'Prayers for the World' is another of my original hand-painted festival banners, done in 2016. It all began with a rough sketch, for a 3m diameter chalk pavement piece commissioned for 'Cairns Eco-fiesta' (2015). I was then asked to make it into a permanent banner for display at future events. Measuring approx. 285 cm wide x 265 cm deep, it is painted on a King-size bed sheet with many layers of acrylics. 120 hrs work at a rough estimate!
The symbolism of this piece speaks of our stylised Earth within the cosmos. The sacred geometric 'flower of life' bursts from its centre, the planetary placenta.
Here the 'Golden Mean Spiral' begins,
Shells it lies within,
And the way ferns curl,
Dot, dot, dot...
In continuum life unfurls
Becomes young leaves,
With hands in prayer,
For the fulfilment of dreams we seed
And the need to protect and honour this place,
A sacred space
'Cause these leaves that hold our spirits,
They too wither and die in the winter of life
Yet dot, dot, dot...
Greater life carries on,
Takes new form,
Energy re-born,
Into the dark of chrysalisation,
Void of no explanation,
The flow turns,
Bursting back out in butterflies of transformation
To become big seabirds,
Flying forth with creation,
Calling for peace in all our Nations!
As they orbit in the slip-streams,
Where the suns lifeforce gleams!
Encircling this globe,
The green recycle symbol knows,
We must respect our resources,
For all future life courses.
Be aware our actions here.
New young footprints to tread gently,
My 3yo step-sons feet,
Were not dipped in my paint accidentally!
And finally this turtle she glides,
In the global ocean currents n tides,
Encircling the planet below,
Like the slip-streams above,
May we act from LOVE
She speaks of the Earth and protection of our hearth,
Hope that we as a species,
Will eventually get it right,
Find ways to live in harmony not fight
The health of all Nature will determine our plight!
For at the end of the day,
It’s the elements that will have their say,
So let’s be gracious and kind in our ways
Humbled and in awe of it all may we stay,
A little more care
And lot less greed,
Gratitude and grace,
Humility in the face of need,
These be my 'Prayers for the World',
A painting to heed,
In-DEED! "
Imogen O'Neil (2022) ©️
In the photos I am using for print, it has had a painterly photoshop filter applied over it. Like many of my large-scale festival banners, I didn't have enough digital knowledge at the time of their completion to photograph them in high resolution! Or often, it was such a massive last minute effort to have them ready for event deadlines that I didn't immediately photograph them at all! By the time I finally found platforms to reproduce, they've had so much wear and tear I'd practically have to re-paint them. Enter photoshop filters, that although lost a lot of my brush detail, brought them back up to 300dpi for quality printing!
Available on-
Leave a comment