Informed by both personal and communal vision, an artist interprets the constantly evolving relationships that make up not just a single life, but also this vast web of life we dare and dance and dream through.

From “Transfiguration” (seen above) to “Tango” (seen below), the art of Hazel Bartram-Birchenough invites you to seek out and identify “Higher Forms of Life.” About “Transfiguration” she says “This phenomenon speaks to the witnessing of a great and unique revelation during one’s spiritual journey. We are shown beyond the cave of gloom and confusion, the prospect of a glorious light on our path.”

Currently showing at the Episcopal Diocese of Texas (EDOT) Gallery, Bartram-Birchenough’s art features both figurative and abstract works, reflecting a process she describes as “a way of reaching the source, the deepest, numinous parts of the psyche.”

The abstract form of “Close Communion” (seen above, left), and the more classical “The Great Cedars, Self-Portrait from a Dream” (seen above, right), cause us to slow down and consider our own lives cast in the light of Spirit. “Close Communion,” she says “describes a deep sharing of the golden bread and fish caught by Christ, the fisher of men. The harmony of forms expresses the potential for love and understanding that is available through grace to all of us.”

Grace and harmony wind their way around and through her work. About the sculpture “Melissa being Mary” (seen above) Bartram-Birchenough writes: “Melissa is a young actress, who projects a serene, compassionate feeling that reminds one of the presence of Mary, the mother of Christ.”

EDOT (Episcopal Diocese of Texas) Gallery at the Houston Diocesan Center will show “Higher Forms of Life” through May 14, 2010. Houston-based painter Marilyn Biles is curator of artworks at the EDOT Gallery. About art shown at the gallery, she says “Some will have a sense of tradition and mystery, some of intellectual depth, some of visual piety, and some the unknowability of God.” Read more HERE and HERE.

Seen above, all images as named by Hazel Bartram-Birchenough. On the front-page mastheads are detail from “At His Feet” (main) “referring to intimate fragments of Christ’s life, as his feet are washed and at his deposition.” The mastheads at Daily Episcopalian and Speaking to the Soul show details from “Spiritual Journey … the visual treatment of the psychological gold, representing the Self.”

* When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

** Behold, Mary,
You who increase life,
Who rebuilds the path,

* And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

** You who confused death
And wore down the serpent,

* Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

** To you Eve raised herself up
Her neck rigid with inflated arrogance.

* And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.

** You strode upon this arrogance
While bearing God’s Son of Heaven,
Through whom the spirit of God breathes.

* For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.

** O gentle and loving Mother,
I behold you.

* Let it be, let it be. yeah
There will be an answer, let it be.

** For Heaven released into the world
That which you brought forth.

* And when the night is cloudy,
There is still a light that shines on me,
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be.

** This one,
Through whom the spirit of God breathes.

* I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

** Glory to the Father, and the Son
And the Holy Spirit.

* Let it be, let it be.
There will be an answer, let it be.

** And to this one,
Through whom the spirit of God breathes.

* Let it be, let it be,
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

Seen above: All images by Christina Saj. Image titles, from first to last: Coronation, Mother of the Sign, Hodegitria, Protector, and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. These images are currently part of an exhibition: Form Seeking Expression at the University of Dayton's Marian Library.

Seen on the front-page mastheads: Annunciation by Christina Saj (main) and Grace (details) by Christina Saj (Daily Episcopalian and Speaking to the Soul).

The Words: * Indicates lyrics from "Let It Be" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. ** Indicates "Ave Maria" written by Hildegard of Bingen.

What is a leaf? A leaf is boundlessness compressed within a boundless context.

It is boundless because its very existence is an act of a Creator who knows no bounds, who can extrude an endless number of leaves in endless variety out of the nothingness.

It is boundless in design, containing a wisdom that may be studied for endless lifetimes and yet never depleted.

It is boundless in form, for there is nothing about it that can ever be measured and stored with perfect accuracy, nothing of its future that can be predicted with precision.

And it lies within a context that is boundless, the boundless destiny of all creation: that the Unknowable should be made known from its hiding place within a single leaf.

Seen above (and on front-page mastheads: "Burr Oak Leaf" by Ruth Councell. "The Boundless Leaf" by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the breath of God
on earth,
who keeps the Christ vision present
to souls yet in darkness,
gives life
even to hearts now blind.
Infuses energy
into spirits yet weary, isolated,
searching and confused.

The spirit has spoken
to the human heart
through the prophets
and gives new meaning
to the Word
throughout time.

• Seen above (and on front-page mastheads): Antiphon XX and Antiphon XXIV by Jaroslaw Gamrot.

• "The Breath of God" by Joan Chittister, www.joanchittister.org, used with permission.

Show me your ways, O Lord,
and teach me your paths.

Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love,
for they are from everlasting. Psalm 25:3-5

If the Holy One forgets compassion and love
what will hold the world together?

Seen above (and on front-page mastheads): Photographs by The Rev. Scott Fisher. Details of "5-13 Eagan Avenue 2" at Daily Episcopalian and Speaking to the Soul. Above and detail at Episcopal Café masthead: montage of "5-13 Eagan Avenue" and "Dancing-The Spirit."

Words by The Rev. Ann Fontaine in "Streams of Mercy: a meditative commentary on the Bible." Used with permission of the author.