For Irish artist Roisin Fitzpatrick, inspiration and light came from an experience most people would count among their darkest of days. In 2004,  Fitzpatrick suffered from a brain hemorrhage – a sudden pain at the back of her head quickly became a near-death experience. As she lay very still in a hospital bed, fighting for her life, she turned to meditation in order to get herself through the pain and fear, rather than panicking about all of the unknowns. It was through this concentration, this focus on the present and the incredible energy she connected with, that the traumatic experience became a transformational one.

“I achieved total spiritual freedom,” Fitzpatrick recently told Irish America. “We run around in life, looking for joy and happiness, most often in places where it can never be found, as proven by the boom and bust of the Celtic Tiger. Paradoxically, it is all within us, all of the time.”

After making her miraculous recovery, Fitzpatrick, a native of Co. Wicklow who had previously put her degrees in business and international relations to work at the European Commission, United Nations and European Bank, decided to devote her life to sharing this energy with others through art. As “Artist of the Light,” her aim is to “assist people to connect with their highest potential, to live lives with a greater sense of joy, well-being, purpose and meaning.”

To communicate this energy, Fitzpatrick works with crystals, which beautifully reflect and refract light. She sews the crystals by hand onto sheets of white silk, creating intricate patterns based on nature, astronomy, pre-Celtic art forms such as Newgrange, and the Tautha de Dannan, the “people of the speckled light” from Celtic mythology.

Fitzpatrick described the response to her work as “phenomenal.” “Doors have opened for this art in ways I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams.” A glance at her list of fans and supporters speaks to her wide appeal and profound affect: actress Roma Downey of Touched by an Angel and her husband, TV producer Mark Burnett were early supporters, as was mind-body expert, doctor and writer Deepak Chopra. Fitzpatrick’s art has also gained the attention of writer Marianne Williamson, philanthropist Loretta Brennan Glucksman, hotelier John Fitzpatrick, and Irish golfer Christy O’Connor Jr., who recently purchased one of her works.

In addition, Roisin Fitzpatrick has enjoyed frequent exhibitions on both sides of the Atlantic, from the Royal Dublin Society to galleries in Chelsea and SoHo. Up next is a solo exhibition at the Consulate General of Ireland in New York, running from October 3 – November 16.