About The Artist
When God paints beauty out of pain…
HELLO my dear brothers and sisters in Christ! I’m Adelaine. I live in southern Ontario, Canada. I hope your time on this website – a short stop in virtual reality – will lift your eyes higher to the wonders of ultimate reality: The God who loves us without measure.
What I love in life is simple: being Catholic. The Catholic Faith is life, passion, and deepest happiness because I’m convinced that it contains the answer to the human heart: Jesus Christ, who is truly present in the Eucharist.
Having never taken an art class in high school or university, I never thought I’d be a sacred artist! I became one unwittingly, through the mysterious designs of Divine Providence…
From childhood, I sensed that Jesus wanted me for Himself. Desiring to evangelize the culture, I studied Philosophy and Humanities and Catholic Culture at Franciscan University of Steubenville. In 2011, I became severely ill during my final year of study, halting my plans of entering religious life after graduation.
In a matter of months, I went from running a marathon to gasping for breath – exhausted – after taking a shower. Eighteen months and just as many doctors finally revealed the cause of my illness: advanced neurological Lyme disease with several coinfections. Sadly, we began treatment too late. By the end of 2014, I was completely housebound and utterly debilitated. In addition to serious pain, a movement disorder and a plethora of other symptoms, I was unable to speak or be spoken to, read or write, tolerate the slightest sounds or visual input, or do practically anything without triggering terrible seizures. It was like being almost vegetative but conscious. For a number of years, I was forced to live my life in isolation, behind closed doors, to shield my shattered nervous system from stimuli.
I could have never come through this experience on my own, but I was not truly alone in my isolation: I still had Jesus. The Eucharist was brought to me often, which I treasured as my “life support” – the sweet medicine of the soul that upheld my heart in hope.
During those agonizing years, my family and friends began to send me sacred images. No longer capable of reciting formal prayers like the Rosary, or reading and meditating on the Word of God, I turned to these pictures to help me pray. By visually representing the Christian mysteries, sacred images enabled me to lift my heart to God in love. I gained a whole new appreciation for sacred art, having experienced firsthand its capacity to serve as a conduit of grace.
In 2020, I began to show small cognitive improvements and recover a measure of physical strength. I started making rosaries in tiny increments. At first, I could only tie one or two knots before triggering a seizure…but as the weeks turned into months, my brain began to rewire itself, enabling me to do more and more. Come December, I was regaining the ability to draw, and was thrilled to receive 150 artist quality coloured pencils for my 30th birthday! For the next two years, creating sacred art became my occupation. Burning to evangelize but still unable to communicate, I rejoiced to have a means of announcing the Gospel and expressing the world inside my heart.
In 2021, the Lord began to restore my speech, beginning with just a few syllables. Moved by my artwork, people began asking me for prints. I realized that just as God had spoken to me through sacred images, He could use my humble creations to enlighten the hearts of others…and Eyes of the Heart Studio was born! Through dedicated neural retraining, I gradually regained the ability to speak, read, and write, enabling me to write reflections with my artwork and to launch my small business, Eyes of the Heart Studio.
My health remains a struggle, but I have hope for stronger days ahead as I continue to rewire my brain through the miracle of neuroplasticity. Please pray with me that Jesus completes my healing. God-willing, I hope to dedicate my energies to the New Evangelization as a consecrated virgin in the Diocese of St. Catharines one day. Having received so much through the prayers of others, I also welcome your prayer intentions.
May the Father of mercies smile upon you and Our Lady enfold you in her mantle of love and protection!
Love in Christ,
Adelaine
Why Dandelions?
As a child, Adelaine could never understand why these sunny blooms were so scorned. In her eyes, ridding a lawn of dandelions was like stripping the lights off a Christmas tree!
In traditional Christian art, the dandelion is a symbol of the Passion, for it is a bitter herb. The Passion of Christ is at the heart of the Christian mystery and inspires much of Adelaine’s artwork. Moreover, dandelions have long been the artist’s personal symbol of the New Evangelization. Here’s what she sees in them:
Dandelions are JOYFUL, always smiling towards the sun.
They are HUMBLE, lowly and despised among flowers.
These resilient blooms THRIVE IN ALL WEATHER, and defeat even the toughest of lawn sprays…
and when a dandelion dies, ITS SEEDS SPREAD wherever the wind should carry them, giving birth to new life.
Like the dandelion, today’s Christians are called to be JOYFUL, shining lights in the darkness of sin and unbelief.
We are called to be MEEK AND HUMBLE, willing to accept the world’s derision as we stand for God’s unchanging Truth.
We are called to be SPIRITUALLY TOUGH, ready to fight against a cultural environment that is hostile to the Gospel.
Most of all, we are called to SELF-SACRIFICE; for when we die for the sake of God and others, the seeds of our witness spread wherever the Spirit should carry them, giving birth to new Christians.
-Adelaine
May the Holy Spirit scatter your dandelion seeds to His glory!