just be

detail from silk pouch, 2009
walk into the fire
surrender into the sea
just be

el amor

detail from silk pouch, 2009
el amor eterno
el amor fresco y despierto
el amor de rosas y mariposas

a love eternal

detail from silk pouch, 2009
a love so pure
a love so real
a love eternal

roses

detail from silk pouch, 2009
the roses
her roses
invaded me with sacred blessings
mother mary, mother earth

sandy dreams

detail from silk pouch, 2009
salt water blessings
sandy dreams
childhood memories

surrender

detail from silk pouch, 2009
motherhood
a gift
a priviledge
a challenge
a surrender into the fire

volcano mother

detail from silk pouch, 2009
she is everywhere
volcano mother
birthing new beginnings

¿Quién causa tanta alegría?

2007 mixed media featuring the interior of León's cathedral
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 white lady dressed in blue 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

living poetry

detail from silk pouch, 2009
colonial cobblestone streets
where ancestors strolled
arm in arm
under moonlight
writing our stories
dreaming our existence into being
living poetry

love story

detail from silk pouch, 2009
a love story
yesterday
today and tomorrow

mother moon

detail from silk pouch, 2009
mother moon guided
in all her fullness
she welcomed us home

liquid light

detail from silk pouch, 2009
light
liquid light
throughout this journey and beyond

she challenged me

detail from another silk pouch, 2009
she challenged me
and I am stronger

she challenged me
and I am wiser

she challenged me
and I am grateful

simple pleasures

detail from one of my crazy silk pouches, Kwan Yin

value simple pleasures

savor what is naturally good

REUSE and RENEW

cook with humor, eat with meaning

give thanks for farmers and support bountiful oceans

give and give back

share home-cooked favorites

do good and be well

- Whole Foods Market recycled brown paper bag

This Holiday season...let us focus on SIMPLE PLEASURES....

his kiss

ageless souls soar, 2007 greeting card
he kissed me (my first kiss)
15 years ago
today

he married me
7 years ago
today

his kiss still makes me blush...

setting a price

2009 mixed media on wood
how do I set a price on my soul's work?

by size or weight?
by time spent designing, sewing, hammering, painting?
by provenance or preference?

how do I set a price on something I consider priceless?

circling love

2009 photograph
Walk to the well.
Turn as the earth and the moon turn,
circling what they love.
Whatever circles comes from the center.
-RUMI

...are you circling what you love?

dance in joy

another photo taken by baby, un-retouched 2009
dance away
denial

dance away
decay

dance away
grief

dance in
truth

dance in
renewal

dance in
joy

there is an ocean between them
both are drowning and can only save each other

one is dying
another is birthing

be here now
refreshed and ready to sing

today, dance in joy


remembering my Uca who always danced in joy,
happy birthday beloved Grand Mother

thanksgiving recipe

detail from a silk pouch, 2009
5 pounds of gratitude
2 cups of forgiveness
4 cups of laughter
spice with a tablespoon of mischief & a pinch of mystery
add wonder to taste
mix well and serve with dance, joy and light

happy thanksgiving

wake up to life

another un-retouched photograph taken by my one-year-old baby boy
sense energies
perceive fields of light
wake up to life
love in the moment

initiation

me, laughing through life
initiation
towards
sacred joy

living in the moment
forgiving all fools
laughing through life

stop complaining
start appreciating
now

message received during morning meditation

genius of light

2009 photograph from a series taken by my one-year-old
I stretch and I breathe
I forgive and I forget
he hands me a card that reads:

QUALITY rather than appearance...
ETHICS rather than rules....
INTEGRITY rather than domination...
KNOWLEDGE rather than achievement...
SERENITY rather than acquisitions.
- Dr. Wayne Dyer

the genius of the innocent
the genius of the pure of heart
the genius of light

happy birthday

my beautiful mother & my beautiful baby
a mother's birthday
is a special day, indeed
happy birthday mammi

lineas azules

my blue lips
I dreamed with blue oceans and lions
I heard his voice calling to me
I wrote to him in blue spanish

lineas azules
besos celestes
abrazos morados risas rosadas
y luz infinita

excerpt from a letter written this morning

almost believed

piece recently donated for a raffle benefitting Dress for Success
what does it mean? she wondered aloud.

