Rose Quartz Crystal Angel

Behind the Art

unconditional love

I’ve always thought that rocks are alive. People think I’m crazy—just a hyper-imaginative woman-child.

Summers spent on the Canadian Shield in Northern Ontario, sunbathing on the rocky shores, listening to lake waters lap against stone, as a kid I felt the minerals whisper and vibrate beneath me. My sisters and I traced seams of quartz, calcite, schist so hot by midday, the soles of our bare feet burned.

Rock seams of the Canadian Shield in Northern Ontario, Canada.

We pocketed worry stones of every sort: gravel stitched through with pink and black, yellowish chalky chunks with clay-hued stripes, smooth black pebbles flecked with galaxies.

I laid my ear against vast stone slabs—the kind that radiate heat through the night, that foretell, in silent stillness, of eternal peace. Listening, I heard echoes of Creation: how our world was flung in fire and ice from the hands of the Divine Potter. How seasons swirled into eons. How molten rock glues the continents beneath the sea. How, when it cools, bedrock cups lakes and forests and fields in grateful hands. How all of Nature throbs with secret medicines and codes required by Life.

Me at Deer Lake in Haliburton Highlands, ON. 1967.

magical mineral

Rose quartz was always my sister’s favorite rock. Her room was swathed in rose-pink tones: a haven of sweetness and love. I chose a décor of orange, earthy brown, and silver instead. To me, the Barbie-pink mineral seemed cliché—until the day came in my life when I needed it.

If you have ever felt like you just don’t in anywhere, if you’ve broken up with a friend or lover, been bullied or jobless and sunk to the loneliest place on the planet, I can promise you rose quartz helps. The crystal exudes comfort, gentle care, softness. I’ve lost count of the number of times I reached for this stone: when I placed last in a singing competition; when a dear friend ghosted me after a tense interaction; when Bongo, my beloved cat, had to leave his body much too soon, due to an unfortunate encounter with rat poison.

New Age crystal vendors considered rose quartz the stone of unconditional love, compassion, and emotional healing—the embodiment of acceptance.

Gemmy, translucent rose quartz, from one of my specimens.

Rose Quartz inspired me to honor the angelic energy of crystals the way Saints are iconized on wood with gold leaf. I would replace precious metal with each mineral, the Saints with an imagined Angel.

Only problem: where to find someone to model such purity and grace?

the shoot

One day at a Metaphysical Fair in Colorado Springs, a most angelic being drifted into my booth. Her name was Tiffany Torres. When I asked her to embody the Rose Quartz Crystal Angel, she agreed, but confessed she had never done anything like it before: she worked in a technical field where her great beauty was incongruent, irrelevant.

I found a rose prom dress at consignment shop in Boulder.
Made a headdress of cloth flowers from Michael’s Arts and Crafts.
Tiffany wore her own 24 karat gold necklace.
Just like that, the costume was done.

We drove up to Palmer Park on a clear day. Tiffany perched above me on an overlook wall. The Colorado blue sky became our backdrop. The high-altitude breeze furled layers of chiffon on the dress. I shot from a slightly low angle, to make the Angel seem to descend towards the viewer.

As I captured Tiffany’s radiant gesture, joy pulsed through my heart, lifting me to a state of bliss. Rare are the moments when one aligns with The Divine.

This moment of the capture was one.

what i thought as i created

Because digital photo editing, aka Photoshop, is forgiving, I crafted two versions of the Rose Quartz Crystal Angel: one rose and pinks, the other with a turquoise heart to offset the crystal wings.

I still don’t know which one I prefer. What about you?

The motion and diaphanous feel of the Angel’s skirt fascinated me, so I blended sections of it from various shots. The coasts of hem interacted with rose crystal facets in a way that felt natural, easy, successful. The Angel started to hover.

I thought about growing up with my sisters: playing, arguing, whispering, laughing, competing. Times when our lives pulled us far apart and I questioned our love: would childhood bonds be strong enough to hold us together through Life’s turbulence? Is Love truly the most powerful force in the Universe?

Metaphysically inclined folks believe that unconditional love vibrates to a frequency of 528 Hz. For me, sound and color are synesthetic. I see these underlying vibrations as spectra. Most of this color is hidden in the final artwork, but people say they can feel these energy waves when they “enter” the painting.

I thought about how rose quartz holds the love that shaped us. Growing up with access to Nature’s quiet magic, my parents, sisters and I were immersed in frequencies of unconditional love that still resonate in our bones today. The soft pink glow of this crystal never fades, reminding us of our resilience, our ability to nurture each other, and the steady presence of the Creator’s Hand in life. No matter where life takes us, the rose quartz Crystal Angel brings quiet strength: the foundation of unbreakable love.

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