Our Mother Giclee print on paper

November 2024
Pan Pastel on Strathmore 400 paper
Original: Commissioned for the Toronto United Mennonite Church as a gift from pastor Michele Rizoli
Giclée Prints on archival paper: 12×20” paper ($150) or canvas wrap ($250)

Our Mother who is within us,
We celebrate your many names.
Your wisdom come; your will be done,
unfolding from the depths within us.

Each day you give us all that we need.
You remind us of our limits and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.

For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us,
now and forever, now and forever, now and forever,
now and forever.

– Miriam Therese Winter

When I read the poem I thought about the feminine experience with cycles based on the moon, and the human experience of being made of mostly water which inspired the marsh and ocean. The middle panel is full of life, hidden in the coral you can find people demonstrating, instruments, and life being sprung from seeds of all kinds such as fruit. I thought about ancestry with an upside down tree resembling roots. Thinking about our roots and the movement of people. The heron is symbolic as bringer of news. I wanted the deep ocean off the coral to resemble a galaxy which is just as unexplored and mysterious as the deep sea and also ourselves!