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Jackie Philip6 min

In Conversation with Artist Jackie Philip

December 21, 2025

As the cycles of the year turn toward the winter solstice, the earth enters her darkest night, that ancient still point where darkness yields to dawn, and light begins to be born again.

For Scottish artist and energy visionary Jackie Philip, this season carries profound significance. Jackie creates luminous, channelled paintings that bridge the seen and unseen: colour frequencies, energetic healing and sacred artistry. Her circular works, radiant and meditative, are more than visual creations, they are portals of resonance designed to uplift consciousness and fine tune the spaces they inhabit. But beneath their serenity lies a powerful story. Years ago, Jackie was told she might never paint again due to illness. That despair, painful yet transformative, became a gateway into her deepest truth: that art, light and healing are one and the same. As the winter solstice invites us all to reflect on the interplay of light and shadow, Jackie shares her insights on healing, illumination and the living intelligence of light as both artist and teacher.

The winter solstice marks the rebirth of light after the year’s darkest day. How do you personally honour this turning point, and what does it represent symbolically on a soul level?

For me the solstice is a sacred pause – the still point between darkness and dawn. Personally, I would love to be able to be outside, grounded on this earth, and to witness the sun rise. To feel that warmth through my skin, through my pores, deep into my bones [is] a reminder of the ever-giving, nurturing light, illuminating from the inside out. Symbolically, the solstice mirrors the rhythm of the soul’s journey. We each descend into our own inner depths with times of rest, stillness and retreat. Yet even in the darkness, something luminous is gestating beneath the surface. Just like the lotus flower emerging from the depths of the muddy waters to silently bloom in the light. The solstice teaches me that darkness isn’t absence: it’s creative incubation, the fertile transition from which new light is born. It’s a reminder that life is cyclical, not linear, and that every pause holds a shimmering thread of rebirth.

Many people are going through dark nights of the soul right now – illness, loss, transformation. What wisdom would you share with someone who’s struggling to find their own light again?

Begin with the body, this sacred vessel of light and life. The light you seek is not somewhere far away, it is always within, illuminating you from the inside out. Without this body, there is no human experience. Without this body the soul cannot evolve in this lifetime. The body is not separate from source; it is the portal to spirit. Embrace it all – the comfortable and the uncomfortable – and feel deeply into its sensations. Your body is always speaking, guiding and whispering ‘come home’. It holds the source of life, creativity, nourishment, joy, freedom and compassion. Smile into your body, into your heart, into your brain. It is your connection, your constant companion, the sanctuary of your soul’s light. Feel that sensation of light awakening within you. This is the power of acknowledgement, the power of awareness, the power of intention. Where the mind goes, energy flows and attention is pure light energy. Follow that inner light. Visualise it expanding through you, illuminating every cell, until your whole being glows from within, guiding you ‘home’. When that inner light flickers again, tend to it like an ember. Speak kindly to yourself, as you would an old friend. Words carry frequencies. Move slowly. Honour your sensitivity as sacred. Eventually, that tiny spark becomes a glowing flame that will guide not only your path, but others’, too.

Your work is infused with light, both literally and energetically. How do you understand light as a living force or spiritual presence in your art and in everyday life?

Light is alive. It’s the first language I perceived, not through words, but through colour, vibration and sensation. When I paint, I experience light as a sentient intelligence that moves through me. It guides the brushstroke, the palette, the composition. Sometimes I feel that it flows through me, my eyes and my hands, my body becoming the very essence that I’m here to express. In my studio, light behaves differently as it shifts and shimmers through the energy of pigment and paint. There are moments where it feels as though the painting breathes. Each painting becomes a field of frequency, holding a specific vibration of love, peace or renewal. This is why I refer to them as ‘living light codes’. They continue to evolve and resonate with whoever encounters them, long after they’ve left my hands.

You’ve spoken about your healing journey after being told you might never paint again. How did that experience become an awakening and how did light guide your return to creativity?

In my 20s I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and told I might never paint again. It dismantled everything I had known: my career, my confidence and my identity as an award-winning artist. But where my physical capacity waned, the light came through me in other ways. I looked for the answers within and started to experience colour in meditation, not just as pigment, but as energy. I could feel frequencies, sense harmonies and channel visions that eventually became the blueprint for my later work. My healing journey became a process of patience and devotion, from overwhelm and disconnection to openness and embodied awakening: listening to my body and the quiet whispers of my soul, through surrender, trust, and service. When I finally returned to the canvas, codes and frequencies guided my artwork. Every piece I create now carries that alchemy. Each painting is an act of remembrance, for me, and for those who receive them. My personal healing became the seed for a collective mission: to serve others by transmitting light through art, one painting at a time.

