About Sterling Sinclair

Sterling and the Creation of

Auracature Art

Sterling and his Healing Auracature Art Collection

Sterling is a Canadian spontaneous visual artist with Indigenous ancestry. In 2007, as an artistically guided therapeutic method for counselling, he began innovating the Auracature style of line art.

The sacred feather quill drawn black and white India ink images gained global attention as a “Psychic” art form because collectors could see their life stories reflected in the commissioned art pieces. Sterling describes his current art form as Intuitive Graphic Impressionism. At clients’ requests, some of his hand-drawn artwork is digitally coloured and printed onto canvas.

In September 2017, he created his purely abstract collection: “Healing.” Although over 3000 original drawings have been commissioned, Sterling’s “Healing” collection on sculpted board is being publicly debuted at Amandala’s Fine Dining Restaurant in Peterborough, Ontario (September 24-28, 2019). As of September 2019, 6 of the 22 pieces have been purchased by patrons.

Having grown up playing in the woods in rural Ontario, Sterling developed an affinity for trees, wildflowers, gently flowing streams and most of all, wild grapevines. Sterling’s crisp Auracature style images are inspired by the winding grapevine silhouettes cast upon the sky. His favourite meditative practice is to crawl into a thicket, lay on his back, and look into the heavens. As the sunlight fills the negative space left open by the vines, white images appear among the blackened silhouettes. In Auracature art, the viewer first notices the universally inclusive animal and plant images set in the black lines. Then the etheric, spiritual images appear in the white “negative space.” Sterling says, “The real art is experienced in the white. The black ink becomes the “negative space,” if there is one.”

Sterling has been known for his eye for beauty commonly hidden in the bustle of life. From an early age, Sterling has viewed life as a surreal experience whereby life is found in the most unlikely situations. Even when he began selling his graphite drawings of local farms at 15 years old, he captured the essence of farm life and the personification of buildings. Sterling is an outdoors enthusiast who is an avid tree hugger, rock collector and amateur nature photographer. He records what he feels and hears more that what he sees. His optimistic, inviting, pleasant “distortions” of our everyday worlds challenge the viewers’ perceptions of creation while assuring that everything is going to be okay.

Sterling Sinclair is his “nom de plume.” He chose this fitting name, as an artist and spiritual counsellor, because it means “Pure Hope.” In 1993, Sterling was in a tragic motor vehicle accident that resulted in a traumatic closed head injury. He was a college professor and his injuries prevented him returning to teaching. He was unable to embrace his art for over 10 years. To heal, he and his family built a cottage on Moira Lake between Tweed and Madoc, Ontario. While there, he, once again in the forest, found his love to draw. He believes that it was through visual art creation that he found wellness. He was assured of this one truth: We Must Never Give Up! From that one truth, Sterling innovated the hopeful Auracature art technique and his creative counselling process.

In 2017, “Healing,” the abstract Auracature collection, was born. Sterling invites you to view and purchase pieces of this magnificent wellness-inspired collection at Amandala’s Fine Dining restaurant. “Healing” is an original, meaningful, one-of-a-kind collection that puts a new stamp of artistic expressionism upon the face of contemporary Fine Art.

What is Auracature Art?

Auracature art is a spontaneous, viscerally guided art form. The Auracature process is based upon the perception that our physical bodies know our “truth.”

During the creation of an art piece, the Auracature artist draws as emotions flow and body postures react to the situation, environment or client. It requires intensive practice and discipline in order to tangibly “feel” the connection between the Auracature artist’s body and the ink being poured out onto the canvas.

The Auracature process pre-exists the creative process. Many artists of other styles find the Auracature process to inspire creative ideas, such as breaking writer’s block.

Auracature art blends the ancient artistic styles of the Haida and Polynesian (particularly Maori) peoples. It is most commonly drawn using black marker on smooth paper, or blessed wild turkey feather quill and black India ink on sculpted plaster board. Auracature art’s characteristic line drape flows like silk ribbons upon a gentle breeze.

Auracature is inspired by the human spirit and nature. When viewing and/or creating the images one gains a comforting sense of creation. The most common recognizable shapes are of trees, grapevines, rain, geese, eagles, bears, wolves, snakes, fish, whales and elk. Auracatures are both grounding and liberating. They generate a sense of peace and belonging.

The secret to drawing Auracature art is the need for the artist to feel deeply and communicate with the artist’s body rather than allow creative and logical thoughts, spirits and other energies to guide the way. If Auracature art were considered a type of spirit art, it would be an architecturally oriented, organic spirit art on steroids.

