Credit to the Artist

I found the image used on this blog during a quick Google search. It immediately drew me in and I felt that it was perfect for the message of this blog.

Since I have many artists as friends, I felt compelled to locate the creator of this image and give them credit. Here's what I found:


Robert Joseph Donaghey describes the image as an illustration of a ritual from the Huna ( Hawaiian ) tradition called the "Ha Rite" In the ritual "mana" (life force) is stored in the body and then it is sent up to the "Aumakua" (higher self) along with a prayer , and the "Aumakua" uses the energy to make the prayer come true.

He is a true spiritual seeker, experienced teacher, an ardent environmentalist, adventurer, and skilled craftsman.

He has worked with many of the world's most respected spiritual luminaries illustrating their deepest concepts. His work is renowned worldwide and has an honored place in many art collections.

With over 15 years of professional experience in state of the art computer imaging systems and a lifetime of art study and practice, Robert is a true master of fine art digital painting and spiritual illustration. His work is a fusion of spiritual artistry and leading edge science.

Artist's Statement

"I often find myself trying to express my love and reverence of wildlife and the divine design of Nature through my artwork; it’s very difficult to put these concepts into words because they are inherently ineffable and intrinsically intuitive, so I try to express them in carefully thought out symbolic images. In a painting I can capture an entire knowing or belief that would take an endless conversation to convey.

My thinking is very visual and parallel, sketching out ideas for a painting is often much like taking notes or writing a story all at once. Working out a concept often opens up unexpected new spiritual epiphanies to explore, I will often begin with a simple divine inspiration that opens up into a spiritual journey."

"I make 'hidden images' because they are fun to explore for the viewer, and I find that I can put much more meaningful concepts in using metaphoric content, it also opens up the viewers' imagination, they keep looking for more.

I often wish that someone else had done the work so that I could experience finding the hidden elements and working out the embedded meanings for the first time for myself."

"I also enjoy illustrating things that are experienced or felt but which can't be seen with the eyes, such as music or spirituality. Anything that I find deeply inspiring or challenging or teaching ends up being expressed visually and finds its way into my work, and hey, I’m an illustrator, it’s my job.

"I often strive to get a little of everything I know into an image, even in photo-realism. I will consider the emotional impact of the colors (as the colorists did), and the flow and movement of the elements (as the modernists have), and will add elements that flow into my sub-conciseness ( as the surrealists will ), and of course I love the glow and play of light (as the lumenists would)."

"I find it easy to jar someone’s emotions using images that are negative, and conveying something like a forest conservation issue would be extremely effective using images of dying animals and clear cut forests, but I’m a sensitive soul and no one wants that sort of image on their walls, so I constrain myself to the most positive and uplifting themes despite the limitations."

"I would love to find a way to inspire a true love of nature and wild life in the hearts of our young people, if I only could, the world would become a garden of Eden inhabited by happy gardeners and inspired naturalists."