true to myself

another self-portrait?  why not?   MIXED MEDIA 2010

What do you like best about yourself ?  How are you true to yourself ?

"What I like best about myself...is my audacity, my courage. The ways I have found to be true to myself without causing too much pain or damage. What I hate so much is my vanity, my need to shine, my need of applause and my sentimentality. I would like to be harder. I cannot make a joke, make fun of anyone, without feeling regrets."- Anaïs Nin (1903-1977)

I love the artist in me who dares with such security...

I love the author in me, birthing new worlds out of dreams and hopes...

I don't use the word "hate" - but I do dislike my need to please others...my need to be loved by all...although the older I get, the less I seem to care...

a love song

el cuello,

pilar del templo,

de donde salen verdades inventadas,

voz de cuento,

canción de amor

from my journals

from the soul

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

- Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)

aloud

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”

- Coco Chanel (1883 - 1971)

blue waters

she paints her lips in blue waters...I dream of being a mermaid

goddess dreams of pearls

some of my pearls waiting to become a CASIMIRA
...patient pearls of wisdom, patient pearls of light
the goddess handed them to me in a dream last night...

wildness

2007 "Under The Sea" mixed media
“...in 1450 a beautiful Celtic mermaid named Asenora swam ashore on the coast of Cornwall where a Benedictine monastery had recently been established. After removing her fish tail and hiding it among the rocks, she explored the area on foot and discovered the community of men. She made many clandestine visits – -

....Suspicious that Asenora was no ordinary woman but a mermaid, and greatly alarmed by her presence, the abbot of the monastery hid himself by the water and waited. He witnessed Asenora swim ashore, remove her fish tail and hide it in a niche in the cliff.

When she wandered off in the direction of the abbey, the shrewd abbot retrieved the fish tail, bundling it into his robe. He tucked it inside a secret compartment hidden under the seat of his chair, in the church. Without her tail, the poor mermaid could never go back to the sea, and soon the wildness of it drained out of her. Asenora was converted, and eventually became Saint Senara...”

excerpt from “The Mermaid Chair” a novel by Sue Monk Kidd @ 2005

Has every saint somehow lost her wildness?...

Nicaragua

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

hold onto each other

“The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.”
- Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993)

pearls of wisdom

detail from my studio's desk

pearls of wisdom from the sea...she has given me

Sevilla-Sacasa

today is my beloved grandfather's birthday...

from meditations and dreams

I am often asked to describe and explain how I create - process, techniques, materials, equipment.  Pieces are birthed from meditations and dreams.  I surrender to intuition...

coral dreams

Dressed in coral from head to foot, she entered the ancient temple illuminated only by candlelight…

excerpt from last night's dreams

healing crystal

healing crystal,
chosen by the innocence of childhood,
through the wisdom of ancient ancestors...

wise women of the dreamtime

Who are the wise women in your life?  When do you seek their counsel?

The wise women speak to me through dreams and symbols.

There are no coincidences...I am being guided, moment by moment.

"In the ancient way of being, the earth not only creates, feels, and protects life, but like a mother, whispers through natural signs and images the secret knowledge of how body, mind, emotions and spirit work upon each other in an intricate, invisible weaving."
- Johanna Lambert from "Wise Women of the Dreamtime"

honey essence

“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)

daughters and mothers

"Women must remember the sacred nature of our Goddess self, the call to glory inherent in human incarnation.  We are daughters of history and mothers to a new world.  This is not the time to throw away our power.  It is time to claim it, in the name of love."
- Marianne Williamson

Chavela Vargas

“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)

a woman's work

"I may sometimes be willing to teach for nothing, but if paid at all, I shall never do a man's work for less than a man's pay." - Clara Barton (1821-1912)

"The Art of Clara Barton" - TODAY

I am excited to have a couple of my mixed media portraits in this group exhibition...

truth considered beautiful

"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

Princess Diana: a free spirit

"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)

speak your truth

"Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know our garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel like they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off toward the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.

See who is there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves! For the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lonely wolf is over. Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we have been waiting for."