When used as an artistically therapeutic counselling modality, the counsellor and or the client can draw. One of the stunning observations people make is that the process of drawing Auracature, whether observing or doing, is that it is deeply meditative. Counselling clients like taking home the images because they can display the picture at home and only they know what was discussed or reflected upon during its creation. Collectors of Auracature art comment on how they like that their perceptions, ideas and relationships with their pieces change and develop as they themselves do overtime.

The method of drawing Auracature art embraces the abstract by turning the canvas after every one to three lines drawn. There is no set top or bottom. At first, the lines seem random and disjointed. A sense of chaos is momentarily witnessed. Then, the lines start reaching out to each other and as they grow, so too does the potential completed image. Eventually the completed image develops but the viewer sees different things as the canvas is rotated. This fascinating characteristic is non-linear and welcomes ongoing interpretation. Several patrons employ Sterling’s services to watch him create their art piece in real time.

Auracature art beautifully flows with grace inviting us to cast away our woes and breathe in the musical breath of life. Sterling describes his experience as the following: When I stand before a finished full-sized Auarcature, I dream of the lines reaching out to me with open hands inviting me to waltz at a grand infinite ball and then I begin to sway as I hear my spirit whisper softly, “Everything will be okay.”

A bit more about Sterling and his Art.

After leaving the teaching field and his call to congregational ministry, Sterling hosted a street mission project that reintroduced the communal spirit of the quilting bee.

While witnessing the gathering quality of arts and crafts, he began drawing interpretive images that represented life stories of the people who saw them.

Having worked as a professional artist for 20+ years and having counselled for 15+ years in sacred and secular spheres Sterling set out on a quest to innovate a new artistically therapeutic counselling process. As a result of a , in October of 2007, Auracature Art was born.

However, Auracature art took a turn in an unexpected direction. By 2009, Auracature had become a collectable “psychic art.” Collectors and benefactors viewed the interpretive nature of Auracature images as being intuitively accurate to their life stories. Hence, Auracature art quickly became internationally celebrated in spiritual circles and meditation communities.

Over the next 5 years, Sterling investigated the possibilities of the new art form being used not only as a prophetic medium but as an inspirational wellness tool. In so doing, a language that reached into the soul of viewers grew out of the art form. The positive visual representation of the client’s life was recorded and cared for during sessions and by the client at home. Negative images were redrawn until a positive resolution was viewed by the client.

Sadly, in 2015, Sterling began noticing personal cognitive and physical impairments. After medical evaluation, he was found to have a brain tumor and the genetic disorder Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Even though by August of 2016 his impairments were making his life difficult, he began teaching the Auracature art techniques to spiritual adult artists.

Disappointingly, Sterling had to suddenly cease teaching the technique in January 2017 because his health was drastically failing him. By March of 2017, Sterling had lost much of his hand-eye coordination, depth perception, strength, leg mobility and cohesive thought processing. He could no longer draw or counsel. He cancelled speaking engagements and began putting his final affairs in order. What was happening? Were Auracatures involved? Could Auracatures help him heal like they seemed to do for hundreds of his clients before?

Then in May, on a cool spring morning, the rains briefly stopped and the sun streamed upon his face as he woke from a deep dream; a dream of Auracatures coming to life and lifting him up from his darkness. In the dream, he was shown that in all of the popularity that he attracted because of the Auracatures, he had turned from the original healing and wellness purpose of Auracature Art and his cherished time with his family. It was as if the Creator said “enough is enough” and shut him down until he was ready to see more clearly his life purpose as a husband, father and Auracature artist. On that day in May, he made a commitment to create positive lasting memories with his family and to grow anew with the Auracatures.

By the beginning of September 2017, Sterling had miraculously found strength to renovate his waterfront studio, redecorate his family’s apartment, and reintroduce the Auracature Sessions devoted to positive life movement forward, gift identification, and self-acceptance. What a difference 4 months made in his life.

In mid-September, Sterling accepted a speaking engagement regarding Auracature Art and began fulfilling his lifelong dream of creating a full size art collection. On plastered boards (ranging from 16”x16” to 32”x32”) he drew abstract Auracatures with his blessed wild turkey feather quill and India ink. The collection was suitably dedicated to and entitled: “Healing.”

After 10 years of Auracature Art development, it is exciting to watch and be part of the next ten years. Hopefully many more people will find peace and wellness through the inspirational work and images of Auracature Art.

Sterling would be glad to draw for you too. He offers commissions, sessions, premade Auracature Art, and the opportunity for clients to book time and simply watch him create their very own Auracature Art piece as he explains his interpretation along the way. Sterling wishes for you to receive much love and many blessings in this life. If there is one message that Sterling wants you to receive through Auracature Art or Auracature Sessions it is: “Never Give Up. You were created perfect in the Creator’s eyes.”