In pre-Columbian mesoamerica, the grasshopper was a symbol for duality. (grasshopper good, locust bad) In the tension between those two opposites, the need for communication arises. The song of the insect is its message. The symbols are the Aztec “day signs”, used to describe world
In some Native American stories, the crow is the bird that no one hunts. It is completely free. This one is carrying a bracelet which belonged to my mother and is dropping the ruler with which I was disciplined by my father. She's made her
I imagine my mother is sitting outside with me in her Panama hat. I've invited her, but the chair is empty and she has left me her turquoise pin. Ink drawing, 2014 8.5” x 11”
This a seed pod from an ocean-shore plant. It is hardy and protected. The new life inside it will carry its identity forward, long after the pod is gone. It’s a metaphor for our own families, be they happy or not. Ink drawing, 2014 8.5” x 11”
We depend on plants for our survival. It's important to honor and respect nature; we’ll regret it if we don’t. Ink drawing, 2014 8.5” x 11”
My husband is like the shepherd to a flock of energies within our relationship, his and mine. He freed his sister’s parakeet when he was a boy, and now animals come to him on their own. Ink drawing, 2015 8.5” x 11”
Hidden inside many families there is a dark bag of dangerous secrets. It needs to be emptied—into the light. Ink drawing, 2015 18” x 24”
My father loved to fly-fish from a small boat just like this. He’s been dead for more than 35 years—by now he’s become a star in the night sky. The boat still waits for him, and I wonder about the pendant. Ink drawing, 2014 8.5” x 11”
As a gardener, I hated this plant. Then I learned how much value it brings to the soil, and I changed my mind. It became a doorway to and symbol of a more open mind. Ink drawing, 2014 8.5” x 11”