C A S I M I R A

moonlight on my bed

2012-01-31T19:31:00.001-05:00

"All night I could not sleep
because of the moonlight on my bed.
I kept hearing a voice calling:
Out of Nowhere, Nothing answered "yes."

- Tzu Yeh (approximately 4th century)

from a sacred book I received this afternoon

wisdom from a friend

2012-01-30T22:14:00.001-05:00

"Life is fragile, handle with passion!"

- Carey Perez Waulk

muse of muses

2012-01-29T22:09:00.001-05:00

Earth is a Mother to us all.

She nurtures us with ancient wisdom.

She nourishes us with infinite love.

My spiritual journey is directly linked with Nature...Mother Nature, my Muse of Muses.

sacred poetry of flesh

2012-01-28T22:10:00.002-05:00

"And your very flesh shall be a great poem."
- Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

let us treat our human bodies

our earthly temples as sacred poetry of flesh

celebrate beauty, practice compassion

2012-01-27T23:09:00.002-05:00

"You use my world without gratitude. You are blessed but fail to see your blessings. Open your eyes. The sun rises in beauty. The day begins. It is my day that I give you. You are my cherished child. Open your heart. Learn to thank me for all that unfolds for you. I am always present, always active. I bring you people, places, and things to bless your path. I am your provider, your opportunity. I am your path. Be conscious of me. Count your blessings and allow me to multiply them. Every thank-you triggers another gift. Blessings build upon blessings. They multiply in a grateful heart.

Bring me your heart. Let me soften it. Let me teach it to cherish and appreciate the smallest things. The puppy basking in the sun. The butterfly alighting on a bush. The industrious ant. The budding rose. All of these are part of me. All of life is my life, and all of life is yours to enjoy.

Celebrate beauty when you find it. Practice compassion for every living thing. Allow life to teach your heart how to respond to life. Let the willow teach you flexibility. For the poplar learn optimism. From the cottonwood take lessons in gentleness. I bless you with all these. Exercise gratitude that I may bless you more."

- Julia Cameron, excerpt from her book
"Answered Prayers: Love Letters from the Divine"
a beautiful book that found me years ago

from my journals

2012-01-26T23:01:00.007-05:00

2004 hand-dyed silk and concert ticket

a birthday sorpresa he said
i was a bit tired, but went ahead

meeting at the bookstore
in the middle of rain

our waiter was
french
spanish
colombian
quite a cocktail - that mojito
a mountain of gorgonzola cheese, please

annie lennox rocked the house
she's fifty-two not sixty-two
moving like a graceful dancer
with fuchsia eyes...

excerpt from my 2007 journal

goddess in every woman

2012-01-25T00:34:00.002-05:00

My definition of a sex goddess is a woman who is in touch with the primal, earthy energies that make us human.

She is a woman who acknowledges her feminine power.

She is a woman who celebrates her sexuality with respect for her body, her temple.

She is a woman who does not need to be in a sexual relationship in order to feel sensual or secure...

There is a sex goddess in every woman...

"I never really thought of myself as a sex goddess; I felt I was more a comedian who could dance."

- Rita Hayworth (1918-1987)

dangerous beauty

2012-01-24T20:02:00.003-05:00

She was beautiful and she knew it.

Her skin was alabaster with mother-of-pearl iridescence.

She dressed in layers of flowing, transparent chiffon veils that floated around her long and slender ethereal body.

She pouted thick, sensual, hungry lips resembling only those of Angelina.

Her enormous dark eyes bulged out just enough.

She chased after him.

Had she no pride?

She pursued him, kissing him desperately, almost biting him.

Was she ready to mate?

Do fish have sex...?

notes upon observing a fish tank in a waiting room

new moon ushers in the year of the dragon

2012-01-23T20:14:00.000-05:00

Tonight I begin to collect dreams, ideas, secrets and whispers of wisdom within the pages of a new journal. My toddler blessed the book with color, freedom and love...

wishing you poetry today...poetry heals

2012-01-22T16:30:00.003-05:00

Si me quitaran totalmente todo
si, por ejemplo, me quitaran el saludo
de los pájaros, o los buenos días
del sol sobre la tierra,
me quedaría
aún una palabra.
Aún me quedaría una palabra
donde apoyar la voz.
Si me quitaran las palabras,
o la lengua,
hablaría con el corazón
en la mano,
o con las manos en el corazón.
Si me quitaran una pierna
bailaría en un pie.
Si me quitaran un ojo
lloraría en un ojo.
Si me quitaran un brazo
me quedaría el otro,
para saludar a mis hermanos,
para sembrar los surcos de la tierra,
para escribir todas las playas del mundo, con tu nombre, amor mío.

