Arising out of the vast Western Minnesota prairie landscape and its boundless skies, the “Deathless Beauty” collection expresses the infinite Love that found me and held me in the midst of searing grief and loss.
Creating these paintings transformed my pain; I share them in solidarity with all who encounter the impotence of choice and are led into the mystery of compassion for self and others.
Julie Ann Stevens
The inspiration for this work is the sacred space of dementia — specifically, the path walked by my mom Rosemary and our family members as she lived with Lewy Body Dementia.
Through loss and limitations, my mom and her friends and family encountered the invincible nature of personhood, the ultimate source of inner strength, and the capacity to go deeper as the journey unfolded into her transition through death in February 2015.
While this content carries special intentions to companion the hearts of those touched by the devastating disease of dementia, it will access the hearts of all who may be moving from the security of what is known into the unknown — the creative space of being made new either by choice, or against our wills.
Transitions involving a loss in status due to a change in external identity such as aging, divorce, chronic illness, job loss and retirement invite us to befriend and live from our interior identities which we can experience as changeless and whole even — and perhaps, especially — in the midst of painful endings.
“Deathless Beauty” is an experience of the Mystery within us that is also before us, making all things new.
These eight paintings inspired the Into Your Heart workbook, a creative path to healing and wholeness featuring images, meditations and guided exercises.
JULIE ANN STEVENS 