you dance inside my chest

“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

I want to know what you ache for...

one of my favorite poems by Oriah Mountain Dreamer:

"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"

a reminder to be true to myself, to my dreams, to my art...

adventurous

"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)

centered & balanced

I was organizing a bookshelf and stopped to view some photos from years ago. I was younger - and thinner, but I feel more beautiful today. I know who I am, where I stand and where I am headed. I am centered and balanced.

how old do you feel today?

"I'm not interested in age.
People who tell me their age are silly.
You're as old as you feel."

- Elizabeth Arden (1884 - 1966)

I believe we are all AGE-LESS.

At times I feel I am two thousand years old...wise and eternal, connected with both heaven and earth.

Other times, I feel I am a girl of four or five, wishing upon a star and skipping my way through life with laughter and careless joy.

How old do you feel today?

wish upon the NEW MOON tonight

"The soul, like the moon,
is new, and always new again."
- Lalla (14th century)

four blessings: old age, beauty, happiness & strength

"Just as the soft rains fill the streams,
pour into the rivers, and join together in the oceans,
so may the power of every moment of your goodness
flow forth to awaken and heal all beings--
those here now, those gone before, those yet to come.

By the power of every moment of your goodness,
may your heart's wishes be soon fulfilled
as completely shining as the bright full moon,
as magically as by a wish-fulfilling gem.

By the power of every moment of your goodness,
may all dangers be averted and all disease be gone.
May no obstacle come across your way.
May you enjoy fulfillment and long life.

For all in whose heart dwells respect,
who follow the wisdom and compassion, of the Way,
may your life prosper in the four blessings
of old age, beauty, happiness and strength."

- Traditional Buddhist Blessing & Healing Chant

con tu nombre amor mío

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)

moving to Susana Baca's sung version

siempre nos encontramos en mis sueños

mi bello 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...

remembering my beloved grandfather on his birthday

feel the artistry

"Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent." - RUMI

art of living

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

old love letters

"Make each day a magnificent adventure.  Accept the challenges that come your way.  Seize each opportunity that you find, without concern for what others might say.  Experience each day with open arms, savoring both victory and strife, welcoming the good and bad together, for only then will you know the joy of life." - Anonymous

found amongst old letters this morning

patience passion persistence

"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...

a day of play

We built a couple of colorful towers.  We gathered two monkeys, two dogs, at least three lions, a leopard, a cardinal, a snake and a sleepy giraffe.  Guests of all sizes and shapes arrived in planes, helicopters, boats and trains.  French music played in the background as we danced, giggled and blew bubbles...

a lovely Sunday with my 4-year-old

in love with life

forgiveness keeps us young, forgiveness keeps us light, forgiveness keeps us in love with life

who do we need to forgive?
who needs to forgive us?

"The act of forgiveness is the act of returning to present time. And that's why when one has become a forgiving person, and has managed to let go of the past, what they've really done is they've shifted their relationship with time. Forgive and call back the energy wasted on past events."
- Carolyn Myss

trusting the process of life

“Affirm to yourself as you sort through your things, “It’s safe to let go.” Clearing clutter is about letting go and trusting the process of life to bring you what you need when you need it. Anything you are keeping “just in case,” you are keeping through fear.”
-- Karen Kingston

warrior queen gypsy woman

soy guerrera de otros siglos,

soy reina desde antes,

soy gitana bailando,

soy esa que grita su verdad en silencio,

soy mujer

what inspires you?

from my studio...
 

antique books with golden pages,

blank textured cards - thirsty for words,

transparent buttons and crystal clusters,

a corset to be worn with white leather gloves,

colorless miniature buildings,

framed porcelain seeds waiting to bloom,

a fallen tree birthed into something new,

an empty box ready to hold memories,

bleached banana leaves and a single brave feather,

tiny fingerprint pebbles,

an ivory talisman that rested upon her heart,

a sculpture that whispers - WOMAN, you have WINGS, now FLY...

from my journals

earth and stars

Be humble for you are made of earth.
Be noble for you are made of stars.
- SERBIAN PROVERB

the air that inhabits you

"I would like to watch you sleeping,
which may not happen.
I would like to watch you,
sleeping...

I would like to be the air
that inhabits you for a moment
only.  I would like to be that unnoticed
and that necessary."
-Margaret Atwood

ask for what you really want

"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.

Don't go back to sleep.

You must ask for what you really want.

Don't go back to sleep." - RUMI

harvest moon

mother moon guides, in all her fullness...let us harvest our dreams under moonlight tonight...

may you know beauty

" may the SUN bring you new energy by day,

may the MOON softly restore you by night,

may the RAIN wash away your worries,

may the BREEZE blow new strength into your being,

may you WALK gently through the world and know

its beauty all the days of your life. "

- APACHE blessing

frog medicine

“Due to the fascinating transitions the Frog goes through in its life, it is a symbol of METAMORPHOSIS…the Frog’s dual time spent on land and water represents duality of the SOUL.  The Frog also symbolizes CREATIVITY and FORWARD THINKING.” – Avia Venefica

golden wings

"Oh soul, you worry too much. You have seen your own strength. You have seen your own beauty. You have seen your golden wings. Of anything less, why do you worry? You are in truth the soul, of the soul, of the soul.” - RUMI

manifest the glory

"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)

inner dialogue

"Recognize that what you think about, EXPANDS. Monitor your inner dialogue, and match your thoughts to what you want, and what you intend to create." - Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

grace

"We do not interact at random.  We are in each other's lives for spiritual reasons.  We have "business" with one another.  By consciously choosing to focus on why I have met someone, on how I can best serve and expand another, I bring to each encounter a heightened awareness.  As I ask to love all and serve all, I bring forward my spiritual gifts and call forward the gifts of others.  Grace fills every moment when we are truly present.  Sometimes we transit each other's lives like benevolent planets."
- Julia Cameron

PHOTOGRAPH: 2011, my son and Doña Petronila holding one of my pieces

for Jennifer and Tony

"And what of Marriage, master?" 
      And he answered saying: 
      You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. 
      You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days. 
      Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. 
      But let there be spaces in your togetherness, 
      And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. 
      Love one another but make not a bond of love: 
      Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. 
      Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. 
      Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. 
      Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, 
      Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. 
      Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. 
      For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. 
      And stand together, yet not too near together: 
      For the pillars of the temple stand apart, 
      And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow."'
- Kahlil Gibran

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