a lady

- 2008 mixed media -

"I know all the swear words. I just don't use them. There are worse things in life than being called a Lady."

- Irene Dunne (1898-1990)

My beautiful mother-in-law,  Maria de Lourdes is a lady.
Her cousin, Marta is a lady.

These women have an elegant spirit; their lives are illuminated in grace and delicate femininity.

These are two of the strongest women I know.
Being feminine, does not equal being weak.
A lady is not always a damsel in distress...

originally published in 2008

mama mamita mamacita madre mami

CELEBRANDO a todas las Madres Nicaragüenses...

melting into one redness

- 2007 mixed media from my journals -

In the earliest dawn two lovers awoke
And sipping some water, she said,
"Who do you love more,
Me or yourself?"
She wanted the truth.

So he replied, "I can't love myself,
I don't exist anymore.
I'm like a ruby held up to the sun
Melting into one redness.
Can you tell the gem from the world
When a ruby gives itself to sunlight?"

That's how holy ones can truthfully say
I am God.
So be a ruby at dawn
And hold to your practice.
Keep up the work, digging your well
Until you strike water.
Hang a ruby in your ear
And it will be the sun.
Keep knocking at the door
And joy will look out the window
To let you in.
- RUMI

beautiful truth

- mixed media -

"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

Salvadora

- 2013 mixed media in a private collection -

Mama Yoya, I paint you in blue and sing you in red:
celebrating your roots in Nicaragua, France and Spain.

Abuelita Yoya,
I dance with your wisdom and strength.

Salvadora,
I honour you.

Salvadorita,
I love you.

Yoyita,
I understand and thank you....

excerpt from a series of poem-prayers

the shaman and the butterfly

- mixed media from a butterfly series -

The butterfly belonged to the shaman. She relished spreading her glorious wings upon his third eye, yet was still unable to fly. She could not bear to leave him, not even for an instant.

"Butterfly, you are my Third Eye.
You are the one who gives me the power of flight...my light.
I belong to you...

Did I even exist before you flew into my life?"

excerpt from a short story from 2007

la luna la rosa la tierra

- celebrando lunas llenas -

"En el silencio estrellado 
la Luna daba a la rosa 
y el aroma de la noche 
le henchía ?sedienta boca? 
el paladar del espíritu, 
que adurmiendo su congoja 
se abría al cielo nocturno 
de Dios y su Madre toda... 
Toda cabellos tranquilos, 
la Luna, tranquila y sola, 
acariciaba a la Tierra 
con sus cabellos de rosa 
silvestre, blanca, escondida... 
La Tierra, desde sus rocas, 
exhalaba sus entrañas 
fundidas de amor, su aroma... 
Entre las zarzas, su nido, 
era otra luna la rosa, 
toda cabellos cuajados 
en la cuna, su corola; 
las cabelleras mejidas 
de la Luna y de la rosa 
y en el crisol de la noche 
fundidas en una sola... 
En el silencio estrellado 
la Luna daba a la rosa 
mientras la rosa se daba 
a la Luna, quieta y sola."

- Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936)

celebrating the full moon in all her splendor

full moon lunar eclipse

- remember to dance by the light of the moon -

The Moon came to me last night with a sweet question.

She said,

"The Sun has been my faithful lover

for millions of years.

Whenever I offer my body to him

brilliant light pours from his heart.

Thousands then notice my happiness

and delight in pointing

toward my beauty.

Hafiz,

is it true that our destiny

is to turn into Light

itself?"

And I replied,

Dear Moon,

now that your love is maturing,

we need to sit together

close like this more often

So I might instruct you

how to become

who you

are!

- HAFIZ

con vos me voy a empapar el alma

- mixed media -

“Me basta mirarte para saber que con vos me voy a empapar el alma.” 

- Julio Cortázar (1914-1984)


what a delightful delicious concept...just one look and he knows he shall drench his soul in her, with her...

curiosity

- a tiny corner of my home -

bless the fear

-- bless the fire

bless the woman

-- bless the water

bless the impermanence

-- bless the breath

bless the pain and sorrow

-- bless the earth

Mother Earth

bless the ancestors

bless the grandmothers

My Grand Mothers

bless the unseen and the unknown

bless my infinite curiosity...

- from a wonderful workshop I attended yesterday

shift relationship with time

- wearing wearable sculpture -

"The act of forgiveness is the act of returning to present time. And that's why when one has become a forgiving person, and has managed to let go of the past, what they've really done is they've shifted their relationship with time. Forgive and call back the energy wasted on past events."
- Carolyn Myss

from my journals - to write in white

- mixed media -

antique books with golden pages,

blank textured cards - thirsty for words,

transparent buttons and crystal clusters,

a corset to be worn with white leather gloves,

colorless miniature buildings,

framed porcelain seeds waiting to bloom,

a fallen tree birthed into something new,

an empty box ready to hold memories,

bleached banana leaves and a single brave feather,

tiny fingerprint pebbles,

an ivory talisman that rested upon her heart,

a sculpture that whispers - WOMAN, you have WINGS, now FLY...

from my journals

shall we dance

- self-portrait -

"Dancers are the messengers of the gods." - Martha Graham

your scent, my heart, the wind

- 2013 mixed media from series -

"I threw my heart to the winds

and followed you.

