SYNOPSIS

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A new documentary about artist and teacher, Meinrad Craighead: Praying with Images tells the story of Craighead’s artistic and spiritual pilgrimage which began in her native Arkansas, where her greatest influences were the Catholic Church, the natural environment, and her grandmother who encouraged her to draw and paint.

The documentary includes nearly 100 of Craighead’s paintings, shown in beautiful detail. Viewers will see images that have flowed from her dreams and visions of the Divine Feminine over the last 50 years, experience her moving images and stories of the devastating 2003 bosque fire, and travel with her on a recent pilgrimage to visit her beloved Black Madonna of Montserrat in Spain.

“If I didn’t paint,” Craighead says, “I wouldn’t know where I am in the world.” Her truly original art spans time and distance and tradition to combine imagery from Catholicism, Native American shamanism, and ancient mythology. Add to the mix her own dreams and mystic visions and the result is a unique synthesis of energy, color, and connectedness.

At her home near the Rio Grande, Craighead leads workshops and retreats, introducing women from around the globe to history and ancient images of the Divine Feminine. She has also traveled all over the U.S. and to Europe to lecture on the topic. Through this new documentary, more people will be able to meet this extraordinary artist who paints from her own inner landscape and encourages a unique way of seeing one’s self and one’s place in the world.