“Year of the Rat” Medicine Necklace | Honoring Our Changing Times
Rat Skull, Turquoise, Antique Silver from Nepal
Twelve years ago today (also the Year of the Rat), I was burglarized and lost my entire office and all my clients, after two years of business. To top it all off, I also realized my abusive husband at the time plunged us into $34k in credit card debit. No minimum or modest wage job could get me out of that situation. My pride was my job and my “appeared” wealth, but in a moment, I was humbled and everything seemed lost. It would be a fight to pay off the debit, to buy the equipment, and to get my business back. And you know what, I did a year later, but I made some sacrifices that still follow my reputation today… hmmm today… I have no work, except home schooling my daughter. I don’t know how bills will be paid, or if I have enough food or toilet paper, but my pride is not in my things or my job or my persona as an artist or writer. I surrender to love. I surrender to doing the next kind act. I surrender to generosity… to listening to Mother Nature’s cry for help… to conservation and clean-up… to only focusing on this moment. The universe will provide only what I need, and all we need is less out there, and more inside, and in our time that we are limited to the outside, stay in, and go deeper. Stay in and re-evaluate if you’re decisions or thoughts are focused on love or fear. The news will shackle you in fear, but your spirit will always point you back to love – stay there. We are birthing a new human existence where this practice is essential, where Mother Nature and the collective bare more weight on decisions than self needs and greed. It’s the year of the warrior, the time to align your values & fight – with every choice, every thought, every intention.
The necklace. I was gifted this rat skull while buying frames for my art show. I didn’t know what to do with it, but then, this year arrived, The Year of the Rat. I knew I had to embody a warrior spirit to guide me beyond tough times back to a life of abundance, so I honored this year by making this necklace. It’s a reminder of resiliency. We will get thru this.
Opening Reception RoCA | Three Exhibitions, One Art Center
Three Shows, One Art Center
I was so lucky to share this space with so many talented artists, including Russ Ritell (Perspectives exhibit) and Zackary Skinner (solo show). My selected work, “The Unkept, The Unmet, The Dreams Memorized and Not Mine” (16×24, Dye Sublimation Metal Print) is in the exhibit “YOU ARE HERE” at RoCA, running March 8th-April 19th.
“A juried exhibition on cultural and autobiographical stories reflecting the issues and individual expressions of every day life.”
Check out this amazing and diverse group of art!
Rockland Center for the Arts
27 South Greenbush Road
West Nyack, New York
Healing Our Ghosts PODCAST with Meghan Spiro
So this was quite an opening experience into itself, probably my most honest interview to date about my story of domestic violence and journey into healing.
A quote from Ana Joanes who hosted the Podcast:
“Check out the new episode of #HealingOurGhosts with our very own Meghan Spiro. Meghan exhibited “Without Fear and Full of Love” a couple months back and I was blown away by the beauty and power of her work. She addresses head on spousal abuse, sexual trauma, but also the possibility of healing and her deep connection to the feminine divine. In her own words “One in four women have been a victim of severe physical violence with intimate partner in their lifetime, and I am one of them. For years, I spent my life in silence about the abuse, as it happened and in my attempts to recover. I found myself ill-equipped to handle my PTSD, my addictions, and my self-loathing. It wasn’t until I signed up to write this story and manifest these self-portraits that I actually began my deeper healing, transmuting my suffering into wisdom and my loathing into love. ” Check out Healing Our Ghosts wherever you listen to your podcast or on my site: https://
ILLUMINATING ETERNITY | My First Painting in 20 Years
Despite my career in photography and media, I began my explorations in the arts in drawing and painting, but I left that behind 20 years ago until recently. Two years ago, I captured a self portrait that focused on the illuminating aspects of the creative process, then last spring, I did a sketch of hands haloing a face. Suddenly, I had an idea for a larger concept, that combined my sentiments on intuition, creativity, and my spirit in eternity, so with my lovely hand model Lauren, I developed this image that I turned into an oil painting.
ILLUMINATING ETERNITY
30 X 30
Oil on Canvas
The maverick
Fierce and full of grace
The sensitive
The listener
The intuitive
Channeling new frontier
For the collective
Eyes only tell lies
For desires blind
Vibrational waves
sing truth to the soul
Beyond the limits of control
Rise and release
Dance from darkness to light
Illuminating eternity
Artwork Sold from Without Fear & Full of Love
Feeling so grateful that my artwork touched someone so deeply that they welcomed it into their home to witness their message every day.