The Elders,
Oraibi, Arizona
Hopi Nation

improve the world

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."
- Anne Frank (1929-1945)

become its soul

"Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul."
- Coretta Scott King (1927-2006)

dare to discover

"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...

support of the woman

“…but you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love…”
– Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor (1894-1972)

inner world

"Keep your eye on your inner world and keep away from ads, idiots and movie stars."

– Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012)

legend

"Now, I think that I should have known that he was magic all along. I did know it - but I should have guessed that it would be too much to ask to grow old with and see our children grow up together. So now, he is a legend when he would have preferred to be a man."
- Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994)

ideas

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

- Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962)

people

"Don't care what people say."
- Édith Piaf (1915-1963)

eternal feminine

"I belong to no race nor time.  I am the eternal feminine with its string of beads."
- Zora Neale Hurston (1903-1960)

Papa-Coco de mis sueños

nací siendo la primera nieta de

Antioco Sacasa Sarria

mi Papa-Coco de ojos azules



Papa-Coco quien me contaba cuentos

historias reales

leyendas maravillosas

con guitarra y voz dulce



Papa-Coco siento su mirada en cielos celestes

Papa-Coco escucho sus consejos con amor

ya que siempre nos encontramos en mis sueños


Beloved Grand Father,

How I wish you were still walking this planet, holding my son's hand.

Although, I am certain you are already great friends.

Mi Papa-Coco de mis sueños...

silver liquid kisses

"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby."
- Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

aloud

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”

- Coco Chanel (1883 - 1971)

she shall dance the freedom of women

"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)

woolf wisdom

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

play like yourself

"Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself."
- Miles Davis (1926-1991)

to love anyone else

“It would be impossible to love anyone else.”
– Sophia Loren (b. 1934)

shadow of love

bronze bangles worn by warriors of light

"A bird is dancing with the joy of life.

Where did it come from?  No one can tell me.

What is it singing?  No one can say.

It nests in the dark

Where the deep shade is thrown,

Coming at evening, departing at dawn,

Giving no clue to whatever it means.

I can't find out why this bird

Sits inside me,

On the branch of the Eternal -

Unnoticed by all -

In the shadow of love."

-KABIR

child of destiny

“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)

as a mother loves

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

only one of you in all of time

"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)

interwoven moments

"Every moment one lives is different from the other. The good, the bad, hardship, the joy, the tragedy, love, and happiness are all interwoven into one single, indescribable whole that is called life."
- Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994)

always

"I'll be loving you Always
With a love that's true Always.
When the things you've planned
Need a helping hand,
I will understand Always.

Always.

Days may not be fair Always,
That's when I'll be there Always.
Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But Always.

I'll be loving you, oh Always
With a love that's true Always.
When the things you've planned
Need a helping hand,
I will understand Always.

Always.

Dreams will all come true,
growing old with you,
and time will fly,
caring each day more
than the day before,
till spring rolls by.
Then when the springtime has gone,
Then will my love linger on.

I'll be loving you, oh Always
With a love that's true Always.
When the things you've planned
Need a helping hand,
I will understand Always.

Always.

Days may not be fair Always,
That's when I'll be there Always.
Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But Always."

- Iriving Berlin (1888-1989)

Estrella Maruca

a story about a little star who dreams of becoming a mother:

Un día, una estrellita muy bonita fue hablar con el Padre Sol, pidiéndole un gran favor.

- Padre, yo sueño con ser Madre. Quisiera vivir en la tierra para sentir y amar hasta llorar.

--- Estrellita, hija mía, tu lugar es en el cielo, de donde puedes alumbrar y atravez de esa luz, amar.

- O, Padre Sol, te pido que me dejes caminar el mundo. Prometo llevar conmigo el manto de nuestra Madre María, ya que es por Ella que sueño con ser Madre un día.

excerpt from "Estrella Maruca" © 2005 written for Grand Mother, in her honour

all we are saying

...is give peace a chance...

create the world you want

"How wrong it is for a woman to expect the man to build the world she wants, rather than to create it herself." - Anaïs Nin (1903-1977)

braver stronger smarter

“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

patience and wisdom

"Patience is the companion of wisdom."
- Saint Augustine