full moon blessings my dear

Admit to something:

Everyone you see, you say to them, "LOVE ME."

Of course you do not say this out loud;

otherwise someone would call the cops.

Still though, think about this, this great pull in us to CONNECT.

Why not become the one who lives with a FULL MOON in each eye that is always saying, with that SWEET MOON LANGUAGE,

what every other eye in this world is dying to hear?

- my beloved HAFIZ 

full moon blessings my dear 

detail from mixed media on paper 

soul-craving lover

"The way to maintain one's connection to the wild is to ask yourself what it is that you want. This is the sorting of the seed from the dirt. One of the most important discriminations we can make in this matter is the difference between things that beckon to us and things that call from our souls. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in the choice of mates and lovers. A lover cannot be chosen a la smorgasbord. A lover has to be chosen from soul-craving. To choose just because something mouthwatering stands before you will never satisfy the hunger of the soul-self. And that is what the intuition is for; it is the direct messenger of the soul."

- Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes

to be danced

- I woke up danced in blue... self-portrait -

"We have come to be danced

not the pretty dance
not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance
but the claw our way back into the belly
of the sacred, sensual animal dance
the unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance
the holding the precious moment in the palms
of our hands and feet dance

We have come to be danced
not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance
but the wring the sadness from our skin dance
the blow the chip off our shoulder dance
the slap the apology from our posture dance

We have come to be danced
not the monkey see, monkey do dance
one, two dance like you
one two three, dance like me dance
but the grave robber, tomb stalker
tearing scabs & scars open dance
the rub the rhythm raw against our souls dance

WE have come to be danced
not the nice invisible, self conscious shuffle
but the matted hair flying, voodoo mama
shaman shakin’ ancient bones dance
the strip us from our casings, return our wings
sharpen our claws & tongues dance
the shed dead cells and slip into
the luminous skin of love dance

We have come to be danced
not the hold our breath and wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance
but the meeting of the trinity: the body, breath & beat dance
the shout hallelujah from the top of our thighs dance
the mother may I?
yes you may take 10 giant leaps dance
the Olly Olly Oxen Free Free Free dance
the everyone can come to our heaven dance

We have come to be danced
where the kingdom’s collide
in the cathedral of flesh
to burn back into the light
to unravel, to play, to fly, to pray
to root in skin sanctuary
We have come to be danced
WE HAVE COME" - Jewel Mathieson

cartography

"We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves. 

I wish for all this to be marked on by body when I am dead. I believe in such cartography - to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communal histories, communal books. We are not owned or monogamous in our taste or experience."

- Michael Ondaatje 

detail from mixed media on canvas

lovers leave their reputations

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

- RUMI

mixed media on paper from a series

Cleopatra

"Siempre que te pregunto,
Que cuando como y donde,
Tu siempre me respondes;
Quizas, quizas, quizas.

Y asi pasan los dias,
Y yo desesperando,
Y tu, tu contestando;
Quizas, quizas, quizas.

Estas perdiendo el tiempo,
Pensando, pensando,
Por lo que mas tu quieras,
Hasta cuando, hasta cuando?

Y asi pasan los dias,
Y yo desesperando,
Y tu, tu contestando;
Quizas, quizas, quizas."

- Osvaldo Farres

snapshot: Cleopatra marble carving by William Wetmore Story (1819-1895)

Queen of Sheba

"Wisdom is
sweeter than honey,
brings more joy
than wine,
illumines
more than the sun,
is more precious
than jewels.

She causes
the ears to hear
and the heart to comprehend.

I love her
like a mother,
and she embraces me
as her own child.

I will follow
her footprints
and she will not cast me away."

- Makeda, Queen of Sheba 

mother courage

"I've been through it all, baby, I'm Mother Courage."

- Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)

mixed media on paper

dance our dream

"There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost."

