new born life, love & peace

"For I remember it is Easter morn,

And life and love and peace are all new born."

- Alice Freeman Palmer (1855-1902)

pueblo blessing

Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.

Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.

Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.

Hold on to life even when it is easier letting go.

Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you.

- Pueblo Blessing

re-birth

- 2007 mixed media from my journals -

Little Bird hatched from Mother’s ancient crystals with a precious gem balanced upon its beak.

“Why am I here?” Little Bird asked Water Buddha.

Little Bird, you are here to live.
To breathe and to fly.
To laugh and to cry.
Little Bird, you are here to die.

“To die? But have I not just now begun to live? I do not understand,” Little Bird cried.

Little Bird, life would not exist without death.
And really, death is but re-birth.
Little Bird, you have always been and shall always be.

excerpt from short story, originally published in 2007

poetic thoughts

- 2008 mixed media -

Don't tell me women
are not the stuff of heroes,
I alone rode over the East Sea's
winds for ten thousand leagues.
My poetic thoughts ever expand,
like a sail between ocean and heaven.
I dreamed of your three islands,
all gems, all dazzling with moonlight.
I grieve to think of the bronze camels,
guardians of China, lost in thorns.
Ashamed, I have done nothing;
not one victory to my name.
I simply make my war horse sweat.
Grieving over my native land
hurts my heart. So tell me;
how can I spend these days here?
A guest enjoying your spring winds?

- Qiū Jǐn (1875-1907) translated by Zachary Jean Chartkoff

A writer. A poet. A feminist. A revolutionary. A hero.
She believed and fought for FREEDOM, for women's rights to marry, to be educated, to be free of bound feet...

originally posted in 2008

luna llena

- 2013 mixed media -

let us dance and dream under the full moon tonight

the heart finds its morning

- mixed media -

"For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed." - Kahlil Gibran

a kiss like melting snow

"How did it happen that their lips came together? How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds, that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill? A kiss, and all was said." - Victor Hugo

every little thing

- my desk -

"Though I've tried before to tell her,
Of the feelings I have for her in my heart,
Every time that I come near her,
I just lose my nerve as I've done from the start,

Every little thing she does is magic,
Everything she does just turns me on,
Even though my life before was tragic,
Now I know my love for her goes on,

Do I have to tell the story,
Of a thousand rainy days since we first met?
It's a big enough umbrella,
But it's always me that ends up getting wet,

Every little thing she does is magic,
Everything she does just turns me on,
Even though my life before was tragic,
Now I know my love for her goes on,

I resolved to call her up,
A thousand times a day,
Ask her if she'll marry me,
In some old fashioned way,

But my silent fears have gripped me,
Long before I reach the phone,
Long before my tongue has tripped me,
Must I always be alone..." - STING

only breath

- mixed media from my journals -

"...My place is placeless, a trace of the traceless. 

Neither body or soul.

I belong to the beloved, have seen the two worlds as one and that one call to and know, first, last, outer, inner, only that breath breathing human being." - RUMI

a perfect way to begin this weekend...only breath...sent to me by a very dear friend...xo xo xo

waves

my body moves in waves,
when I dance...even when I walk,
waves of laughter...waves of surrender...waves of waves

"I love waves; I wish I had some in my hair. My daddy did, but I guess I didn't dive into that end of the gene pool. Virginia Woolf wrote my favorite book, The Waves, and I have a son who surfs them. I danced a thousand dances to Patti Smith's song "Wave" and I've waved a thousand good-byes. I've seen waves come and take my house, flood the same bedroom where they accompanied countless nights of lovemaking. I have ridden the waves of labor, of sorrow, and of bliss."
- GABRIELLE ROTH

hijo de pachamama

through wisdom of ancients,

with eagle’s majestic flight

- PACHAMAMA -

bore messenger of winds

- SHAMAN -

peaceful spirit of nature,

warrior of light

spring equinox

- 2013 mixed media from series -

She stirs. 
She moans lightly with delight.
Her lips curve up into a smile.
Her eyes begin to open.
She is waking up.
Mother Nature is waking up and giving us Spring.

from my 2007 journals

listening with all of the senses

- inspiration from Mother Nature - study for sculpture -

"My lifetime listens to yours."
- Muriel Rukeyser (1913 – 1980)

simply necessary to love

"People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand, when it's simply necessary to love."

- Claude Monet

more

- mixed media -

“I want to see you. Know your voice. Recognize you when you first come 'round the corner. Sense your scent when I come into a room you've just left. Know the lift of your heel, the glide of your foot. Become familiar with the way you purse your lips then let them part, just the slightest bit, when I lean in to your space and kiss you. I want to know the joy of how you whisper "more”... - RUMI

blue sky

- mixed media -

"She's my girl...She's my blue sky.  After sixteen years, I still bite her shoulders.  She makes me feel like Hannibal crossing the Alps." - John Cheever (1912-1982)

laughter

- mixed media -

"What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul."
- Yiddish Proverb

so laugh...
make someone laugh...
it feels so very good...

