"THE STORIES" SERIES: #7 "THE GUARDIAN"

"The Guardian" image came out of a guided meditation during a class with my teacher, Tamara Diaghilev, who I have mentioned in previous posts. The theme of the meditation was about connecting with your spirit guide, higher self--whatever you want to call it---that energy being that is you and yet bigger than you--a protector and a guide. During the meditation I "saw" clearly in my mind the image of the dark woman dressed in white. At the end of the session, I quickly sketched it in my journal. It wasn't til much later that I finally got around to painting it. And while I was working on it, the rest of the finished image developed--my self portrait, being "held" by her--and , in turn---aspects of my younger self being held by me. The two figures in the bubbles are myself at about 4 yrs. old and as a teenager in high school.

This original painting is acrylic on canvas and is in my private collection (where it is going to stay!) It's one of those important ones.

"THE STORIES" SERIES---#6 "12TH PETAL"

The original of this painting was gouache on paper---I had it for a long time and I didn't think I would ever sell it, but it did sell (to another artist) and unfortunately, I don't have a record of where it went. (I'm not sure how I lost track of it, but if you own it, please email me & let me know)

It was one that documented a glimpse into the metaphysical world, and as often happens, it occurred around a very stressful time for me. The image is a rendition of a "vision" that was seen and reported to a close friend of mine as she was having a reading done of her own situation by a man who was a friend of hers & happened to be a dowser. I was seen as residing on her 12th Petal--a reference to how relationships with other people could be examined. I was in the "darkness" (because of the stress and grief I was experiencing at the time), but was slowly coming into the light. My friend's description of her session with the dowser, and what he said was so compelling to me that it immediately created a visual image in my mind--which is what became this painting.

"THE STORIES" SERIES--#5 "BLUE HORSE"

I am sorry that I don't have a better image of this piece--it is another one that I sold long ago. I haven't seen this painting in years, and its owner told me that it has been damaged. The central image was inspired by Joseph Campbell's book, "The Masks of God: Vol. I Primitive Mythology". There was a section where he talked about early Bear Cults, and told of a tribe of Caucasian peoples who lived in the mountains of Japan, called the Ainu--who revered bears. Campbell related that the men of the village would capture a bear cub and bring it back to the community, where the women would breast feed the cub and the whole village would treat the animal as a god for a about a year. At the end of the prescribed period, there would be a big celebration during which the bear would be sacrificed.
This story was so compelling to me (and of course Joseph Campbell was a fabulous storyteller)--that I had to depict this image--one of many that came to me as I read the book.
The small image in the upper section of the painting is a blue horse in a pink and yellow canyon--an image that literally appeared to me as I walked my dog around the City College campus late one night. Initially, I wasn't sure where this blue horse image came from---until I remembered the story I had written and illustrated in the first grade entitled "The Blue Horse That Cried". It was a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer kind of story--nobody liked the Blue Horse because he was different. In the story, he performs some heroic act, and then is celebrated by his peers. So the arrival of this image was like a link to my past, and was initiated, (I believe), by the work I was doing in Tamara Diaghilev's class at that time, where we were doing guided meditations and clearing out our chakras. I have mentioned Tamara in a previous blog post--much of what I have been able to accomplish with my artwork is a direct result of her teachings, guidance and inspiration. Thank you Tamara!!!