Dawn Richerson 
Across the Seas of Time 
The Magda Paintings

THESE ARE STORIES in paint that have been alive in me since I was a young child. Inspired by two visits to France in 2016, I only dared to put pen and paint to paper when life presented me with a miracle of completion more vast than any I could dare to imagine. The paintings, produced rapidly, are glimpses into an untold story, threads of a timeless tapestry of truth. We are weavers, you and I, moving in and out of time with our threads of remembrance. Whether the facts of my essential story of life are true, in the limited way we define ‘true’ in time, I cannot say. But that their clarity in me is a true reflection is certain, and I know these soul memories are meant only to lead me and you back to life and into the timelessness of the love that moves between us on the way.

We are here to experience life and life to the full. This was the teaching Magda held most dear. Her story belongs not to me or some chosen few. Her story is our story. Many of the texts that accompany the paintings in this series are written from the perspective of the greatest friend through time, whose heart held the space for her healing. The painting on the left is called North Woods and represents the ways we carry our truth through time. Across the Seas of Time includes paintings put to paper rapidly, with little thought of execution or artistic rendering. My intent was simply to allow the potency of the memory to be expressed. I created a space for my soul’s story to rise up and take whatever form it chose to take. The paintings are whispers-traces of memories of the one called Magdalen. My experiences in France changed me, primarily by thwarting all previous attempts to stem the tide of the rushing seas of remembrances that had long swirled to life within me.

The stories and paintings in this book are only a sliver served from a singular perspective to those who are passing through in this one moment in time. Yet, those soul stories are held in an infinite grace and an everlasting love. This book is an offering. It is an invitation to life and a blessing of hope. It is one opening to a path to the life that begins within each human heart. Equally, it is inspiration for the journey from here and a whole new way forward together. Allow the images to connect you to your own essential story of life. Let them be seeds for life that lead you back to the fullness of your life’s experience.

Welcome now all you know by heart and the dreams that have been carried across the seas of time. Hear your heart beat in time with hers. Be tossed upon the angry wave. Float in all the mishmashed stories. Come down from the mountain. Be awash in sunset and shadow. See their grim discovery. Feel her retreat to wildness. Bear witness to her grief. Meet the gentle guardian. Gather in the purple wood. Commune with the Mothers. Swim in her river. Take one look back. Then set sail upon the open waters, listening always for the music of the morning and the dawn of a new day. Above all else, celebrate life, love, and all the green mountains. 

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