- Martha Graham (1894-1991)

how do we block ourselves?

how do we block our expression?

why would we do this to our souls?

we are on this planet to DANCE our DREAMS into realities...we are ALIVE so that we can stretch and grow and learn and laugh and cry and express the beauty that is within us...

la ilusión, el café y la poesía

"Mereces un amor que te quiera despeinada, con todo y las razones que te levantan de prisa, con todo y los demonios que no te dejan dormir. Mereces un amor que te haga sentir segura, que pueda comerse al mundo si camina de tu mano, que sienta que tus abrazos van perfectos con su piel. Mereces un amor que quiera bailar contigo, que visite el paraíso cada vez que mira tus ojos, y que no se aburra nunca de leer tus expresiones. Mereces un amor que te escuche cuando cantas, que te apoye en tus ridículos, que respete que eres libre, que te acompañe en tu vuelo, que no le asuste caer. Mereces un amor que se lleve las mentiras, que te traiga la ilusión, el café y la poesía.” - Frida Kahlo

mixed media on paper 

naked soul

"Te doy mi alma desnuda,
como estatua a la cual ningún cendal escuda.

Desnuda con el puro impudor
de un fruto, de una estrella o una flor;
de todas esas cosas que tienen la infinita
serenidad de Eva antes de ser maldita.

De todas esas cosas,
frutos, astros y rosas,
que no sienten vergüenza del sexo sin celajes
y a quienes nadie osara fabricarles ropajes.

Sin velos, como el cuerpo de una diosa serena
¡que tuviera una intensa blancura de azucena!

Desnuda, y toda abierta de par en par
¡por el ansia del amar!"

- Juana de Ibarbourou (1892(5) – 1979)

Te doy mi alma desnuda...

I give you my naked soul...

...have you ever bared your soul to another?

2008 mixed media 

equinox blessings

"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow." - Proverb

selfie - a little fairy goddess and her mama 

blessing or curse

2008 mixed media

"Para qué nací bonita, mejor me hubiera quedado como las chachas de mi pueblo."

- María Félix, La Doña (1914 – 2002)

Is physical beauty a blessing or a curse? Or both?

holiness

"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)

mixed media on paper

quite

"Don't worry. I'm quite Irish and quite tough."

- Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986)

mixed media on paper

a woman's face

"It matters more what's in a woman's face than what's on it."

-  Claudette Colbert (1903-1996)

mixed media, circa 2008

poetry of science

"We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry."

- Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952)

She was the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree, and worked in the fields of psychiatry, education and anthropology.

A child’s education and development is not all math or logic...I too believe in balancing science with poetry...

true beauty

"The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries or the way she combs her hair."
- Audrey Hepburn

mixed media on paper

sex

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

- Joan Crawford (1905-1977)

Sex is a natural and glorious part of being human. It is also something that needs to be treated with a sense of the sacred. Today, too many children are having sex too early in life, and most likely for all the wrong reasons. I have heard of 13-year-olds on birth control pills – and it is not for clear complexions.

Sex needs to be merged with a self-respect and self-esteem to truly be enjoyed to the fullest...

from my journals, mixed media 2008

now

"You can destroy your now by worrying about tomorrow."

- Janis Joplin (1943–1970)

She worries about what others might say.

She worries about how family may judge.

She worries about going to hell for not going to church.

She worries she has gained three ounces.

She worries she will be single all of her life.

She worries she will be childless all of her life.

She worries she may want a divorce.

She worries he will leave her for a younger woman.

She worries her daughter will become sexually active at thirteen.

She worries about her adult-middle-age-almost-senior-citizen children.

She worries about worries...

mixed media, 2008

excerpts from my journals

nostalgia

"Si bien fue muy provechosa mi estancia en NY, sentía la nostalgia de mi Nicaragua. Me hacían falta desde las brisas del lago hasta el sonido de sus campanas."- Edith Grön (1917-1990)

mixed media on paper

love poem

- mixed media series "MUJERES: Hijas - Hermanas - Madres" -

"Oscar, me sorprendiste,
Pidiéndome un poema de amor.

Haré un canto de amor a mi patria,
Pequeño país, lucero gigante,
Esperanza de los pobres, jaqueca de los ricos.
Más pobres que ricos en el mundo,
Más pueblos quieren mi patria.

Mi patria se llama Nicaragua,
A mi pueblo entero lo amo:
Negros, Miskitus, Sumus, Ramas y Mestizos.