what does what mean? he asked with curiosity.

life...she responded.

there are many interpretations of reality, but one universal truth, he answered with utmost security.

she almost believed him.

closed eyes, opened soul

2009 self-portrait from a series
Paul Gauguin said he closed his eyes in order to see.
I close my eyes to go deep inside where I gain wisdom and strength.
I close my eyes and quiet my mind.
I close my eyes and breathe.
I close my eyes to open my soul.

timelessness

one of my altars
With the recent and most unexpected passing of a friend, I have been questioning time....and Kahlil Gibran answers me:

You would measure time the measureless and the immeasurable.

You would adjust your conduct and even direct the course of your spirit according to hours and seasons.

Of time you would make a stream upon whose bank you would sit and watch its flowing.

Yet the timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness,

And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.

And that that which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space.

Who among you does not feel that his power to love is boundless?

And yet who does not feel that very love, through boundless, encompassed within the centre of his being, and moving not from love thought to love thought, nor from love deeds to other love deeds?

And time even as love is, undivided and spaceless?

But if in your thought you must measure time into seasons, let each season encircle the other seasons,

And let today embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing.

- Kahlil Gibran

one night, all night

2009 self-portrait from a series
he slept with the ebony queen

she dreamed with the ancient pharaoh of peace

the young prince prayed all night

goldfish, yoga & buddha

one of my beloved Buddhas
Last night, I dreamed I attended a yoga retreat.
The instructor was Buddha.
I remember lovely goldfish swimming next to me.

up all night

I was assembling pieces to photograph and someone decided to help

When I am with you, we stay up all night.
When you're not here, I can't go to sleep.

Praise God for these two insomnias!
And the difference between them.

- RUMI

how well do you sleep?
sometimes, I have so many ideas...
sometimes, baby wakes me...
sometimes, I dream so much...

drenched in joy

2007 photograph of sterling warrior bangles receiving nature's blessing

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven-
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendour of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

- Saint Patrick, Irish morning prayer

we began this rainy morning with
prayer
laughter
humility
forgiveness
we began this rainy morning
drenched in joy

celestial patroness

2007 mixed media detail
"Our Lady of Guadalupe
Celestial Patroness of the Americas
Empress of the Americas
Star of the New Evangelization

"I shall be there to listen to your cries, your sadness. I shall be there to cure your grievances, your misery, your suffering."

Mary is, and shall always be, the Mother of all mankind. We must heed Her call to love..."

excerpts from a small pamphlet I picked up at St. Patrick's in NYC, I saved it and just found it in one of my journals

originally published in 2007

learning to make fire

amber detail

Marriage is not
a house or even a tent

it is before that, and colder;

the edge of the forest, the edge
of the desert
the unpainted stairs
at the back where we squat
outside, eating popcorn

the edge of the receding glacier

where painfully and with wonder
at having survived even
this far

we are learning to make fire

- "Habitation" by Margaret Atwood (b. 1939)

The poetry book called to me this morning.
I had never read this particular poem, and just loved it instantly.
...we are learning to make fire....

an empress

2007 Untitled color study for jewels
Purple - is fashionable twice -
This season of the year,
And when a soul perceives itself
To be an Emperor. -- EMILY DICKINSON 1830-1886

or an empress...yes, a CASIMIRA empress

originally published in 2007

in my dreams

2009 photograph of Granada, Nicaragua
I was in an ancient city which seemed so familiar.
Cobblestone streets, an imposing cathedral and artists on every corner: dancing, painting, performing.
I had been here before....in my dreams, in another lifetime.

excerpt from last night's dreams

dreams are wiser

pieces for my upcoming show
Dreams are wiser than men.
- Omaha proverb

what have you been dreaming of?

true emotions

2009 photograph

There were always in me, two women at least,
one woman desperate and bewildered,
who felt she was drowning and another who
would leap into a scene, as upon a stage,
conceal her true emotions because they
were weaknesses, helplessness, despair,
and present to the world only a smile,
an eagerness, curiosity, enthusiasm, interest.

