when will I dance with you?

"Dear Ones,

Let's anoint this earth with dance!"

- my beloved Hafiz

when will you dance with me?

you've asked me once, or perhaps twice,

will you ask again?

to dance is to worship the earth through spirit and body as one...

to dance is to honor the ancestors through rhythm, movement and sweat...

to dance is to make love to one's essence through expression...

when will I dance with you?

perhaps I shall ask you because I know you will accept...

excerpt from my journals

2013 mixed media on paper

mi madrina

mi madre espiritual

spiritual warrior

me desperté con alma de guerrera,

me vestí de negro, bese mi sombra,

y enfrente demonios disfrazados de sonrisas falsas...

"...now people talk to me, but nothing ever hits home...this is the start of how it all ends. They used to shout my name, now they just whisper it..."

-LORDE

...the spiritual warrior within me is awake and I am falling madly in love with my strength and courage...

let go

"We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us." - Joseph Campbell

snapshots taken and edited with my cellphone - looking up, inspired by the majesty of trees... a study for a possible series paintings and sculptures... my love affair with trees continues...

you have to love yourself

- signed limited edition greeting card -
- a collector's item most suitable for framing -

"I don't believe in rules.  I think it's the heart that should talk.  The first thing about love is that you have to love yourself.  No relationship will work unless you do...I wanted to be his friend.  I thought he would be a good friend to have.  But we were completely taken over by passion, and it was completely, utterly unexpected on both sides.  That made it more exciting, because it was so unexpected...Yes, I do believe in soul mates." - Diane von Fürstenberg (b. 1946)

- original mixed media on paper -

the prettiest mule in town

"Sometimes a mule does not know what is best for itself. When the mind is confused like that it secretly desires a master with a skilled whip to guide it to those playgrounds on the earth's table where the Sweet One's light has made life more tasty. Hafiz always carries such a whip, but I rarely need to use it. I prefer just turning myself into the prettiest mule in town and making my tail sing, knowing your heart will then follow." - my beloved HAFIZ, who else?

awareness, transformation and freedom

"Almost every ego contains at least an element of what we might call 'victim identity.' Some people have such a strong victim image of themselves that it becomes the central core of their ego. Resentment and grievances form an essential part of their sense of self.

Even if your grievances are completely 'justified,' you have constructed an identity for yourself that is much like a prison whose bars are made of thought forms. See what you are doing to yourself, or rather what your mind is doing to you. Feel the emotional attachment you have to your victim story and become aware of the compulsion to think or talk about it. Be there as the witnessing presence of your inner state. You don't have to do anything. With awareness comes transformation and freedom."

- Eckhart Tolle

snapshot of my bangles, worn by spiritual warriors of light

the floating world

"I see people in the world throw away their lives lusting after things, never able to satisfy their desires, falling into deep despair and torturing themselves. Even if they get what they want, how long will they be able to enjoy it? For one heavenly pleasure they suffer ten torments of hell, binding themselves more firmly to the grindstone. Such people are like monkeys frantically grasping for the moon in the water and then falling into a whirlpool. How endlessly those caught up in the floating world suffer."

- Ryokan

pearls, bronze and silk

"There is existence and there is awareness of existence. The rest is a story." - Deepak Chopra 

snapshot - detail from one of my latest pieces featuring pearls, bronze and silk

the cowards wore red

"A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave." 

- Mahatma Gandhi

the relationship was born of a dangerous dance between deception and betrayal...

years of lies within lies...

masks and false smiles...

a prolonged putrid stench of decomposing trust...

the cowards wore red...

ghosts or devils?

more dead than alive...

the cowards wore red

excerpt from my journals 

spellbound

The New Moon bestows strange dreams full of messages. 

I woke up with this song in my head:

"No more timing each tear that falls from my eyes. I'm not hiding the remedy to cure this old heart of mine.

I can dream about you, if I can't hold you tonight. I can dream about you, you know how to hold me just right.

Moving sidewalks, I don't see under my feet. Climbing up from down here below where the streets see me lonely for you...

I can dream about you. I'm going to press my lips against you and hold you tight to me.

I can dream about you. You know you got me spellbound, what else could it be? 

