EDMONTON -- An Edmonton artist is looking for answers after someone made off with a painting she considers priceless.
Earlier this month, thieves broke into Artshub 118, an affordable housing co-op where artists both live and display their work.
The burglars went up to the second and third floors and stripped the walls of nine paintings.
"We were really taken aback," artist Michael Victoria Moore told CTV News Edmonton. "We can't imagine where the market is for these paintings that were taken."
Among the art that was stolen was a piece that Moore cherished: her painting of the archangel Michael.
"I dreamt about the image," Moore said. "As many of my pieces come from dreams."
Years later, that dream hit the canvas.
The Edmonton artist found a model and a photographer to create a picture to work from, then after two years, created the now-missing six-by-four-foot painting.
While a monetary value has never been established for the work, for Moore, its sentimental value is beyond compare.
"It had a really long story," she said. "It had such meaning for me and a real journey of love."
Moore says her stress over the stolen painting was so severe that she suffered a heart attack and spent four days in hospital.
"I was surprised at how much it physically affected me."
The painter is hoping her story reaches whoever took her art.
Moore says that if the painting is returned, there will be no questions asked.
She asks for people to be on the lookout for the large work of art, saying it can be returned to Artshub 118.
"Bring it back, leave it here, lean it up against the wall."
Edmonton police believe the break-in and theft happened the evening of Nov. 8 and continue to investigate.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Bill Fortier