quince mil encantos

- 2013 mixed media from series -

"entre el cielo y el suelo hay algo,
con tendencia a quedarse calvo,
de tanto recordar,
y ese algo que soy yo mismo,
es un cuadro de bifrontismo,
que sólo da una faz,

la cara vista es un anuncio de signal,
la cara oculta es la resulta,
de mi idea genial de echarte,
me cuesta tanto olvidarte,
me cuesta tanto,

olvidar quince mil encantos es
mucha sensatez
y no sé si seré sensato
lo que sé es que me cuesta un rato
hacer las cosas sin querer

y aunque fui yo quien decidió
que ya no más
y no me cansé se jurarte
que no habrá segunda parte
me cuesta tanto olvidarte
me cuesta tanto..." - José M. Cano

el sabor de mis puntos cardinales

- 2013 mixed media from a series -

"Yo tuve un amor atlantico
y me converti en sirena
y en mi carne morena
sentí el calor
silbando fuerte a mi alrededor
y tuve un amor lunatico
y me converti en planeta
y estuvimos dando vueltas
en un baile silencioso
las estrellas calladas
como nosotros
y ahora tengo un amor
que es un calor
que navega su aire en el viento
que conoce mis buenos momentos, mis males
y el sabor de mis puntos cardinales
yo tuve un amor antártico
y la nieve me esperaba
noche y dia fría, helada
pero a mi no me importaba
porque el hielo conservaba nuestro ardor
y ahora tengo un amor
que es un calor
que navega su aire en el viento
que conoce mis buenos momentos, mis males
y el sabor de mis puntos cardinales..." - Ana Torroja

projections

- 2012 mixed media from series -

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."

- Carl Jung (1875-1961)

new moon dreams

what do you thirst for?

what do you dream of?

This afternoon I took a long bath surrounded by crystals and candlelight.  Ritual assists us in anchoring our dreams by honoring our most inner selves.

Take a few minutes to dream under tonight's new moon...

"The soul, like the moon,

is new, and always new again."

- Lalla (14th century)

beautiful blessed humble places

"Blessed are those who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing."

- Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)

photograph - a beautiful gift from Mother Nature

do it for love

Growing up, the women in my family had many "secrets" to a clear complexion.

One advised to drink lots of water and make sure not to perspire unless I washed my face right away. 

Another would wash her face with milk - fresh goat's milk I think...while another swore baby's wet diapers held the secret.

I wonder if any of them would agree with Joan Crawford's secret...

"I need sex for a clear complexion, but I'd rather do it for love." - Joan Crawford

excerpt from a manuscript in progress, originally published in 2007

mujeres - women

- 2008 mixed medias -

"Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good she is a woman.

A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories.

Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life.

Imagine a woman who trusts and respects herself.

A woman who listens to her needs and desires.

Who meets them with tenderness and grace.

Imagine a woman who acknowledges the past's influence on the present.

A woman who has walked through her past.

Who has healed into the present.

Imagine a woman who authors her own life.

A woman who exerts, initiates, and moves on her own behalf.

Who refuses to surrender except to her truest self and wisest voice.

Imagine a woman who names her own gods.

A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness.

Who designs a personal spirituality to inform her daily life.

Imagine a woman in love with her own body.

A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is.

Who celebrates its rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.

Imagine a woman who honors the body of the Goddess in her changing body.

A woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and her wisdom.

Who refuses to use her life-energy disguising the changes in her body and life.

Imagine a woman who values the women in her life.

A woman who sits in circles of women.

Who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets.

Imagine yourself as this woman."

“Imagine a Woman” © Patricia Lynn Reilly, 1995

woman, dare to discover

- mixed media -

"A woman has got to be able to say, and not feel guilty, 'Who am I, and what do I want out of life?' She mustn't feel selfish and neurotic if she wants goals of her own, outside of husband and children."
- Betty Friedan (1921-2006)

Who are you?

What do you want out of life?

Woman, stop feeling guilty.
You have done the best you can.
No regrets.

Live your life today, this moment...dare to discover who you are...

una vida es un poema

- from my journals -

"Let yourself become living poetry. "- RUMI

as a mother loves

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

the little child inside

- mixed media from ROMANCE series -

"Woman, I know you understand,
The little child inside the man,
Please remember my life is in your hands,
And Woman, hold me close to your heart,
However distant, don’t keep us apart,
After all, it is written in the stars…"
... - John Lennon (1940-1980)

her secret

- mixed media from series -

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

With each breath I am learning to be more patient and more compassionate with myself and others...

whispering kisses of grace

- moi -

WISDOM from my BATH GEL? why not?

"Life is a classroom. We are both student and teacher. Each day is a test. And each day we receive a passing or failing grade in one particular subject: GRACE. Grace is compassion, gratitude, surrender, faith, forgiveness, good manners, reverence and the list goes on. It's something money can't buy and credentials rarely produce. Being the smartest, the prettiest, the most talented, the richest or even the poorest can't help. Being a humble person can, and being a helpful person can guide you through your days with grace and gratitude." - Philosophy Gel Douche & Bain, Corps & Cheveux

...plus it leaves the most heavenly fragrance that lingers upon the skin, whispering kisses of grace...

lovers

- mixed media from a series -

"When the Queen of Sheba came to Solomon,
she left behind her kingdom and her wealth,
the same way lovers leave their reputations."
- RUMI