Moving sidewalks, I don't see under my feet. Climbing up from the pain in my heart, cause it's you that I need.

I don't understand it, I can't keep my mind off loving you (not even for a minute). I'm caught up in the magic I see in you. 

There's one thing to do - I can dream about you..."

- Dan Hartman, circa 1984

The 80's have invaded my dreams...officially...

snapshot of my dream journal 

tiene el corazón de poeta

- 2013 mixed media -

"Tiene la expresión de una flor,
la voz de un pájaro,
y el alma como luna llena,
de un mes de abril...

Tiene en sus palabras calor,
y frío de invierno,
su piel es dura como el árbol,
que azota el viento...

Y tiene el corazón de poeta,
de niño grande y de hombre niño,
capaz de amar con delirio,
capaz de hundirse en la tristeza...

El tiene, el corazón de poeta,
de vagabundo y de mendigo,
y así lo he conocido,
y así me gusta a mi que sea,
que tenga el corazón de poeta...

Tiene la arrogancia del sol,
mirada cándida,
su piel de nieve se hace fuego cerca de mi...

Es amigo y amante fiel,
ve las estrellas,
camina junto a mi soñando,
con cosas bellas...

Y tiene el corazón de poeta,
de niño grande y de hombre niño,
capaz de amar con delirio,
capaz de hundirse en la tristeza...

El tiene, el corazón de poeta,
de vagabundo y de mendigo,
y así lo he conocido
y así me gusta a mi que sea,
que tenga el corazón de poeta..." - JEANETTE

being realistic

from The Book of Secrets:

"There are only three kinds of people in your life: those who leave you alone, those who help you, and those who hurt you. People who leave you alone are dealing with your suffering as a nuisance or inconvenience - they prefer to keep their distance in order to feel better about themselves. Those who help you have the strength and awareness to do more with your suffering than you are able to do by yourself. Those who hurt you want the situation to stay the same because they do not have your well-being at heart. Honestly count how many people in each category you have in your life. This isn't the same as counting friends and family members. Assess others solely as they relate to your difficulties. Having made a realistic count, take the following attitude:

- I will no longer bring my problems to anyone who wants to leave me alone. It's not good for them or me. They don't want to help, so I will not ask them.

- I will share my problems with those who want to help me. I will not reject genuine offers of assistance out of pride, insecurity, or doubt. I will ask these people to join me in my healing and make them a bigger part of my life.

- I will put a distance between myself and those who want to hurt me. I do not have to confront them, guilt-trip them, or make them the cause of my self-pity. But I cannot afford to absorb their toxic effect on me, and if that means keeping my distance, I will."  - Deepak Chopra

mi amor de miles de años

- 2015 mixed media on paper in a private collection -

"Ya veremos, ya aprenderemos. 

Siempre hay cosas nuevas. 

Siempre ligadas a las antiguas vivas. 

Alado...mi amor de miles de años." 

- Frida Kahlo 

mi amor de miles de años

de miles de años

mi amor

a trite marriage proposal on Valentine's Day?

mandatory roses

oversized chocolate hearts

lace lingerie

red lips

a trite marriage proposal perhaps?

tacky satin sheets

a special massage

cliché dinner for two

too much cologne

Las Vegas? Dubai? Disney World?

No, thank you. I prefer spontaneous romance and honest, heart-pounding passion...

from friends to lovers

- mixed media on paper -

"From the beginning, Paul and I had an advantage: we were good friends before we were lovers. We really liked each other. We could talk to each other, we could tell each other anything without fear of ridicule or rejection. There was trust." - Joanne Woodward 

divine prey

"Why abstain from love when like the beautiful snow goose - someday your soul will leave this summer camp?

Why abstain from happiness, when like a skilled lion your heart is nearing and will someday see the divine prey is always near!" - my beloved HAFIZ

snapshot of a playful installation-collaboration between mother and child...from an ongoing series

the art of friendship

- mixed media on paper from my journals -

"Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. A time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over." - Octavia Butler

friendship is an art...

courage to be free

Matisse reminds me...

"An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success... Creativity takes courage."