You often refer to nature as your teacher. In what ways do the cycles of the sun, the seasons and the natural world mirror our own inner evolution?

Nature has always been my greatest companion and teacher. She reminds me that transformation is a daily rhythm and just like the weather, we are continually evolving. For me, being in nature is an experiential connection of presence: seeing, listening, touching, moving and knowing that we are all part of the rich tapestry of life and seasonal change. The trees don’t resist shedding their leaves, or the ocean its dance with the tides. The sun returns each day unannounced. My paintings often carry these cycles, with circular compositions echoing the sun and moon, the eternal return of sunlight and the stars. When we align our creative and emotional lives with nature’s seasons, we remember that we are not separate from the universe. We are creation, naturally regenerating in ‘the great ocean of light’.

You’ve said your mission is to ‘heal hue-manity, one painting at a time.’ What does that vision mean to you now, and how do you see light contributing to collective awakening?

The phrase ‘healing hue-manity’ arrived in meditation one morning with a deep knowing and understanding. It spoke to the truth that we are all beings of light and colour, each vibrating at our own frequency. To heal humanity is to restore harmonic resonance between these hues, within ourselves and within the collective field. Each painting I create carries an energetic code, a specific vibration that supports emotional, physical and spiritual alignment. When one of my paintings finds its new home, it doesn’t leave the others behind. It becomes part of a living network, a luminous web of light connecting hearts and homes across the planet. Together, these paintings form a global field of coherence, amplifying light wherever it’s needed most. In that sense, my art is vibrational activism. I believe the collective awakening is happening not through force, but through frequency. As each of us remembers our own inner light, that remembrance ripples outwards, illuminating the world.

If you could leave readers with one practice or reflection to reconnect with their inner light, what would it be?

Each morning, before reaching for your phone or your thoughts, pause. Visualise a seed of light in the palm of your hand. Place your hand over your heart and allow that seed to gently open, and expand with luminosity, then breathe. Feel that warmth infuse through your chest, your breath, your awareness. This simple practice re-calibrates your frequency; it's a remembering of your divine essence, your true self. The world doesn’t need more striving, pushing or perfection. It needs presence and human beings that are luminous and connected. When we choose to embody our light instead of dimming it, we become beacons for others. The act of remembering who you are is no longer an individual calling; it’s an offering to the collective field. Light begins within, but it was never meant to stay there. It longs to move through you, to touch others, to become art, beauty, healing and the catalyst for change. And that, to me, is the true magic of this Solstice, it is an eternal invitation to embody the new dawn and expand your inner light.

Photo credits: Ruth McQuiggan Photography

Jackie Philip

Based in Scotland, Jackie’s work is collected internationally and continues to expand into what she calls a global web of light. Discover her solstice collection, Painting Peace and Light at www.jackiephilip.com and connect on Instagram.

The gift of a digital download for your phone screen is available from the website to connect you with your inner light, each and every day.

In Conversation with Artist Jackie Philip

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In Conversation with Artist Jackie Philip

As the cycles of the year turn toward the winter solstice, the earth enters her darkest night, that ancient still point where darkness yields to dawn, and light begins to be born again.

The winter solstice marks the rebirth of light after the year’s darkest day. How do you personally honour this turning point, and what does it represent symbolically on a soul level?

Many people are going through dark nights of the soul right now – illness, loss, transformation. What wisdom would you share with someone who’s struggling to find their own light again?

Your work is infused with light, both literally and energetically. How do you understand light as a living force or spiritual presence in your art and in everyday life?

You’ve spoken about your healing journey after being told you might never paint again. How did that experience become an awakening and how did light guide your return to creativity?

You often refer to nature as your teacher. In what ways do the cycles of the sun, the seasons and the natural world mirror our own inner evolution?

You’ve said your mission is to ‘heal hue-manity, one painting at a time.’ What does that vision mean to you now, and how do you see light contributing to collective awakening?

If you could leave readers with one practice or reflection to reconnect with their inner light, what would it be?

Photo credits: Ruth McQuiggan Photography

Jackie Philip