- Alejandro Romualdo (1926-2008)

an archaeologist discovering my true self

2012-01-21T00:18:00.000-05:00

"If you focus on the present, your life will be constantly renewed. The present moment is the only time that is eternal. It never dies, nor can it be forgotten. Therefore, happiness in the present can never be taken away from you. It will free you from the snare of time, which brings about suffering through thought, evaluation, and analysis. Being fully in the present, you experience the timeless. In the timeless, you find your true self." - Deepak Chopra

an archaeologist
discovering my true self
fragment by fragment
smile by smile
moment by moment

surrender

2012-01-20T21:24:00.002-05:00

in the light of truth
...surrender to live life with nobility, grace and elegance

inspired

2012-01-19T17:57:00.001-05:00

"Draw a crazy picture,

Write a nutty poem,

Sing a mumble-gumble song,

Whistle through your comb.

Do a loony-goony dance

... 'Cross the kitchen floor,

Put something silly in the world

That ain't been there before.”

- Shel Silverstein (1930-1999)

mi vida es mi obra

2012-01-18T20:40:00.000-05:00

Are you living your life as if it were a work of art?

"Mi vida es mi obra: Siento la inmensa dicha de haber nacido bajo la tutela de los Andes que son la expresión de la fuerza y el milagro cósmico así mi obra expresa el espiritu de mi tierra Andina y el espiritu de mi gente aymara." - Marina Nuñez del Prado (approximately 1910 -1995)

goddess of women

2012-01-17T22:15:00.002-05:00

"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

living the dream

2012-01-16T20:42:00.000-05:00

...Though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.

It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

Do you have a dream? Are you living your dream?

bravery and beauty

2012-01-15T23:43:00.002-05:00

"Thank you to my wife...whose bravery and beauty haunts me still."

- Christopher Plummer

a day of reading, painting and writing...

2012-01-14T22:13:00.002-05:00

"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

truth

2012-01-13T12:19:00.002-05:00

seeker of truth

follow no path

all paths lead where

truth is here

- e.e. cummings (1894-1962)

Melba Debayle Tercero: High Priestess

2012-01-12T11:15:00.000-05:00

"...Inside the temple are lovely priestesses, chosen for their elegance and grace, who spend their lives serving the goddess, singing and dancing to her glory..." - Mary Olsen Kelly

remembering Tia Melba on her birthday

contemplate Mother Earth's beauty

2012-01-11T11:39:00.000-05:00

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show."

- Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009)

pueblo blessing

2012-01-10T20:02:00.000-05:00

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

winter's dance

2012-01-09T17:36:00.002-05:00

let us welcome winter's snow with the wonder of a child,

let us welcome winter's dance and celebrate the seasons of our lives

wild mother moon in all her fullness

2012-01-08T19:04:00.000-05:00

“All good things are wild and free.”
- Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

a dream - story

2012-01-07T19:22:00.000-05:00

The jewel-encrusted cave led her to an enormous drape of flowing water. Behind the luminescent waterfall curtain she discovered another world...a world where butterflies spoke and angels painted...a dream where the ocean sang and the moon danced...

excerpt from a dream-story originally published in May 2007

begin

2012-01-06T22:13:00.001-05:00

"Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do,

BEGIN IT. Action has magic, grace and power in it."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

positive thoughts

2012-01-05T12:19:00.001-05:00

"Thoughts are like drops of water. When I think the same thoughts over and over again, I am creating this incredible body of water. First, I have a little puddle, then I may get a pond, and as I continue to think the same thoughts over and over and over again, I have a lake, and finally an ocean. If my thoughts are negative, I can drown in a sea of my own negativity. If my thoughts are positive, I can float on the ocean of life. I dwell on positive thoughts."

