believe nothing

2009 mixed media
believe nothing
no matter where you read it,
or who has said it,
not even if i have said it,
UNLESS it agrees with
your own reason and
your own common sense.

- BUDDHA

...this is so very true and so important to teach the younger generations...

begin today

2009 mixed media study

Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, BEGIN IT. Action has magic, grace and power in it.

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

What will we begin today?

color everywhere

detail from the contents of my once-empty crystal bowlA giant green Frog Prince lounges on the chaise. A stuffed horse the size of an actual pony often startles me. A lime and orange rainforest swing (complete with monkeys and toucans) sits in the middle of the living room. My once-edited neutral home, is now splashed with color - everywhere...

mountain spirit

2009 mixed media in progress

You never conquer a mountain.
You stand on the summit a few moments;
then the wind blows your footprints away.

- Arlene Blum (born 1945)

majestic

ancient

mountain spirit

interesting

playing with an idea this morning, mixed media

If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.

- Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003)

Are you pursuing your interests? I am...

holy fire

detail from mixed media, circa 2004

JOY is the HOLY FIRE
that keeps our purpose warm
and our intelligence aglow.

- Helen Keller (1880-1968)

...and where do we find our joy?
It is everywhere - we only need to be awake to sense it...

wild

2009 self-portrait, mixed media
How has society tamed us?

How has family tamed us?

I was WILD once...

and I won't let them tame me...again.

(affirmation inspired by Isadora Duncan's famous quote)

deaf to the truth

study for sculpture

If you want the truth,

I'll tell you the truth:

Listen to the secret sound,

the real sound,

which is inside you.

- KABIR

Do we really want the truth?

Or do we fear the secret sound within?

What is the saying - IGNORANCE is BLISS....

Is that why we keep SO BUSY...with cell phones, email, laptops, facebooks, blogs, television, newspapers, and on and on...

Are we DEAF to our TRUTH?

all the people

2009 mixed media

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

- John Lennon (1940-1980)

I woke up singing this song...

rapidity of change

2009 mixed media
Life is measured by the rapidity of change.

- George Eliot (1819-1880)

This is a time of change - on so many levels...

a child learns

2009 sketch for story

If a child lives with criticism,
He learns to condemn.

If a child lives with hostility,
He learns to fight.

If a child lives with ridicule,
He learns to be shy.

If a child lives with shame,
He learns to feel guilty.

If a child lives with tolerance,
He learns to be patient.

If a child lives with encouragement,
He learns confidence.

If a child lives with praise,
He learns to appreciate.

If a child lives with fairness,
He learns justice.

If a child lives with security,
He learns to have faith.

If a child lives with approval,
He learns to like himself.

If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,
He learns to find love in the world.

- Dorothy Law Nolte (1924-2005)

What did we live with as children?

What did our parents live with as children?

What are our children living with?

living the dream

2009 mixed media

...Though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.

It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

Do you have a dream?

I have a dream that my son and the sons of his sons will grow up knowing that all women and men are created equal...that there are wonderful differences which are to be cherished, cultivated and above all respected...

Are we living our dreams?

potential for growth

study for sculpture
From the seed grows a root, then a sprout; from the sprout, the seedling leaves; from the leaves, the stem; around the stem, the branches; at the top, the flower...

We cannot say that the seed causes the growth, nor that the soil does. We can say that the potentialities for growth lie within the seed, in mysterious life forces, which when properly fostered, take on certain forms.

- M.C. Richards (1916-1999)

How do we properly foster our seeds?

laundry & questions

detail from a card
There is a pile of clean clothes that needs to be sorted and folded.

There is another pile of clothes that needs to be washed.

The thank you notes are almost completed.


Why don’t you get a maid to come at least once a week, they ask.

Why don’t you start to bottle-feed the baby at least once in a while, they ask.

Why don’t you send us the most recent photos, they ask.

Why don’t you call or email anymore, they ask.


I am a mother to a 5-month old.

I am an artist working on new projects.

I am a woman who is learning to prioritize.

I am happy...I am joyful...and yes, just a bit weary of they never-ending things to do and of the never-ending questions which I try to ignore...

I am not the same person I was a year ago...I am grateful beyond words...

finding joy

nature holds joy for me
where do you find joy?

are you able to find joy in another's joy?

giving birth to my son was the most joyous experience.

being a mother brings me joy each day.

humanity renewed

detail from one of my silk pieces...color study

Teach this triple truth to all:

a generous heart

kind speech

and a life of service and compassion

are the things which renew humanity.

- Buddha

Humanity renewed...I believe it happens one person at a time, one thought at a time, one action at a time.

playing small doesn't serve the world

a study for a sculpture or textile

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

- Marianne Williamson (b. 1952)

This quote sits on my altar and is tucked in the pages of my journals...

venus

my bronze muse who wears my necklaces
Venus
a planet
a goddess
an energy close to the sun and bright as the moon
daughter of heaven and sea
love and sensuality

are you in touch with your inner Venus?

dancer

2009 mixed media study I dreamed I was the dancer dressed in black.
I surrendered to the music and became the dance.
Movement...graceful, rhythmic movement...
I woke up, feeling I had flown...

Our arms start from the back because they were once wings.
- Martha Graham (1894-1991)

wonderful world

2009 mixed media study for sculpture
I see trees of green, red roses too.
I see them bloom, for me and you.
And I think to myself... what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue, and clouds of white.
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world...

- excerpt from one of my favorite songs “What A Wonderful World”

Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister Christine who makes this a more wonderful world...

children

2009 pencil sketch

I held my babe against my bosom and said, Speak to us of Children.

And he said:

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let our bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

- Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

don't go back to sleep

was he ever this tiny or was it all a dream?
Rumi whispered a sweet song to me early this morning:

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.

mama's love

2009 mixed media
She brought me lamb chops and couscous.

It was a rainy night after a long day at the office.

That’s the thing about mothers – we go out of our way for our children.

Thank you Mammi...

resolution reality

2009 mixed media
One week into the New Year.
How are we doing with those resolutions we bravely declared?

Cleaning-recycling of closets has had to come to a pause for the time being.

My 5-month-old has been battling a bad cold thanks to me...I allowed almost anyone and everyone to handle and hold him during the holiday gatherings. Out of diplomacy, I did not request they wash their hands.

I am learning to be more flexible...my cleaning can resume in a few days.

I am learning to be less polite when it comes to safeguarding the health of my child.

smile

2009 mixed media
Surrounding herself with fresh flowers made her smile...

What makes you smile?

source of light

2009 study for a textile
LIGHT...

Where do you find LIGHT in your life?

Are you generous with your LIGHT, sharing it with others?

Do you fear the powerful LIGHT within?

A new year marks a new beginning and new beginnings are made up of LIGHT...

no longer the same

2009 mixed media
I am not the same person I was a year ago.
Neither are you.
Why would we want to be?
We have stretched. We have grown. We are flourishing.
We are constantly changing...it is part of being alive...

attachments

love this little guy - complete freedom
Why is it that as we grow up, we tend to become attached to material things?

Small children often have a favorite blanket or toy which brings them a sense of security, a sense of comfort. My baby has not yet developed this sort of attachment to any material object. From the numerous holiday gifts he received (from family and friends), his favorite thing to play with has been the tissue paper.

What are our material attachments? What sense of (false?) security do these give us?

out with the old

2009 mixed media
I am getting rid of old clothing today, cleaning out my closet, drawers and even those vacuum-sealed plastic storage bags under the bed...

2009: CHANGE

he was less than a month old (pretty alert, eh?)
A new year.

A year of changes.

I began the year changing diapers...
...and much more...

What will you change this year?