- Anaïs Nin (1907-1977)

why do we feel the need to conceal our true emotions?

every morning

2009 photograph

they don't have
very long memories,
so every morning
seems like a miracle

- Brian Andreas

every morning is a holiday
he wakes up overjoyed
laughing, playing, singing, dancing
...and he has an amazing memory
and an even more amazing heart

poetry of life

2007 Untitled mixed media
see the positive
-- he finds inspiration in everything - even in cleaning toilets

focus on the poetry of life
-- his paintings are silent poems

search for beauty and allow her to take over

forgive everyone, including yourself

thoughts after viewing an interview of a dear friend and mentor
Maestro Omar d'Leon

let us love

Granada, Nicaragua 2009
she loves French music and dancing by moonlight
he loves her laugh
what do you love?
today, let us love...

haves & have nots

I have my hands full....2009 photograph

I have a brilliant one-year-old baby boy.

I do not have a nanny or a housekeeper.



I have an upcoming museum show and an international trip in less than a month.

I do not have an assistant.



I have the best husband-lover-friend on the planet....



excerpt from my journals

grateful

2009 photograph taken by my 1-year-old son
Pablo Picasso believed every child is an artist.
My little artist surprises and inspires me every single day.
New words - this morning it was "TORTUGA" (turtle).
Spontaneous sketches in my journals.
The plastic zebra I stepped on.
I am blessed and grateful beyond words...

floating in moonlight

2007 mixed media
I woke up from a dream to find him praying.
The statue of the Virgin glowed, floating in moonlight.

dia de los muertos

detail from a corner of my desk
estamos muertos si no vivimos la vida al maximo
los muertos viven en nuestros recuerdos
hoy, dia de los muertos

soul surrender

detail from mixed media, 2009
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

...remembering the souls of the departed
who never really leave....they simply surrender to the cycle of life

a story in progress

my son in front of a mural by artist Robert Barberena De La Rocha, Granada, Nicaragua 2009
always writing
in my dreams
in my head
in my journals

this photograph has inspired a story that is in progress

las rosas del principe

"las rosas" 2009 photograph
I was reading The Little Prince to my little prince this morning:

But it so happened that the little prince, having walked a long time through sand and rocks and snow, finally discovered a road. And all roads go to where there are people.

"Good morning," he said.
It was a blossoming rose garden.
"Good morning," said the roses.

The little prince gazed at them.
All of them looked like his flower.

"Who are you?" he asked, astounded.
"We're roses," the roses said.
"Ah!" said the little prince.

And he felt very unhappy. His flower had told him she was the only one of her kind in the whole universe. And here were five thousand of them, all just alike, in just one garden!

......he said to himself, I thought I was rich because I had just one flower, and all I own is an ordinary rose. That and my three volcanoes, which come up to my knee, one of which may be permanently extinct. It doesn't make me much of a prince....And he lay down in the grass and wept.

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

de mi ventana

2007 Untitled mixed media
los pajarillos color sangre

bailan en arboles dorados

están enamorados

el árbol

2009 "árbol" photograph
excerpt from one of my favorite books:

El árbol cantaba con el viento; su follaje hacia música de hojas y sus ramas al rozarse entre si chirriaban, casi como pajaritos. Pero el árbol nunca le hablo, sino hasta aquel día en que el niño se quedo adormecido entre las raíces que sobresalían entre la hierba antes de hundirse en el suelo. La voz sonora dijo: "Te quiero, si me muero, me iré con vos."

- Salvador Cardenal, "Montaña en Flor"

focus

2009 photograph, sin titulo/untitled
where is our focus?

are we grateful for all that we are?

are we aligned with others who support our growth?