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

opportunities for growth

- 2004 self-portrait in metal -

“Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal;
it strengthens, tempers, intensifies, but never destroys it.” 
- Eliza Tabor

...disappointment creates opportunities for growth...

mi madrina

Dame la dulzura de tus labios,
El calor de tu cuerpo,
El placer de tus manos,
El milagro de tu amor,
Llename de ti y así los dos revalsaremos de pasión.

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

Tu eres mi cielo siempre rodeandome de amor.
Tu eres mi sol siempre dandome calor.
Tu eres mi luna siempre mi luz en la oscuridad
Yo te prometo ser lo mismo y crear para los dos un paraíso hasta la eternidad.

- Edda M. Sevilla (b. 1949)

Happy Birthday Beloved Godmother Tilly...truly a God Mother to me, to my son and to so many...

just sing a song

one of my son's favorite songs has become a favorite of mine too...

Sing, sing a song,
Sing out loud,
Sing out strong,
Sing of good things not bad,
Sing of happy not sad.

Sing, sing a song
Make it simple to last
Your whole life long
Don't worry that it's not
Good enough for anyone
Else to hear
Just sing, sing a song.

Sing, sing a song
Let the world sing along
Sing of love there could be
Sing for you and for me.

Sing, sing a song
Make it simple to last
Your whole life long
Don't worry that it's not
Good enough for anyone
Else to hear
Just sing, sing a song.

- Words & Music by Joe Raposo created for Sesame Street

full moon tonight

The sweet simple things of life...

A child’s smile...

A firefly’s light...

A friend’s laughter...

A juicy peach...

A lover’s kiss...

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."

- Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957)

...remember to celebrate the full moon tonight...

de la naturaleza

- mixed media -

“Mi relación con la música viene de la naturaleza, no de la academia. Si yo hubiera estudiado, quizá sería una afamada cantante. Pero no Chavela Vargas” - Chavela Vargas (1919-2012)

unexpected soul mates

- mixed media from ROMANCE series -

"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)

wild desire

- mixed media from ROMANCE series -

“I'm falling in love with somebody I have no right to fall in love with...I can't fall in love with this man, but it's just like a ring of fire.”- June Carter Cash (1929-2003)

Love is a burning thing,
And it makes a fiery ring
Bound by wild desire
I fell into a ring of fire.

I fell into a burning ring of fire
I went down, down, down
And the flames went higher,
And it burns, burn, burns,
The ring of fire, the ring of fire.

The taste of love is sweet
When hearts like ours meet.
I fell for you like a child
Oh, but the fire ran wild.

from my journals

vestida de agua,

camina la diosa

- sombras bailando en las paredes del alma

- ella lleva olas del mar en sus caderas

- ella lleva luz de luna en sus sonrisa

~~~~~~~

dressed in waters,

the goddess walks

- shadows dance upon soul’s walls

- ocean waves at her hips

- moonlight in her smile

El Poeta Carpintero

Déjame hablar contigo -

-- Por Raúl Xavier García

-- A Julia Casimira Sacasa


"Esa inquietud. Esta necesidad de saber

lo que no es tuyo ni mío,

es lo que te obliga a obedecer:

nos lleva desprotegido hacia el peligro.

Más tarde, con los golpes que te da la vida,

con ellos puedes empezar a comprender

y medir distancias, si caminar sobre el mar

o en las brasas del fuego.

Y en la serenidad te niegas a sí mismo,

sería como huir sin esperar, amar sin ser herida.

Y mañana correr la sangre en abundancia

no así, el asma." - Raúl Xavier García, "Poeta Carpintero" (b. 1931)

truth is here

- mixed media -

seeker of truth,

follow no path,

 

all paths lead where,

truth is here

- e.e. cummings (1894-1962)

a free spirit

- mixed media -

"I like to be a free spirit. Some don't like that, but that's the way I am."
-Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales (1961-1997)

my undressed soul

- mixed media from journals -

" 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 – 1929)

dance with wildness

"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments."

© Oriah Mountain Dreamer from the book "The Invitation"

irresistible pull of gravity

- mixed media - ROMANCE series -

"She was so extraordinarily beautiful that I nearly laughed out loud...I fell in love with her at once.  She was like a mirage of beauty of the ages, irresistible, like a pull of gravity.  She has everything I want in a woman." - Richard Burton (1925-1984)

mixed media from an ongoing series

romance de amantes

“The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They are in each other all along.” – RUMI

"MUJERES: Hijas - Hermanas - Madres"

from the soul

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

"True glamour comes from within...it radiates from the soul."

- Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)

elegance

- mixed media "Mujeres: Hijas, Hermanas, Madres" -

"Elegance is refusal."
- Coco Chanel

poema de amor - June Beer

- 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)

child of destiny

- mixed media from ROMANCE series -

“Since I was a little girl, I believed I was a child of destiny, and if that is true, Richard Burton was surely my fate.”
– Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)

mantra

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

"Arrange whatever pieces come your way."
- Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)

aire para los pulmones

- mixed media from "Mujeres: Hijas, Hermanas, Madres" -

 "La oración es para el alma lo que el aire para los pulmones.

Prayer is to the soul what air is to the lungs."

- Sor María Romero Meneses (1902 – 1977)

a prayer can be a single breath...

inhale light, inhale God,

exhale love, exhale forgiveness

nostalgia de mi Nicaragua

- mixed media from series: Mujeres: Hijas, Hermanas, Madres -

"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)

adventurous

- mixed media -

"I feel very adventurous. There are so many doors to be opened, and I'm not afraid to look behind them." - Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)