all my ancestors



CASIMIRA bronze sculpture

ancestors whisper stories into my dreams..

Every WOman is a quotation from all HER ancestors.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I took the liberty of changing man to WOMAN and him to HER...

amanecí con alma de mar

my son holding one of my sculptures

amanecí con ganas de crear

amanecí con ganas de volar

vamos a bailar

vamos a soñar

amanecí con alma de mar

from my journals

liberated





"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...

patience

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. "
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

dancing

self-portrait

we are going to dance,

so come now

you delectable graces

you muses with the glorious tresses

- SAPPHO



so, get up and dance

dance for life

dance for light

dance for your SELF

think for yourself

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”

- Coco Chanel (1883 - 1971)

detail from 2011 mixed media, MUSAS series

love

Love the whole world as a mother loves her only child.
- Buddha (563-483 B.C.)

definitely a woman

"I'm very definitely a woman and I enjoy it."
- Marilyn Monroe (1926 – 1962)

creating my world

"How wrong it is for a woman to expect the man to build the world she wants, rather than to create it herself." - Anaïs Nin (1903-1977)

casimira dreams

My life is a poem


...from which sculpture sprouts

...made of silk and silver,

pearl and dove...


dreaming of new designs

sending her courage

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."
- Anaïs Nin (1903-1977)

2011 mixed media

a message from FRIDA

"What secret are you looking for? Life will soon reveal it to you."
- Frida Kahlo (1907-1954)

2011 mixed media from series

nicaragua

Con lagrimas te sueño

Con lagrimas te extraño

Con lagrimas te baño

Bautizada amada NICARAGUA


Con lagrimas te siento nacer de mi vientre

Con sangre y orgullo

Con grito de guerra y fuego del mar

NICARAGUA...Con dolor hoy te pinto


for my noble Father and his Motherland
Julia Casimira Sacasa de Checa

originally published in 2004
2003 Untitled mixed media on canvas

forgiveness & memory

el perdón y la memoria,

amantes que se traiciónan

forgiveness and memory,
lovers who betray each other

- excerpt from a series of writings from 2008 and 2009

let us play

my son's hand covered in volcanic sands and salt waters

let us play with Her

let us explore

let us search

let us discover

She invites us

let us bathe in Blessed Mother Earth



juguemos con Ella

exploremos

esculquemos

descubramos

Ella nos invita

bañemonos en Madre Tierra Bendita

silver liquid kisses

"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby." - Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

craving a day at the beach

out of sand she crafts an enchanted castle

sanctuary of seaweed and conch shells

imagination frees her...

audaciously dreaming...

courageously creating...



detail from a 2006 drawing

happy birthday dad

my Dad and me on the beach, circa 1970s
The beach holds memories of sand castles and salty smiles. It is where I need to begin telling my story, telling her story...with Father Sun and Mother Moon...

excerpt from my journal

Happy Birthday Dad

sacred manner

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know our garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel like they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off toward the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.

See who is there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves! For the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lonely wolf is over. Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

The Elders,
Oraibi, Arizona
Hopi Nation

truth

"If you want the truth,

I'll tell you the truth:

Listen to the secret sound,

the real sound,

which is inside you."

- KABIR

bésame, bésame mucho

With sparkling blue eyes and an unforgettable voice Antioco plays his guitar and serenades beautiful Maruca...remembering my beloved grandparents, truly Grand Parents on their wedding anniversary...


Bésame, bésame mucho,
Como si fuera esta noche
La última vez.

Bésame, bésame mucho,
Que tengo miedo a perderte
Perderte después.

Quiero tenerte muy cerca,
Mirarme en tus ojos,
Y estar junto a tí.

Piensa que tal vez mañana,
Estaré muy lejos,
Muy lejos de aquí.

Bésame, bésame mucho,
Que tengo miedo a perderte
Perderte después.

- original lyrics by Consuelo Velázquez (1917- 2005)

wise women speak

"In the ancient way of being, the earth not only creates, feels, and protects life, but like a mother, whispers through natural signs and images the secret knowledge of how body, mind, emotions and spirit work upon each other in an intricate, invisible weaving."

- Johanna Lambert from "Wise Women of the Dreamtime"
 
Who are the wise women in your life? When do you seek their counsel? The wise women speak to me through dreams and symbols. There are no coincidences...I am being guided, moment by moment. 

goddess of women

"I am Isis, mistress of the whole land...I am she who separated the heaven from the earth. I have instructed mankind in the mysteries...I have ordered the course of the sun and the moon. I am queen of the rivers and winds and sea...I have made justice more powerful than silver and gold. I have caused truth to be considered beautiful. I am she who is called the Goddess of women..."


- excerpt from the Inscription on The Temple of Isis at Sais

a mantra for this trip

"Arrange whatever pieces come your way."
- Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)

our enviornment

"A woman's environment will speak for her life, whether she likes it or not." -Elsie de Wolfe

interwoven moments

"Every moment one lives is different from the other. The good, the bad, hardship, the joy, the tragedy, love, and happiness are all interwoven into one single, indescribable whole that is called life."

- Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994)

compassion

"The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.” - Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

circle of kindred spirits

step into the circle,
step into the light,
look around and celebrate with those in your inner circle

bronze venus models CASIMIRA

el cuello,

pilar del templo,

de donde salen verdades inventadas,

voz de cuento,

canción de amor

from my journals

one of my altars

"...Sacred places are being resanctified all over the earth, and people are also finding the sacred within themselves.  Every sacred place and every sacred person is indeed like a point of light in a great web whose strands grow brighter..." - Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D.

eternal feminine

"I belong to no race nor time.I am the eternal feminine with its string of beads."- Zora Neale Hurston (1903-1960)