiday in Algonquin Park.

The wee frog in the mid-centre of Swamp Grass, perched on a bit of driftwood, manifesting its way onto the canvas first, then the grass grew around him.  He did not seem to mind me there at all, in fact he was good company through the duration of the work on Swamp Grass.

It is said that the gift of a frog brings the receiver and the sender very good luck, well it sure did! 

~ Master Seamus Fisher David Briggs 2010 ~ 

A close up of Seamus's wee frog from Dead Man's Bay 

~ Dead Man’s Bay ~ Water Lilies

 Algonquin Park 30 x 60, oil on canvas, 2005

Private Collection of Brye and Leah Briggs

Ontario Canada

The water swayed gently as I worked the pigment, just as if I were right there in the canoe, of course, in this case, I was not; a most surreal moment indeed.  Dead Man’s Bay was the inspiration for the Timeless Expression by Maguire historical website.

 Dead Man’s Bay was Brye and Leah's housewarming gift for their new home.

Leah and Brye Briggs at Fitzpatrick’s Pub March 17, 2007 Celebrating Patricia Maguires 83^rd Birthday

 Baby Seamus and Papa, 2010

 Baby Seamus, brother Kaelham and sister Ayden,2010

Baby Seamus and Aunt Shandy, 2009

Baby Seamus, Papa, and Miss Ayden, 2009

Beautiful Miss Ayden Sloan Briggs 2009

The Longing of the Heart

Our Life is of a pilgrim progress

Everything on earth is in continual change

Does the road go up hill all the way forever through eternity

Well ~ Yes

Time has come to see that past has slipped away

Melted, deep into dark dense shadow of hollow yesterday
Fused together with nothingness

Forever

Good this be so

Things of life are not always how they seem

Love always faithfully with your whole heart

To thou light shall reveal all ~ in due time

Believe now

True love is all heartfelt practice over time

Tender is the heart that aches

Ti`s desperate the soul that seeks outside for peace

T`will never find there that what will fulfill   

Presence ~*Within*~ will only rest the longing of heart

Where forever is the sweetest element of you
A Grand Grace

~*LOVE ALWAYS*~

Nana & Goggy 

Patricia Maguire (Nana Banana), celebrates 83rd. Birthday with her family, 
Fitzpatrick's Pub, Whitby Ontario, 2007

~ North Wood ~

Oil on canvas 40 x 40

 Memories of Peter and North Wood ~ Walden Estate, Bat Lake Rd. Minden 2002

Private Collection of Gabriella Kassinger

Maple Lake Ontario

~ Black Willow Swamp ~

 Bat Lake Wetlands
Oil on canvas 40 x 60 2003

 Private Collection of Gail McCrae LLB

 In barter for Lawyers Fees

~ Regan’s Wood ~

Oil on canvas 24 x 30 oil on canvas, 2008.

A work in Progress

Listen Closely To Their Whisper

Tender is the one who wipes away a tear

Shimmer does purple hue, still aglow in the silent of night

Humble are we all in God Presence Divine

Echoes there of somewhere in a distant realm

Hold sacred oblivion beyond the golden peak
Resting between dark shadow of a cloud

Softly touched are we by Creator mind

Whilst for all time the heart had lost itself to a world of illusion

Sweet breathless word fill the dark of night

Listen closely to their whisper

A Quiet Moment

Oil on canvas, 40 x 60  2009

Collector wishes to remain anonymous

Celebrating the Life and Love of Dave Wacaster a good friend to so many

The Dream that Sleeps

Conscious thought is a journey

Into yet another state of dream

Where the world is yours and yours is the world

Let it rest there where all are equal

Then 

Set free your love rising the very essence of your soul 

Through the crown of your own heart

Hold sweetly your embrace on the crust of earth

Like no other lover hath ever done before

Live your life to dream dream of dreams

Then dream, again to love another

Give it all away again and again sincerely without bother

Let the senses fill with vibrant color to carry the sweet breath of Heaven scent

All the while mindful of pale silver in a dewdrop radiant of light

See multicolor crystal glisten the grey mist of early Morn

You
 
The witness to sleeping dream 

Hold mind there another little awhile

Upon shimmer of dew-light, the dance a`top unfolding baby bud

True self-love d`oth arrive to the dreamer yet to be

Witness to the one inside that forever sleeps

Toronto Pictures

~ Sorrow ~

Oil on canvas 12 x 14, 1988

Private Collection of Pauline Lindsey

Peterborough Ontario

Somewhere in Africa, a young mother of two little children lean against a card-boarded old frame of a humble structure known to them as their home. Hungry quiet babies, stand one on each side of her frayed skirt.  The landscape about her is nothing short of depleted dust; not a thing could survive there for very long not even hope.