- Louise L. Hay

we are all works in progress
let us be kind to ourselves and to each other
let us choose thoughts of peace and compassion

two pennies

2012-01-04T12:33:00.001-05:00

"When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other." - Chinese Proverb

holy curiosity

2012-01-03T21:21:00.000-05:00

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity."
- Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

what are you curious about ?

sparks into flames

2012-01-02T21:18:00.000-05:00

"Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement."

- Golda Meir (1898-1978)

dance in the rain

2012-01-01T17:04:00.001-05:00

the cold rain blesses my flesh

in the silence of my heart

I listen to my spirit

don't be afraid of getting wet

go out and dance in the rain

minutes from 2012

2011-12-31T23:51:00.001-05:00

we gathered around the light,

with love and gratitude we released 2011

with hope and wonder we welcome 2012

for all of the women in my life

2011-12-30T18:06:00.002-05:00

"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

sacred circle

2011-12-29T18:03:00.000-05:00

As the music started, the sun began to blush while the wind continued to breathe. One by one, they slowly emerged from the depths of the earth. Moving with rhythms of nature, the goddesses created a sacred circle and danced in beauty and dreams.

mariposa del chaman

2011-12-28T20:36:00.000-05:00

Butterfly, you are my Third Eye.

You are the one who gives me the power of flight.

I belong to you...

Did I even exist before you flew into my life?

excerpt from a short story begun in 2007

dance in beauty, love, poetry & light

2011-12-27T21:23:00.001-05:00

“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.”

- RUMI

fairy princess

2011-12-26T18:48:00.002-05:00

ribbons in her hair

a flower tucked behind an ear

rubber bands as bracelets

mother’s pearls - what pleasure

a crown of paper and a feather

oh nymph - oh fairy princess !

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T14:32:00.000-05:00

Christmas arrived with a New Moon...

blessings of peace, love and wonder...

IMAGE: 2007 mixed media

Noche Buena

2011-12-24T14:23:00.000-05:00

vintage photo from Grandparents' home, circa 1970s or 1960s
Tonight families gather to celebrate each other and to honor the Eve of Christ’s birth.

Those who are far away are missed more than ever.

Those who have passed away are always remembered.

A feast is prepared and enjoyed amidst laughter and song.

At midnight, bells ring to announce La Misa del Gallo, midnight mass with choir and candlelight.

Esta noche es Noche-Buena
Y no es noche de dormir.
– old Spanish verse

love love & more love

2011-12-23T15:32:00.000-05:00

A relaxed and peaceful state of being is more appreciated than a tired, stressed out state.

Take a nap instead of wrapping those last gifts.

Sip a cup of tea and contemplate the true meaning of the season...

His Holiness Sri Swami Satchidananda

2011-12-22T11:21:00.000-05:00

Sri Gurudev playing with me, circa 1973
The circle calls to me.

The sun has not risen, but I have.

His Holiness Sri Swami Satchidananda was born
on December 22nd in 1914.

The sun stands still.

I celebrate beloved Gurudev, today and always...

on the eve of winter solstice, I light candles and pray

2011-12-21T11:16:00.001-05:00

The wheel has been set in motion again for the New Year.

I am entering a new phase of my life...and it is time to celebrate the light.

festival of lights

2011-12-20T18:50:00.000-05:00

"May the light within you help dispel the darkness."

- R.L. Shep

mariposas en granada

2011-12-19T18:46:00.000-05:00

White butterflies danced in her hair. Her eyes glowed with child-like joy and innocence. As she carved out her dreams, she sang songs of love...

excerpt from journal entry

life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday

2011-12-18T23:09:00.000-05:00

"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)

PHOTOGRAPH, copyright CASIMIRA

writing on wings of dragons

2011-12-17T22:40:00.002-05:00

To attract good fortune, spend a new penny on an old friend, share an old pleasure with a new friend and lift up the heart of a true friend by writing her/his name on the wings of a dragon. - Proverb

...writing on wings of dragons...it is what I am called to do...

