The Living Water Art Project
Two Aotearoa New Zealand artists, Claire Sparrow and Rachel Doragh, have created beautiful new artworks inspired by the 2026 Season of Creation theme, Living Water, based on Ezekiel 47:1–12. Through their different interpretations, the artworks explore the theme through an Aotearoa lens, reflecting our connection with water, whenua and the wider creation.
One design from each artist has been selected for A Rocha Aotearoa T-shirts, available to purchase from the A Rocha store.
Living Water
© 2026 by Claire Sparrow
I wanted to capture the flourishing hope and life that we see in Ezekial chapter 47. The three central birds, as well as being Ōi, are symbolic of the Holy Trinity, the three in one acting harmoniously towards a greater good and a new creation. I wanted the leaves and the trees on both sides of the water to be intertwined, echoing the concept of braided rivers, the collective collaboration of multiple different peoples who all draw on the same divine source to restore hope in their lives and neighbourhoods - wherever they might be growing on the river. Present also are fish who leap joyfully and playfully through the waves, reminding us of the wonder and pleasure that nature brings.
Living Water
© 2026 by Rachel Doragh
As I read the passage from Ezekiel and reflected on the temple from which the living waters spring, I reflected that the temple was the dwelling place of the creator within creation. The temple represents relationship. The temple represents the God-who-is-love bringing that love into the midst of all creation and flowing from that is life for all creation, life in abundance.
In both my designs I’ve taken the well-worn symbol of a heart to represent this relationship, this love from which the living waters flow. In one design I have taken the words of ‘hope’, ‘restoration’ and ‘life’ to convey what the waters bring to the world. In the other design the visual elements of a piwakawaka, tuatara and a tawa tree represent plants, birds and animals. The way they all flow out of the same intertwined waters represents the connected nature of the ecosystem – that each element is bound together in an intricate web, interdependent on each other for life to flourish.
Reflect and Pray
Through these artworks, we are reminded that in Ezekiel’s vision, the river does not remain within the temple, it flows outward, bringing healing and life. The vision offers us an invitation as the Church: to allow God’s living water to flow through us into our communities and the wider creation, becoming channels of hope, restoration, and flourishing life.
Questions for reflection
Where is God inviting you to participate in the healing of people, places, or creation?
Where is God inviting you to let living water flow through your life this season?
Prayer
Loving God,
Thank you for the gift of water that gives life to your whole creation.
Thank you for the rivers, oceans, lakes, and streams that surround us.
Help us to see water as a gift, to value our relationship with creation, and to care for the places you have entrusted to us.
May your living water flow through our lives, bringing hope, healing, and life.
Amen.