his kiss still makes me blush...

he kissed me
17 years ago
today

he married me
9 years ago
today

his kiss still makes me blush...

look within

Why was I born?


Why am I alive today?


Why do I exist?


What is my purpose in this life?


What am I going to do with the rest of my life?

LOOK WITHIN...!

brave enough to forgive

Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.

- Indira Gandhi (1917-1984)

Are you brave enough to forgive yourself?

Matriarchal Muse

Madre Mía

Santa María

Luz de Cada Día

Santa Mujer

Madre María

Musa Matriarcal
hoy te sueño
hoy te siento
a mi lado, siempre amando...

celebrating the birth of my Matriarchal Muse

wisdom from a mail order catalog

be bold, be thankful, be quiet, be original, be spontaneous, be punctual, be a star, be young, be loving, be crazy, be loud, be random, be adorable, be unique, be daring, be obnoxious, be YOURSELF

- anonymous, found within the pages of a mail order catalog

2011 PHOTOGRAPH: my 3-year-old son

true meaning

Let us sip a cup of tea and contemplate the true meaning of the season...

truthful thanksgiving

"The truth is like surgery, it cuts, but it cures."

- Lana Turner (1920-1995)

a small-minded dinner party

"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people."

- Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962)

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

from my journals

pajaro de pecho amarillo,

canta su poema,

libre y frio

...beginning of something...

casimira - today

"This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment.  First to let go of life.  Finally, to take a step without feet." - RUMI

a day of reading, painting and writing...

soul gems

The soul is made of gems...gems which each one is capable of retrieving daily...in a smile, in a thank you, in a breath...

excerpt from meditation journal, originally publish in 2007

Winnie-the-Pooh Wisdom

“Promise me you’ll always REMEMBER:

you’re BRAVER than you believe,

and STRONGER than you seem,

and SMARTER than you think.”

– A.A. Milne (1882-1956)
 
Christopher Robin to Pooh

grandmother's emeralds

The estate sale had passed and I had fortunately missed it. The remains of a once majestic home were scattered about and I began to salvage books, trinkets and treasures...

"...The Empress arrived that night, flashing a million golden lights like the enchanted queen that she was. Her full-skirted Dior ballgown was made of encrusted gold paillettes woven into sheer gold fabric. Other jewel-colored paillettes gleamed as she moved in the light. Crowning her elaborately upswept dark hair was an immense diamond tiara, studded with emeralds the size of robins' eggs. The same design of diamonds and emeralds made up her necklace and bracelet..."
- Letitia Baldrige, 1968 "Of Diamonds & Diplomats" - 1st edition

Grandmother's emeralds...in words...through strories...

high priestess

...it was all about the necklace. The necklace had been created for a high priestess and possessed magic and mystery which only a high priestess would understand...


excerpt from a short story written years ago which is now included in a series about our relationships to jewels

love

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

fresa

con corona de cristal,

con arete de brillar,

la fresa caminaba las calles,

sin darse cuenta que era fresa

from "Conversations with Fruit" a series in progress

originally published in 2007

sculpture

My son holding one of my sculptures...
I am excited about my new pieces still in progress...yes, they are worth the wait!

where the two worlds touch

"You must ask for what you really want..." - RUMI

11.11.11

"People call me the painter of dancers, but I really wish to capture MOVEMENT ITSELF."

- Edgar Degas

...Degas and I danced in the winds of imagination and memory, painting wishes upon whispers...

powerful beyond measure

let the liberating light shine
"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)

a beacon of peace

Oh Enlightened Buddha

Fill me with your light today

Steer me away from the darkness of anger

Oh Enlightened Buddha

Help me be a beacon of peace today

With only love and light coming my way

Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi...


a prayer that came to me after my yoga practice

mujeres de nicaragua

generation of women, generation of daughters, generation of mothers

MUJERES, what is your hope for Nicaragua?
MUJERES, who do you hold in your heart?
MUJERES, where is your voice?

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

Nicaragua con dolor hoy te pinto

2003 Untitled mixed media on canvas



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

art of living

She wears butterflies in her hair and sings old love songs never forgotten. She sports a vintage pair of Chuck Taylor All Stars and tries not to use a cane when walking. When I hug her, she smells of fresh roses and baby powder. Once upon a time, she loved to cook and occasionally shares secret recipes. She is one of the greatest artists I have ever met, teaching me about the Art of Living.

originally published in November 2007

Nicaragua: imports & exports 1962

2007 "GREENTAPE" photographic study














"At school Meg was tired and her eyelids sagged and her mind wandered. In social studies she was asked to name the principle imports and exports of Nicaragua, and though she had looked them up dutifully the evening before, now she could remember none of them. The teacher was sarcastic, the rest of the class laughed, and she flung herself down in her seat in a fury. “Who cares about the imports and exports of Nicaragua, anyhow?” she muttered."

© 1962 Madeleine L’Engle from her book “A Wrinkle In Time"

rains of gold dance down all around



 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

let's go out

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

spend the day outdoors

a dream of dreams

he slept with the ebony queen

she dreamed with the ancient pharaoh of peace

the young prince prayed all night

muertos o vivos - todos somos los mismos

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