nos encontramos en mis sueños

2011-12-16T11:01:00.000-05:00

recordando a Guillermo Sevilla-Sacasa:
mi bello "Popo" de colonias y cuentos

Popo quien me enseño a dibujar
a jugar con palabras
a platicar con seguridad

a ser una verdadera pavo-real-la
de plumas blancas y plateadas como las de las hadas

Popo, siempre impecable y notable
un genio genial y jovial
de medallas y honores
Popo de mis amores

siento su mirada noche y día
escucho sus consejos
segura que nos encontramos en mis sueños..

remembering my beloved grandfather, truly a Grand Father

gitana

2011-12-15T10:57:00.001-05:00

soy guerrera de otros siglos,

soy reina desde antes,

soy gitana bailando,

soy esa que grita su verdad en silencio,

soy mujer

taking a deep breath

2011-12-14T21:55:00.000-05:00

"Patience is the companion of wisdom."
- Saint Augustine (354-430)

root of the root

2011-12-13T22:44:00.000-05:00

"Come return to the root of the root of your own Self.” – Rumi

dancing cheek to cheek

2011-12-12T18:21:00.000-05:00

“Heaven, I'm in heaven and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak and I seem to find the happiness I seek when we're out together dancing cheek to cheek…”

- Irving Berlin (1888 – 1989)

madre luna

2011-12-11T17:42:00.000-05:00

Mother Moon guides, in all her fullness...

Madre Luna, Madre Mia...

full moon lunar eclipse

2011-12-10T17:45:00.000-05:00

detail from a portrait by Robert Barberena De La Rocha

Watching the moon
at midnight,
solitary, mid-sky,
I knew myself completely,
no part left out.

- Izumi Shikibu (c. 974-1034)

full moon tonight

lunar eclipse

opportunity for enlightenment

blowing kisses to the wind

2011-12-09T17:39:00.000-05:00

The ghost descended upon the house deciding it belonged to her and nobody else – ever. She sang in the morning rain and danced under moonlight, blowing kisses to the wind, loving being visible to only a few.

an excerpt from a poem-short story I wrote in 1989

gold & diamonds

2011-12-08T12:24:00.000-05:00

...I had become a sunlit bird with claws of solid gold, eyes and beak of diamond...with a magnificent moon pearl between my wings I flew into my memories, into the past, into my imagination...in gold and diamonds I flew over the black-sandy beaches of my childhood...

excerpt from a dream, originally published in 2007

¿Quién causa tanta alegría?

2011-12-07T12:30:00.000-05:00

Who causes so much happiness?

This is the cry of millions of Nicaraguans during the December 7th “La Griteria” (The Shouting) celebration of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. An elaborate altar is set up with fresh flowers, lights, candles and more. Celebrants gather to sing prayerful hymns to Mother Mary. After the singing, massive amounts of food are distributed. Everything from oranges with little paper flags, candies made of condensed milk and coconut, tamales wrapped in dark green plantain leaves and a sweet pink drink made of corn. The tradition began somewhere between the 18th–19th century in the majestic colonial city of León, Nicaragua.

I have always seen “La Purisima” (The Purest) as a fascinating pagan-like ritual, one of my favorite parts of growing up Catholic. As a child, I believed we were honoring all the mothers, all the women and not just a statue of a pretty lady dressed in draping gowns. Even more so today, I like to believe the songs, the prayers and food honor and celebrate the goddess in every woman...

originally published in 2007

goddess mother everywhere
more than ever
we need you

healing in her wings

2011-12-06T12:22:00.000-05:00

"Truth, that fair goddess who comes always with healing in her wings."

- Anne Shannon Monroe (1877-1942)

medicine women in communion with the spirit world

2011-12-05T12:33:00.001-05:00

"The traditions of our people are handed down from father to son. The Chief is considered to be the most learned, and the leader of the tribe. The Medicine Man, however, is thought to have more inspiration. He is supposed to be in communion with spirits..."

- Sarah Winnemucca (1844-1891)

What traditions have we been handed down and by whom?

When are we Chiefs of our tribes?