Ya ves, mi poema de amor es completo:
Como puedes ver, también te amo."

- June Beer (1935-1986)

---------------------------

"Oscar, yuh surprise me,
Assin far a love poem.

Ah sing a song a love fa me contry
Small contry, big lite
Hope fad a po’, big headache fa de rich.
Mo’ po’ dan rich in de worl
Mo’ people love fa meh contry.

Fa meh contry name Nicaragua
Fa meh people ah love dem all
Black, Miskito, Sumu, Rama, Mestizo.

So yuh see fa me,

love poem complete ‘cause ah love you too."

- June Beer (1935-1986)

fearless

"My recipe for life is not being afraid of myself, afraid of what I think or of my opinions."

- Eartha Kitt (1927-2008)

2008 mixed media

International Women's Day

- mixed media on paper -

"I believe that within me lies an extraordinary radiance, and I commit to letting my light loose in the world.

I believe that the source of my power and wisdom is in the center of my being, and I commit to acting from this place of strength.

I believe that I possess an abundance of passion and creative potential, and I commit to the expression of these gifts.

I believe that the time has come to let go of old notions and unhealthy attitudes, and I commit to re-examine what I have been told about beauty and dismiss what insults my soul.

I believe that negative thoughts and words compromise my well-being, and I commit to thinking and speaking positively about myself and others.

I believe that young women are in need of positive role models, and I commit to being an example of authenticity and self-love.

I believe in the relationship between my well-being and the well-being of the planet, and I commit to a life of mindfulness that regards all living things as holy and worthy of my love.

I believe it is my spiritual responsibility to care for my body with respect, kindness and compassion.  I commit to balancing my life in such a way that my physical being is fully expressed and nurtured.

I believe that joy is an essential part of wellness, and I commit to removing obstacles to joy and creating a life that is full of exuberance.

I believe that a woman who loves herself is a powerful, passionate, attractive force, and I commit, from this day forward, to loving myself deeply and extravagantly."

- Jan Phillips, Copyright 2007

priorities my dear

"If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much." 

- Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis 

mixed media on paper, 2011

courage

"Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace, the soul that knows it not, knows no release from little things."

- Amelia Earhart (1897-1937)

mixed media on paper

consent

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
- Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962)

mixed media on paper

if it's love - all or nothing at all

"All or nothing at all
Half a love never appealed to me
If your heart never could yield to me
Then I'd rather have nothing at all

All or nothing at all
If it's love there is no in between
Why begin, then cry
For something that might have been
No, I rather have nothing at all

But please, don't bring your lips so close to my cheek
Don't smile or I'll be lost beyond recall the kiss in your eyes
The touch of your hand makes me weak
And my heart may grow dizzy and fall

And if I fell under the spell of your call
I would be caught in the undertow
So you see, I've got to say no, no
All or nothing at all..." - Billie Holiday

...if it's love, there is no in between...

mixed media on paper

transformation

- mixed media on paper -

"I take pleasure in my transformations.

I look quiet and consistent,

but few know how many women there are in me."

- Anais Nin

the little girl full of wonder

the adolescent ready to rebel

the shy young woman waiting patiently

the lover free of any inhibition

the silent and committed wife

the nurturing mother giver of life

the storyteller

the dancing warrior of light

the high priestess

the healer

the shaman

the goddess

the channel

the alchemist

the crone

the artist

from my journals

goals of her own

"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)

mixed media on paper 

tell the truth now

- 2013 mixed media on paper -

"Do I move you?  Are you willing?
Do I groove you?  Is it thrilling?
Do I soothe you?  Tell the truth now,
Do I move you?  Are you loose now?
The answer better be - YES, yes...it pleases me.

Are you ready for this action?
Does it give you satisfaction?
Are you hip to what I'm saying?
If you are then let's start swaying.
The answer better be - YES, yes...it pleases me.

When I touch you, do you quiver?
From your head down to your liver?
If you like it let me know it...
Don't be psychic or you'll blow it...
The answer better be - YES, yes...that pleases me."
- Nina Simone