A Special Painting and Its Inspiration

The inspiration to create art can come in a variety of ways. For James Ayers, the inspiration to create Prayers of the Shaman came when he learned his mother had cancer. The painting, which was an 8 year process, depicts a Lakota healer tending to a patient.

For over 10 years, James has researched Native American lifeways, including healing ceremonies. He has personally viewed both Hopi and Arapaho healing rites and has researched Lakota shaman traditions. All of these factors, including his own emotions, came into his development of Prayers of the Shaman. "One thing I noticed about healing ceremonies is the importance of family members in the process," says James. "Often, it would be the family member that takes the sick to the healer and they stay there to offer support. This struck me so profoundly, because we still do much of this in the modern day."

He began sketching ideas for the painting when he first learned the news of his mother's illness as a way to work through the flood of emotions he felt. He wanted to capture the intensity of his feelings and also touch on the concepts of healing, hope, and family ties that he learned from studying the Native American way of living. James put the sketch away for a few years until he learned that his mother's cancer had returned, when he felt compelled to take the work from sketch to finished painting.

"You know how when someone gets ill, you say 'You are in my thoughts and prayers'?" James says. "For me, this painting was the ultimate expression of that sentiment. With every brushstroke, I thought about and prayed for my mother."

James' mother has now been in remission for several years.


The Booth Museum is honored to have Prayers of the Shaman on permanent display. Being such a personal piece, it was important to James that the painting have a special display.

Said James, "The Booth Western Art Museum was the perfect choice for this painting. The Museum has a remarkable collection of fine art by prominent and emerging artists and the staff is so knowledgeable, that I felt proud having Prayers of the Shaman in the Booth's permanent collection."



(James Ayers with his painting, Prayers of the Shaman, 24" x 30", oil on canvas)

For more information about James Ayers and his Western artwork, please click here.