How are we Medicine Women in communion with the spirit world?

warrior queen gypsy woman

2011-12-04T10:57:00.001-05:00

soy guerrera de otros siglos

soy reina desde antes

soy gitana bailando

soy esa que grita su verdad en silencio

soy mujer

from my journals

2011-12-03T10:46:00.000-05:00

"Any time is the time to make a poem."

- Gertrude Stein (1874-1926)

my life is a poem
with him and him

the waves in the ocean dance your name, he says

you are my ocean, she answers

laughter

no, that's cursi

doing what we love

2011-12-02T10:24:00.000-05:00

"Life is too short to work so hard."

- Vivien Leigh (1913-1967)

If we are doing work we LOVE, then it does not seem very hard...

definitely a woman

2011-12-01T12:28:00.000-05:00

"I'm very definitely a woman and I enjoy it."
- Marilyn Monroe (1926 – 1962)

With every year that passes, I enjoy who I am and where I am headed...

Being a woman is a great adventure.

Being a woman is a gift...an honor.

his kiss still makes me blush...

2011-11-30T10:27:00.000-05:00

he kissed me
17 years ago
today

he married me
9 years ago
today

his kiss still makes me blush...

look within

2011-11-29T09:31:00.002-05:00

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

2011-11-28T09:29:00.001-05:00

Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.

- Indira Gandhi (1917-1984)

Are you brave enough to forgive yourself?

Matriarchal Muse

2011-11-27T10:26:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-26T10:17:00.001-05:00

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

2011-11-25T12:55:00.000-05:00

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

truthful thanksgiving

2011-11-24T10:12:00.000-05:00

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

- Lana Turner (1920-1995)

a small-minded dinner party

2011-11-23T10:09:00.001-05:00

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

- Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962)

Madre Musa

2011-11-22T14:02:00.000-05:00

"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

2011-11-21T13:58:00.000-05:00

pajaro de pecho amarillo,

canta su poema,

libre y frio

...beginning of something...

casimira - today

2011-11-20T10:47:00.002-05:00

"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

2011-11-19T10:45:00.001-05:00

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

2011-11-18T22:12:00.001-05:00

“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

2011-11-17T11:03:00.000-05:00

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. Crowing 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

2011-11-16T11:00:00.001-05:00

...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

2011-11-15T15:09:00.001-05:00

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

fresa

2011-11-14T19:47:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-13T17:28:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-12T16:21:00.000-05:00

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

11.11.11

2011-11-11T16:09:00.003-05:00

"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

2011-11-10T15:58:00.001-05:00

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

2011-11-09T10:42:00.001-05:00

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

2011-11-08T10:34:00.001-05:00

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

2011-11-07T09:37:00.002-05:00

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

2011-11-06T09:34:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-05T09:33:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-04T13:57:00.001-05:00

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

2011-11-03T13:59:00.000-05:00

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

spend the day outdoors

a dream of dreams

2011-11-02T10:37:00.001-05:00

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

2011-11-01T10:32:00.002-05:00

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

great pumpkin

2011-10-31T10:30:00.001-05:00

"Dear Great Pumpkin,
I am looking forward to your arrival on Halloween Night..."

from the 1966 "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"
by Charles Schulz

2010 PHOTOGRAPH: my son running through a great pumpkin patch

hidden meaning serving evolution

2011-10-30T13:03:00.003-05:00

"Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment, are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution.” - Deepak Chopra

rain

2011-10-29T21:07:00.000-05:00

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow you gotta put up with the rain."

- Dolly Parton

49 years young

2011-10-28T20:01:00.000-05:00

“…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)

remembering my cousin

patience passion persistence

2011-10-27T20:24:00.001-05:00

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."
- Harriet Tubman (approximately 1818–1913)

contemplating patience, passion and persistence...

birthing new beginnings

2011-10-26T14:10:00.002-05:00

she is everywhere

volcano mother

birthing new beginnings

photograph is from a series I began back in 2002

your cloth

2011-10-25T13:48:00.000-05:00

if a human being is as fragile as a single thread...

is humanity the cloth made of countless woven threads?

who are the threads in your life?

what texture is your cloth?

originally published in 2007

spiral

2011-10-24T13:45:00.000-05:00

life is a spiral...and what a beautiful and exciting sprial it can be !

1999 details from ceramic self-portrait