Love Heals

Story Summary

Love Heals was created with the Explore The More group at Epic Energy, where children and adults contributed words, drawings, and flowing lines about how love heals. Months later, I returned to their Subliminal layer, prayed, and painted with transparent colors, guided by memory and the Holy Spirit. A blue spiral...echoing Epic Energy’s logo, emerged as a central motif amidst warm, glowing tones. Framed in reclaimed cedar, this creation reflects Christ-centered community, renewal, and the restorative power of love.

Story

The Explore The More (ETM) group meets at Epic Energy biweekly. On May 22, 2024, the group captured their thoughts on how Love Heals and what it meant to them. It was beautiful to see children and adults alike share and express their Love of the Father and Love itself. Words, drawings, and meandering lines encapsulated the contributions. In addition to the visuals, I heard the conversations that everyone was having as they were writing, drawing, and connecting dots around the canvas. After the colorful visuals, words, and phrases were contributed to the canvas that evening, we kept the contribution canvas open to ensure other ETM members not in attendance could contribute their thoughts to the canvas. After a couple of months, I picked up the canvas on Aug 28th, 2024. The painting sat for several months before I decided to paint it in the new year. After my travels to visit my family in Pittsburgh, PA, I painted it on Jan 4, 2025. To begin each painting, I read through each word or view the visuals and like to reflect on conversations I had as I think back to conversations had when people were contributing. I love reconnecting to the moments when contributions were happening, and I reflect on the love I heard and the laughter from each person that filled the room as the expression of love heals was being contributed to the canvas. I decided to start with transparent paints and selected colors from the words and phrases from underneath. As I was working with the colors, I surrendered what I was attempting to do and prayed for God’s assistance to express what needed to be expressed. Shortly after that, the colors and images I was working with, including the spiral, began to take shape. There are many words and phrases I would like to have shown though yet through the painting process, ones that are meant to be expressed and shown…do, and the others…well, they are captured subliminally and may not always show. The before and after photos give readers of the story a chance to see what is truly underneath. One of the visuals that captured my attention was the blue spiral. I invested time going over and over and over the blue spiral with paint. Little did I realize how connected it would be to the final work and even the logo of Epic Energy. While I have regularly seen the logo, I never reflected on it or anticipated that the logo would make such an appearance inside the creation. During an all-day painting session with multiple paintings, I began and finished the painting in a day and transformed what I know about the group, the members of ETM, and interpreted them into this work of Subliminal Story Art. When you are in the center, there are so many beautiful colors being expressed on the screens recharging the cells of our body, similar to charging your cell phone. As I was reflecting on colors for the room, I wall colors and the other art in the room. This painting has a lot of warm tones that truly express the love I feel each week I attend Explore the More. As I was adding some of the final touches, I had a special highlight for one of our leaders, Kelley. Each meeting, she creates beautiful lessons for reflection, which are filled with a vast array of knowledge to dig into critical scriptures and insights that guide wonderful discussions. As a result, I wanted to ensure yellow was captured and expressed as the love I feel I could “paint for the group” how much we all express our love for Kelley. I knew that Rich, Kelley’s husband, made a frame from the original cedar walls of the center, which were torn down as the center was getting ready. That frame, combined with the contributions of each ETM meeting and member, showcases how love heals. I am grateful for the group of Christ-centered members who are willing to challenge previous teachings and express openness to Explore the More. For the Explore the More group who contributed the subliminal layer… Enjoy “Love Heals.”