his kiss still makes me blush...today

he kissed me
16 years ago
today

he married me
8 years ago
today

his kiss still makes me blush...

the artist, the author

another self-portrait?  why not?   MIXED MEDIA 2010

What do you like best about yourself ?  How are you true to yourself ?

"What I like best about myself...is my audacity, my courage. The ways I have found to be true to myself without causing too much pain or damage. What I hate so much is my vanity, my need to shine, my need of applause and my sentimentality. I would like to be harder. I cannot make a joke, make fun of anyone, without feeling regrets."- Anaïs Nin (1903-1977)

I love the artist in me who dares with such security...

I love the author in me, birthing new worlds out of dreams and hopes...

I don't use the word "hate" - but I do dislike my need to please others...my need to be loved by all...although the older I get, the less I seem to care...

the aztec king dressed in dreams...art is air



detail from the cathedral in Leon, Nicaragua


el rey azteca se vistió de mis sueños

cantó de cristales y piedras con sedas y palabras

el arte es aire

from an ongoing series of writings

remembering Estrella Maruca on her birthday

The story-poem is about a little star who dreams of becoming a mother...it was written for Grand Mother, in her honour:


Un día, una estrellita muy bonita fue hablar con el Padre Sol, pidiéndole un gran favor.

- Padre, yo sueño con ser Madre. Quisiera vivir en la tierra para sentir y amar hasta llorar.

--- Estrellita, hija mía, tu lugar es en el cielo, de donde puedes alumbrar y atravez de esa luz, amar.

- O, Padre Sol, te pido que me dejes caminar el mundo. Prometo llevar conmigo el manto de nuestra Madre María, ya que es por Ella que sueño con ser Madre un día.

excerpt from "Estrella Maruca" © 2005

gratitude heals

"I thank God for all the things I don't have."- St. Teresa of Avila

gratitude, over and over again, gratitude

thanksgiving recipe

5 pounds of gratitude

2 cups of forgiveness

4 cups of laughter

spice with a tablespoon of mischief and a pinch of mystery

add wonder to taste

mix well and serve with dance, joy and light


happy thanksgiving

wisdom from a paper bag

value simple pleasures

savor what is naturally good

REUSE and RENEW

cook with humor, eat with meaning

give thanks for farmers and support bountiful oceans

give and give back

share home-cooked favorites

do good and be well   - Whole Foods Market recycled brown paper bag

this Holiday season...let us focus on SIMPLE PLEASURES....

time of great change

The Once-Great-King would travel for hours on horseback to consult an unassuming crone who had studied with renowned healers in India.

The wizened old woman lived on a cave-like secluded farmhouse amidst herbaceous vegetation known for its medicinal and supernatural properties. She concocted magic perfumes and potions from her enchanted herbs.

The petite soothsayer was in direct communication with the spirit world and the Once-Great-King trusted her predictions and visions with his life and his kingdom.

One strange day, when the moon and sun were both presiding over the skies, a swarm of butterflies appeared, attaching themselves to every living tree in the land. The flutter of countless wings created a humming chant that reached the Once-Great-King’s ears in waves...he understood the time of great change had finally arrived...

- excerpt from a story I began writing years ago

Madre Musa

"My mother is a poem I'll never be able to write, though everything I write is a poem to my mother."- Sharon Doubiago

Happy Birthday Bella Mama, Musa de mi Vida

muse of muses

Earth is a Mother to us all.  She nurtures us with ancient wisdom.  She nourishes us with infinite love.

My spiritual journey is directly linked with Nature...Mother Nature, my Muse of Muses.

originally published in 2008

enjoy every leaf

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
- Albert Camus (1913-1960)

spend the day outdoors

art of living

Are you living your life as if it were a work of art?

Mi vida es mi obra: Siento la inmensa dicha de haber nacido bajo la tutela de los Andes que son la expresión de la fuerza y el milagro cósmico así mi obra expresa el espiritu de mi tierra Andina y el espiritu de mi gente aymara. - Marina Nuñez del Prado (approximately 1910 -1995)

mujeres

generation of women, generation of daughters, generation of mothers

PHOTOGRAPH:  from an ongoing series, "MUJERES" featuring the women of Nicaragua

surrender

from my window

delicate leaves of gold hold tight to their mother's branches


father wind whispers encouraging words


LET GO      FLY       SURRENDER


it is time

rains of gold dance down

all around


FREEDOM     INDEPENDENCE     SURRENDER

drop by drop, it is time to dream & write

Rain Mother wakes me up




softly



sweetly



slowly



drop by drop



it is time to wake up



it is time to dream and write...
 
 
originally published in 2007

magic tree

She sat under the tree of gold, receiving its wisdom and a story was born.

be you

"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You...Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
- Dr. Seuss (1904-1991)

coral dream

Dressed in coral from head to foot, she entered the ancient temple illuminated only by candlelight…

excerpt from last night's dreams

Maya's Song

with a most comforting, soothing voice emerging from the depths of Mother Earth through to the depths of Soul, Maya sang her memories, her life, her laughter, her wisdom...

I shall not be moved
I shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's standing by the water
I shall not be moved

in gratitude

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! - Maya Angelou

let the beauty of what you love be what you do - RUMI

I love being a mother.  I love being a woman.  I love being with him.

I love writing.  I love dreaming.  I love playing...  What do you love?

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do. - Rumi

fearlessness

For a gallant spirit there can never be defeat.


- Wallis Simpson, The Duchess of Windsor (1896-1986)



A gallant spirit...I love the sound of that...

Every woman I know has a superior level of fearlessness.

from my 2008 journals

es ella la diosa

escucho su voz

en los vientos



obedezco sus consejos

en los sueños



siento las fragancias de rosas



es ella

la madre



es ella

la diosa

november roses

"...the scent of the rose is enough to imbue a woman with wordless, sibylline poetry, as if she were younger by ten centuries." - Colette

lovely November roses

begin again

In the woods, we return to reason and faith.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

I woke up feeling out of sorts, scattered and unfocused and wondered if it had to do with tonight's new moon.

After an afternoon in Nature, I am renewed, cleansed and ready to begin again.

silken threads of spirit

With silken threads of spirit, I have woven a majestic and ever-growing tapestry of friends and family.

from a series of writings soon to be published in print

rain day

remember to PLAY, PAINT, SING and DANCE today...

"down came the rain, and washed the spider out..."

layers of mermaid silk

the mermaid queen wished to live in layers of petals out of shredded shipwrecked silk...

less than 100 years ago

I am inspired by this 1913 illustration "Official Program Woman Suffrage Procession"

"Independence is happiness." - Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906)

día de los muertos, día de los santos

los espíritus me andan siguiendo

he soñado con muertos

con lunas llenas

con playas plenas

con diamantes y esmeraldas



hoy

día de los muertos

celebro mi vida

y la tuya también



hoy

día de todos los santos

me visto de luna

canto diamantes

bailo esmeraldas


muertos o vivos - todos somos los mismos