The mothers dry parched feet are planted right upon the line of demarcation where the bright light of the scorching sun defines the stoop of earth shadowed by the roof line of the old hut; the line of where two energies light and dark so stark, one can not look away.

More stunning than the bleached light on the dark portal of the step, was the unforgettable look on the mothers face; fully aware that life is just a moment in time ~ until the next moment in time, all expectation from life void from her beautiful face and sustenance.

Sorrow is the portrait is that lady.   The haunting photo was posted in a National Geographic Subscription Magazine from 1988.  Sorry to say the magazine is long gone.

The image of Sorrow and her two babies would not leave my mind, nor would the image of light and dark so prevalent beside her feet, on the stoop of earth.

All I could think of is;

~ Black vs.White ~

~ Light touches Dark ~

It is there that there must be ~ Balance ~ Equilibrium

~ Hope then must be Infinity ~

Remaining mindful to share the story as a contribution to manifesting World Peace on our beautiful blue planet earth; continually reminding self that all beings are equal.

Our birthright as humanity is to care for one another in the most unconditional loving way.  The eyes of Sorrow will always be the light that shines balance back onto earth for all hungry children. 

In 2009 while challenging the self to learn how to use a computer, I came across the Toronto Picture green logo on a website; 

 Toronto Pictures logo

My apologies as to the size of the logo, seems I have yet to master copy and paste

I was reminded of a color study in vibrations that I did some years ago.  Following the promptings of the soul I clicked on the link; color and form speak volumes of transforming information.

~ Cobalt Blue & Cadmium Yellow Light ~

 Exploration of color vibration #5 in oil 2004. 

That is how I met Daria Trifu and Bruno Pischiutta from Toronto Pictures who had just finished producing Punctured Hope a story on Trokosi.  Daria and Bruno honored Sorrow by using the portrait on one of their publications of Punctured Hope previews. Thrilled I was to see that the story of the young African mother with the two hungry babies would continue to be told.

Imelda Maguire with Bruno Pischiutta @ Toronto Pictures 2009

My apologies dear Daria, Bruno and Ellio, I have lost all the photos of our magical day with Toronto Pictures along with the computer from a virus in an email.

One thing however did come from such an event... a new computer!

~ Big Smile

Please feel free to edit or add to this special moment in time.

~*LOVE ALWAYS*~

Imelda

Three hour Nude Study
 1986

Private Collection of Toronto Pictures

PAINTINGS BY IMELDA MAGUIRE

Imelda Maguire on Toronto Pictures: Imelda Maguire

Dearest Daria and Bruno,

The highlight of my artistic career was our afternoon spent together at Toronto Pictures just chatting away about

the mysteries of life.  Such a grand time we all had filling the moments with memories of joy.

Thank you both so very much for a lovely perfect day of friendship.

~*LOVE ALWAYS*~

Imelda & Brye

ps

Can hardly wait until Punctured Hope can be viewed in it's entirety.  God Bless you both for revealing the truth of Trokosi, you truly are contributor to the creation of a better world for all. 

Punctured Hope

SYNOPSIS: "Punctured Hope" is a revolutionary feature film that exposes the evil of the African continent's antique and tribal cultural practices of Trokosi that enslaves, mutilates and sexually abuses virgin girls. The film is based on a real story. The heroin of the film was smuggled out of the shrine when impregnated by the fetish priest. The pregnancy was not aborted and the girl returned back to school. She completed her studies and now fights to liberate the other 25,000 women who are still locked up in this draconian traditional system.

ABOUT US: Toronto Pictures produces Hollywood standard (35 MM) feature films and feature documentaries based on social issues of our time.  While all our films are non-violent and mainstream, some may contain coarse language, nudity, and/or sexual situations (non-graphic).

Toronto Pictures has launched this Social Network site to share news, production updates (casting calls, screenings, etc.) and to interact with its friends, supporters, and collaborators.

We are constantly looking for new talent and interesting ideas.  If you are interested in the possibility to participate to our films as a talent or in any other capacity, feel free to contact us directly at corporate@filmail.com.