- Henri Matisse

inside the pocket of your ripped jeans

"...loving can hurt sometimes, but it's the only thing that I know...it is the only thing that makes us feel alive. 

We keep this love in a photograph. We made these memories for ourselves, where our eyes are never closing, hearts are never broken, and times are forever frozen still.

So you can keep me inside the pocket of your ripped jeans, holding me closer until our eyes meet, you won't ever be alone - wait for me to come home.

Loving can heal. Loving can mend your soul and is the only thing that I know. I swear it will get easier. Remember that with every piece of you, and it's the only thing we take with us when we die.

...I will remember how you kissed me...hearing you whisper..."

- Ed Sheeran

snapshot - ideas, pearls, feathers and crystals on my desk 

authentic love

"...After a year of passionate romance with a handsome, charismatic man, I was stunned when he began to abuse me. 

I believed he was lashing out because he was in pain, and needed help. 

I believed my compassion could restore him and our relationship. 

My empathy was used against me. I was terrified of him and ashamed I was in this position. 

What bound me to him was my desire to heal him. 

My compassion was incomplete because it did not include me...

...Authentic love does not devalue another human being. Authentic love does not silence, shame or abuse. 

If you are in a relationship with someone who does not honor or respect you, I want you you to know you are worthy of love. Please reach out for help. 

Your voice will save you. Let it extend into the night. Let it part the darkness. Let it set you free to know who you truly are. Valuable. Beautiful. Loved."

- Brooke Axtell

...a powerful and important message delivered at tonight's Grammy Awards...

when will you stay?

"A bough with blossoms bears fruit.

The hawk descends with purpose.

Your image comes and goes here inside me. When will you stay?"

- my beloved RUMI

the discipline to be a free spirit

"Each of us is a moving center, a space of divine mystery. And though we spend most of our time on the surface in the daily details of ordinary existence, most of us hunger to connect with this space within, to break through to bliss, to be swept away into something bigger than us...

Do you have the discipline to be a free spirit?

Can we be free of all that binds and bends us into a shape of consciousness that has nothing to do with who we are from moment to moment, from breath to breath?" - Gabrielle Roth

the photo...a favorite self-portrait 

sueños de sirena

"I must be a mermaid, I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living." - Anais Nin

mixed media on paper from 2010 journals 

painting my soul in blue

- mixed media on canvas -

why do you invade my dreams, my thoughts?

do you invite me into yours?

are you sending me messages?

secret smoke signals?

are you challenging me?

daring me to forget?

do you wish to dance to the rhythm of heartbeats?

do you miss my laughter in the rain?

"still a little bit of your taste in my mouth 

still a little bit of you laced with my doubt... 

still a little bit of your ghost - your witness  

still a little bit of your face I haven't kissed...  

still a little bit of your song in my ear, 

still a little bit of your words I long to hear..."

- Damien Rice

pouring myself onto the canvas

painting my soul in blue


excerpt from my journals

la luna tranquila y sola

- 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

turn into honey

"It's Gala who discovers and brings me all the essences, which I then turn into honey in the busy hive of my mind.  Without Gala, the world would have no genie: Dali would not exist."

- Salvador Dali (1904-1989)

ROMANCE is part of an ongoing series of mixed media on paper and canvas featuring couples whose love and passion have ignited the world. The collection is currently being prepared for exhibitions.

only her body knows

"In the cage is the lion. She paces with her memories. Her body is a record of her past. As she moves back and forth, one may see it all: the lean frame, the muscular legs, the paw enclosing sharp claws, the astonishing speed of her response. She was born in this garden. She has never in her life stretched those legs. Never darted farther than twenty yards at a time. Only once did she use her claws. Only once did she feel them sink into flesh. And it was her keeper's flesh. Her keeper whom she loves, who feeds her, who would never dream of harming her, who protects her. Who in his mercy forgave her mad attack, saying it was her nature, to be cruel at a whim, to try to kill what she loves...she knows no life outside the garden. She has no notion of anger of what she could have been, or might be. No idea of rebellion. It is only her body that knows of these things, moving her, daily, hourly, back and forth, before the bars of her cage."

- Susan Griffin

mixed media from my journals