When President Michael D Higgins and his lovely wife Sabina called on all of us in Ireland, to put a light of any kind. "place a light in their windows in a gesture of shared solidarity, and hope in a time of darkness". This was to be on Saturday 10th April 2020 in the beginnings of this Covid-19 pandemic.
I found myself as I usually do when I need to begin a painting. It begins with a feeling and emotion. Images come and go and I start to feel a sort of swirl of words and images. and one image /word feeds into another until the swirl begins to clear and I have a point of beginning.
I began to see Ireland protected by the Ancient Mother Goddess Eriú and in her triple aspect , Mother Maid Wisewoman form.
I saw her standing on a hill/mound throwing out her arms high in the air as if trying to embrace all of us. I saw her atop Newgrange, Brú na Bóinne. I probably associated the shine a light with the wonderful Solstice light that shines into this timeless chamber year after year, beginning all the New Years, all the new seasons, a light in the darkness of Winter to signal the coming of the light. This seemed to spark the thoughts swirling may I say spiralling around I my head. the painting was beginning to speak.
That night on April 10th, the #shinealight project which we took part into show our heartfelt compassion, thankfulness and respect for the frontline cares, the essential workers, the patients, the mourners indeed all of us together in our grief and denial and our fear and our hope.
#shinealight took our breath away with all the little gestures, all the big gestures.
I went outside my home and I looked back to see my tiny candle in the window in the middle of the darkness in the middle of the countryside.
I looked out over the darkness to try to shine my torch to see if anyone could see mine and there in the distance I saw my neighbours with all their lights on , their voices carrying across to me over the Essmore river valley. Not alone
.I felt a gathering in my chest. A fluttering of something bigger than me, I suppose it was a coming together of all the good and all the hope and all the fear and all the sadness but mostly all the togetherness. We can do this.
At this time in early April, nobody was going out, unless it essential, and yet here we were all apart all together at this one timeless time.in the oneness, shining our hope, our respect, our compassion, our togetherness, and letting it spread and wrap around us all like an old fashioned blanket.
So I felt all of this, sent out my own little good thoughts to join all the other little good thoughts and there was a kind of caring, a protection coming into my mind and into my heart.

And so back to my project, my shine a light, I remembered when I saw my Triple Goddess, the maid the mother the wisewoman in my painters eye,
I also remembered the triple meanings lists I had been scribbling down in bursts over the previous months. I had kept them in notes on my phone, so I read them all then again

Mother Father Child
Universe Time Spirals
Girl Mother Wisewoman
Boy Father Wiseman
Child Nurture Wisdom
Wisdom Evolve Rebirth
And again more ideas spun in and out of this painting that had to be painted.
But...
I found that I was painting something else and every time I came away from the easel I didn't know where it was going the next day.
So I let it go where it wanted to go and the colours were just so very important, and the shining light at Sunset, like shining a light through time. that was important too.
Sunset Solstice
Endings
Beginnings

to reflect our lovely inner caring lights back to us from the past to the present and for the future.
And this light was Us, Eriú, and the Earth core , the centre, the middle of what we here in Ireland. And in the World too . And especially in Ireland
And so here is my #shinealight project.
Sunset Solstice Triple Goddess