Moments in the Medium: Medicine & Meditation
THE MEDICINE IS IN THE MAKING
Illustrations & Oil Painting
MEDITATIONS ON DEEPER LESSONS
The medicine is in the making, but sometimes, I need to sit with the message further to move past it. Originally a photo composit from my series Without Fear and Full of Love, “Bloodline” is about grief of the loss of pregancy, which I’ve experience more times than I want to admit. It is a bloodline, severed. A channeling of a soul cut off from this life’s karma, or one to return to life in another way. I have these connections with bees, clinging to me, often on hikes, or really, all kinds of places. They are friendly and quite stubborn to stay by my side, which makes me wonder sometimes, “Is this you, the soul I’m grieving over?” I have no answers, but I’m still not over it, which is why I decided to continue the art medicine further into this detailed illustration, which I finished on Dia de los Muertos 2019.
This is my second illustration in this style, which I’m currently painting now. I have to say, I feel most content in this medium pairing. Its flow comes naturally. I feel the intensity of the message as I focus into each shadow and curve. It brings me such joy to express myself on canvas, or in this case, on wood.
More to come on my progress in this medium.
FRIDA | Sold-Out Screening, Contracts Renewed @ Story Screen
I was thrilled to see so many unfamiliar faces at this evening’s screening of FRIDA at Story Screen. The screening was completely sold out. This is the fourth movie in my series on Love & Wisdom, about the life and artwork of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. I also renewed my contract with Story Screen to continue this series. We are still in talks of it becoming a partial membership film series. More to come on that in December. The film series will start up again January 2020. Stay Tuned!
Inside The Creative Process Of Artist Meghan Spiro | A Little Beacon BLOG
Meghan Spiro’s exhibit for October’s Second Saturday was pretty powerful.
The first I learned of it was in the grocery store checkout line, which is where most important information is traded and discussed. What stuck with me was not the subject matter, but the responses she said she got from women she told about the project, which was an autobiographical visual and poetic exploration of the physical abuse she suffered during her marriage.
Therefore, we are lifting some of her photos from the show and publishing them here for more to see. At least one of them, “A Bloody Beautiful Blooming” shown here, was featured earlier in February 2019 at the the local gallery Catalyst during their “Cycles” exhibit.
In order to help others who may harbor similar feelings Meghan experienced, this article not only displays select images of the art, but includes a deep dive into how she created the art.
OPENING NIGHT – WITHOUT FEAR AND FULL OF LOVE AT BAU
Feeling it all and all at once. So much gratitude for yesterday’s show open at BAU: Beacon Artist Union. After nearly 10 years of healing and 3 years of manifesting artwork and poetry, I opened my inner world to the public with my show Without Fear & Full of Love. I was overwhelmed by the positive response from the show. The journey of being able to sit in my truth and fully open about my life has shifted my paradigm. I only hope that this show encourages others to not feel shame for their traumas. The first step of healing is to talk about it. There is good and there is wrong, but honesty is what bares truth.
Eternally grateful for the following people that have been key to my journey: Russell (healer, curator, photo assistant, I dedicate this show to you, my luv), Caren Charles (co-creator, painter, body painter, stylist and soul sister/close friend), Lindsey Buckley (fellow artist, muse, soul sister, model), Genevieve Wood (soul sister, mirror in healing, stylist and photo assistant), Melissa Robin (soul sister, muse), Julianna (soul sister and photo assistant), Kaitlyn Cronin (headdress extraordinaire), Andrew Zanzarella (friend and model), Jaclyn Rae (model), Rob Penner (photo assistant, printing and mounting), Mark Westin (drone operating), T.j. Squires (edit videographer and friend), Michelledana Shafran (photo assistant and friend), @lauraruggirello27 (photo assistant and friend), Danielle (photo assistant and friend), Wag Magazine (for making my story a cover and centerfold), Chronogram (for featuring my show), @baugallery (for hosting my show this month), thank you ayahuasca and pachamama, thank you yoga, thank you mountains and climbing, thank you Ishwar Puri for your spiritual guidance. I learned fearlessness through Don Spiro and love through Russ Ritell. 🙏🏼