George Washington’s visions are well worth reading, click here to read.  The visitor, an angel, said to him, “Son of the Republic, look and learn” and he was shown what seemed to be the development of America, a true vision of the future. I get the chills reading it.  I started to really appreciate George Washington when we lived in our farmhouse, built in 1750, and I heard tell of George and his troops marching up the hill to what was once a drum factory. They say he visited the tavern that once stood a few acres away from our old house, and the tavern’s foundation stones were still on the property.  In reading to my young sons about the early days of America, George Washington came to life for me. I carved this so it stood on our mantel, the original from 1750, where I also painted that scene of George and the troops marching up the hill.

Clairvoyant Abe Lincoln was ever on my mind yesterday, and so I drew on a nice, thick piece of plywood and my husband kindly cut around the lines I drew with a band saw (I don’t like using saws!) and then I painted him. In the 1980′s I once visited the great, eccentric folk artist, Reverend Finster (down in Georgia) and so if my Abe reminds you of his stuff, it would make sense as I always felt aligned with that kind of art and probably no matter how sophisticated I intend some of my sculptures (carvings, wood cut outs, etc.) to be, they may always have at least a hint of folk art nature about them. (And if you want your own Abe, let me know!)

My fast sketch of Abe this morning/2012

When I was about 5 or 6, my family was on a car trip (seven kids and 2 parents).  I don’t remember where we were going, but I remember saying, “Remember when we went to Abe Lincoln’s house?” And my dad, driving, answered, “We’ve never been to Abe Lincoln’s house!” Everyone in the car agreed. But I said, “Yes we have, yes we did go there!” And saw in my mind’s eye the house (black wrought iron fence or gate, a creamy shade of yellow, a long corridor and a sunny room where we all sat for tea).  If we didn’t go there, then how did I get this perfect, serene image of having gone there?  I am pretty sure it is a past life memory, especially after 2 different psychics have told me I knew Abe in a past life.  I’ve had so many interesting Abe Lincoln synchronistic events, I feel there is something there.

PS I loved it when I read that Abe kept letters in his tall hat, so he wouldn’t have to carry them.

When I was young, I made my own hard-backed miniature books. I was enthralled and inspired by books and wanted to create my own. I think my fascination and feeling of wonder around folk tales, fairy tales and myths made me want to make the books tiny, as though they were the original books kept by fairies who live inside of trees and other secrete dwelling spaces. I wish I still had those, who knows where they are now. I also made my own teen tabloids. Those would be hilarious to find now, I had Tony DeFranco (anyone remember him?!) and Donny Osmond in mind when I created “The Evans Brothers” and Steve Evans was my super teen star. I wrote articles about his life, and did drawings of photo sessions he’d have, with large Osmond like teeth shining. I seriously pray those resurface, somewhere, somehow. I promise to post them if they do, I remember how hilarious they were for me to rediscover years after creating them, grotesquely naive!

Now when I get the chance, I like to make little art books, accordion books are a favorite because they appear to be small magical packages of something worth opening. Often, they look better on the outside than on the inside, so I’m still working on it. They don’t have to have “beginning, middle and end” as most books seem to, they can simply make you feel something when you open them, or they can be places where poetry comes to life. (Just take thick paper,something you’d love to work with,  and fold it like an accordion and put harder backing on each end. Glue a ribbon on each end also, or some other closing device you may dream up. Then whatever happens on the inside of this accordion is up to you!)

In this scene from A BLUE RIBBON FOR SUGAR, Bonnie has out grown her plastic horse on springs, and it breaks down underneath her.  Her dreams of being a cowgirl or a jockey have come down with the horse.  Now what?

I wrote this story (it’s autobiographical!) and realize that from the beginning of life, when we’re learning to develop our sense of self, we imagine ourselves being and doing all sorts of things.  As a natural progression, we adjust our dreams and sense of who we are and would like to be as we outgrow what surrounds us.  In this story, Bonnie uses a plastic horse to create a sense of herself as a real cowgirl and when her tools for experiencing this fantasy break down, she’s at a loss.

As adults these things happen, too. A job we once deeply longed for comes crashing down around us, or we live out and exhaust interests we no longer find fulfilling.  Support for something we thought we wanted to do or be collapses and then the space is wide open for us to leap into a new sense of self, and to gather (slowly or quickly) the tools to live out the new dream.  The value is in knowing that when something breaks down around us, a job, a long-held goal, a creative modality, whatever–it is time to allow ourselves to squirm into a new scenario and give ourselves the support we need in order to be reborn into new dreams-come-true. Or to get closer than ever to the original one (in this book, Bonnie actually gets to ride a real horse next).

Sometimes when we feel drained and off center, it’s because we’re not being nurtured in our relationships.   The saying, “Birds of a feather flock together” makes sense here.  Sometimes you’re not with your flock and it’s worth exploring.  You may enjoy and appreciate people, but if they are “like kind” and you are different from them, you may be the one they have around to spice things up for them, but there is not much nurturing you in the situation. Or it could be you’ve grown past the relationship dynamic and need to go learn other lessons and focus differently in your life. If you’ve got the blues or feel slightly ill at ease amongst people you know, maybe it’s time to shift a little, thank them inwardly from the heart for all they taught you, and go into your own council for a while. If they’re true friends, they’ll be supportive of you on your journey inward. If not, they’ll want to control you or punish you or will cut you off for going independent.  Growing sometimes means clarifying for ourselves what is healthy and the only way to do that is to make shifts and dive deep into self awareness.  Flying above the situation and looking from a bird’s-eye-view is often the only way to see and understand things clearly.  And flying into your own awareness should take you exactly where you need to be.

May you feel love from the inside out all the days of your life!

This Spirit Painting (detail shown above) lead me into unknowns, but I followed where it took me. I was delighted to find out that the person who commissioned it (someone I have never met or seen) has a tattoo exactly like the little sun seen here in the upper left corner. I didn’t know why I was putting the sun image here, but it felt mandatory! I know why now, and love creating these images because of these spiritual, psychic-intuitive affirmations.

In this Spirit Painting meditation, the meditation was about ancient and new knowledge, that which is learned, that which is experienced and kept forever in the Akashic Records. Ancient signs and symbols of all that has come before us and all that unfolds now, as we use free will. Abundance and choices, spiritual grace and consciousness.

If you dream of wolf, the teacher in you is coming to get you. Learning via a mentor, or being one to another, is coming for you.  Your Divine Wolf calls, it is time to teach and be taught something new.

When animals appear in dreams, or in real life (I saw an article a few days ago about a little boy, only 3 or 4, who survived an attack by a mountain lion while on a walk with his parents and I thought, “Wow, if mountain lion comes for you, you are a leader” and how this kid must truly be destined for a major role of some kind) you are being given information.

Notice which animals you see, in your dreams and in real life. I saw deer this morning (gentleness–so I am going to try to be more gentle today).  We’re part of nature and connected, guided and affected by what it holds for us. It really is life enhancing to be playful with animal symbolism.