A deep spiritual connection and a lifelong quest for ever-increasing wisdom and humility in service to others are principles by which artist Douglas Walker of Winlock lives his life.
As an ordained bishop in an Independent Catholic Church, Walker’s spiritual journey has been rather unorthodox, taking him worldwide and putting him in touch with world leaders in many religions.
Aside from radiating fellowship and good cheer for those he meets, Walker’s paintings, mostly on oversized canvases, also seem to travel within their own light and are highly sought by collectors.
He has the ability to convey divine beauty through his art — a gift that has touched countless others while also broadening his own sense of self.
Walker still has his first oil painting, created at age 11. After an injury in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, he began studies to become an architect. Assigned to his first architectural rendering class, he realized that field wasn’t his calling as “I just wanted to make art; that’s all I ever wanted to do.”
He obtained a degree instead from the Maine College of Art, followed by graduate work at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Walker then fully entered the life of an artist. He moved to a small town in Maine and opened a gallery in front of his studio. After a few years, he sold the gallery, followed by a period of time in Key West and then a year of minimalist living in Bermuda where he painted on the beach.
After moving his studio to Cannery Row in Monterey, California, it was here that he had a life-altering mystical experience which involved the physical discovery of a Buddhist prayer wheel.
Subsequent years took him throughout the West and Southwest, including a Carmel, California, gallery launched by Walker and another with his wife, Jenni, at Santa Fe.
His paintings shifted over the years, too, and have included abstracts, landscapes and portrait work. One commissioned piece was a portrait of a Saudi Arabian princess.
“A lot of artists feel they have to pick a style and stay with it,” Walker said. “But painting should be fun and exciting, not doing the same thing over and over.”
The mystical experience prompted Walker to begin a lifelong exploration of world religions and the threads that connect humanity.
“The desire to study Catholicism initially appealed to me as that is the root of the earliest Christianity,” said Walker, who was raised in a fundamentalist Christian household. “I wanted to go to the root and look at it more closely.”
While in Santa Fe, he attended an Independent Catholic church one Sunday and appreciated the church’s inclusivity and teachings. Independent Catholicism is a small segment of Catholicism with an Eastern orientation. He began taking theology classes at a seminary connected to the church.
“At that time, I was a practicing Buddhist studying in a Catholic seminary, and I wondered if it was possible to be a Christian and a Buddhist at the same time?” Walker said. “Answering that question for myself in the affirmative, I realized the roots of all religions are based on similar beliefs, which ultimately are to love one another and to care for all life.”
While in seminary, Walker was required to have a spiritual adviser. He made the very unusual choice of asking a high Tibetan lama to be his spiritual director.
A lama is a spiritual leader within Tibetan Buddhism, an influential sect of the broader Buddhist tradition. The term lama originates from the Sanskrit word for guru, referring specifically to monks such as the Dalai Lama who have achieved significant spiritual enlightenment and who are believed by many to be an enlightened being.
Walker obtained his master’s degree of theology within two years and was invited to be ordained as an Independent Catholic priest by the local church. As pastor, he convened inter-denominational gatherings of religious leaders and congregational members.
“I wanted to explore the common ground among world religions, and I was helping people see things in a more universal context,” Walker said. “We don’t have to be divided by our beliefs.”
He became involved with the international Parliament of World Religions and traveled internationally. Receiving a doctorate of theology, his church leadership then encouraged Walker to become consecrated as a bishop a few years after he had become a priest.
“My practices in art and religion are inherently connected,” Walker said.
In his spacious, light-filled home studio, stacks of large paintings lean against the walls, some portraying landscapes where shimmering light is reflected on land or water, mirroring a prescient connection with nature. Others depict life-sized deities of various world religions.
Lifesize paintings include one of Amma, or “Mother,” a holy woman from India with whom Walker has spent much time at various locations. Amma’s millions of followers worldwide consider her to be the living embodiment of a god.
To prepare for painting deities, Walker mixes essential oils with his paints. The finished canvases are sometimes encrusted with precious stones such as rubies, sapphires or emeralds as a means of bestowing honor and adding more energy into the painting. In gallery settings, these paintings have caused viewers to pause and reflect, with many reporting a calming feeling emanating from the canvas.
Walker said his landscapes are derived from the peaceful feeling he often feels while exposed to nature. During travels, he noticed how people in every culture often flock to a site at sunset to watch the sky change colors.
“I think such experiences touch the deepest part of our humanity, beyond right or wrong, good or bad,” he said. “It’s just beauty in its deepest simplicity.”
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a painting could be a very powerful prayer,” Walker said. “And once you begin to turn your attention to inside rather than outside, you encourage a completely different landscape.”
He has painted what he refers to as psychological narratives, visual depictions of family life and life’s experiences, which carry deep meaning for him. Such depictions can be cathartic and are often part of art therapy.
“I didn’t plan any of this; it wasn’t a straight line,” Walker said of the varying paths his art and spirituality have taken. “All I know is that through art as prayer and contemplation, life has been illuminated and transformed in amazing ways.”
Now semi-retired and having moved closer to family, Walker continues to serve as the bishop for the New Mexico congregation for which Jenni serves as priest. Both participate in services via the internet.
Walker’s art can be seen at Gallery 505 in Toledo. He is also a member of ARTrails of Southwest Washington.
