Imagination as Gift and Revelation

Gifted with a wildly curious imagination from the start, a family photo captures me at two years old sitting on the floor with an open magazine. As a teen, I would spend hours meticulously drawing the characters for “Draw Me” contests in magazines, hoping to win an art scholarship. Unfortunately, I wasn’t encouraged in my creative aspirations, but knew in my heart that I must follow this thread wherever it would lead. I completed undergraduate studies in fine art that eventually led to a successful career in graphic design. Over the years, painting was a way to process life’s disappointments and at thirty, in the midst of a dark night of the soul after the deaths of my brother and mother, art saved my life. This descent into the underworld and my transformative return ushered in a new vision of life.

Though it would take another decade before I answered the call of my soul to work professionally as a visual artist and healer, the mythic imagination was planting the seeds for this journey of art in service to the healing of the earth. At the heart of our current ecological crisis is a spiritual crisis that has separated humanity from the holiness of the earth. Drawing inspiration from the mystical wisdom inherent within all our spiritual traditions and ancestral ways of knowing, the intention for my work is to reveal the sacredness of the creation and our interconnectedness in the web of life. During this evolutionary time, we are called to re-imagine and co-create a new collective narrative for living in reciprocity with the living earth if we are to ensure a livable planet for future generations. My work is a contribution and a prayer toward this transformative vision.

Amy Livingstone, MA, is an interdisciplinary visionary artist and spiritual activist who founded Sacred Art Studio in 2003, and who dedicates her life and work to the healing of the earth.