One day the wind brought me your scent,

my heart swelled in gratitude

and scattered in the wind." - RUMI

within

- 2013 mixed media -

how do you go within?

con alma de mar

- from my journals -

amanecí con ganas de crear,

amanecí con ganas de volar,

vamos a bailar,

vamos a soñar,

amanecí con alma de mar...

--------

awake and wanting to create,

awake and wanting to fly,

let's dance,

let's dream

I am awake with the soul of the sea...

don't ask why this delights

- 2013 mixed media -

"You've so distracted me,
your absence fans my love.
Don't ask how.

Then you come near.
"Do not...," I say, and
"Do not...," you answer.

Don't ask why
this delights me."
- RUMI

remembering MIMI

- my grandmother Lillian -

“…If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.  For life and death are one, even as the river and sea are one…For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?  And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?  Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.  And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.  And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.”              – Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

dance the changing of life, the freedom of women

"The dancer of the future will be one whose body and soul have grown so harmoniously together that the natural language of that soul will have become the movement of the body. The dancer will not belong to a nation but to all humanity. She will dance not in the form of a nymph, nor fairy, nor coquette but in the form of a woman in its greatest and purest expression. She will realize the mission of woman's body and the holiness of all its parts. She will dance the changing life of nature, showing how each part is transformed into the other. From all parts of her body shall shine radiant intelligence, bringing to the world the message of the thoughts and aspirations of thousands of women. She shall dance the freedom of women ..."
- Isadora Duncan (1877 – 1927)

M A M A

excerpt from the book, The Art of Motherhood:

"...As daughters, we are brought up to believe we can achieve anything if we work for it, and this assumption, for many, leads to long, high-powered careers in which people do what we suggest...Then comes motherhood. Suddenly, we're not in charge. A tiny thing that can't walk or talk decides when (or if) we get dressed, when we eat or chat, whether we go out (probably not), and where (somewhere with child-friendly feeding rooms). Above all, it stops us sleeping. Resistance isn't the answer. By the birth of my third child, I finally got it: I should imagine I was a reckless student again for a few months, and everything would be fine - no set bedtime, no responsibilities, no deadlines that couldn't be extended, and no career plan. Long lie-ins and little afternoon snoozes; reading novels and watching daytime TV. Dashing from recently discovered coffee shop or gallery to tea at a new friend's apartment. I felt lost and out of my depth, but exhilarated by the sense of a new life unfolding, every relationship being reevaluated, and endless possibilities opening up..."

- Susannah Marriott © 2004


letting go of control

going with the flow

perfect imperfection

reevaluating relationships...for I am no longer the same person

I am a mother now...

originally posted in 2009

sons and daughters of life's longing for itself

- my son, photo circa 2009 or 2010 -

"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)

la vida

- mixed media -

"Life is a song - sing it.
Life is a game - play it.
Life is a challenge - meet it.
Life is a dream - realize it.
Life is a sacrifice - offer it.
Life is love - enjoy it." - Sri Sathya Sai Baba (1926-2011)

new moon solar eclipse

- madre luna -

this powerful moon marks a new beginning...an ideal time to manifest your heart's desire...

where no one sees you

- 2013 mixed media -

"In your light I learn how to love.
In your beauty, how to make poems.

You dance inside my chest,
where no one sees you,

but sometimes I do,
and that sight becomes this art." - RUMI

soul whispers

In the silent moments our souls whisper words of wisdom...

ancestors

ancestors whisper stories into my dreams...

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

what wonderfully strange dreams I've had all weekend...

en el ultimo trago me besas

- Frida Kahlo and Chavela Vargas, 2013 mixed media -

"Tomate esta botella conmigo,
y en el ultimo trago nos vamos.

Quiero ver a que sabe tu olvido,
sin poner en mis ojos tus manos.

Esta noche no voy a rogarte,
esta noche te vas de deveras.

Que dificil tratar de olvidarte,
sin que sienta que ya no me quieras...

Nada me han enseñado los años,
siempre caigo en los mismos errores,
otra vez a brindar con extraños,
y a llorar por los mismos dolores...

Tomate esta botella conmigo,
y en el ultimo trago me besas.

Esperamos que no hayan testigos,
por si acaso te diera verguenza.

Si algun dia sin querer tropezamos,
no te agaches ni me hables de frente,
simplemente la mano nos damos,
y despues que murmure la gente..." - Chavela Vargas

love and affection

- 2013 mixed media -

"You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection." - BUDDHA

Mi Mimi

- 2013 mixed media in private collection -

mi abuela materna, mi reina, mi MIMI...
a woman, a goddess, a mother...
remembering my beloved grandmother on her birthday

wise women speak to me through dreams and symbols

- 2013 mixed media -

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.

"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"

practicando...recordando

"Io lavoro e penso a te,
torno a casa e penso a te,
le telefono e intanto penso a te...

Come stai e penso a te,
dove andiamo e penso a te,
le sorrido abbasso gli occhi e penso a te...

Non so con chi adesso sei,
non so che cosa fai,
ma so di certo a cosa stai pensando...

E' troppo grande la città,
per due che come noi,
non sperano però si stan cercando... cercando...

Scusa è tardi e penso a te,
ti accompagno e penso a te,
non son stato divertente e penso a te...

Sono al buio e penso a te,
chiudo gli occhi e penso a te,
io non dormo e penso a te..." - Lucio Battisti (1943-1998)