Moon Shadows and Stuff

Solstice in the New World
18" x 24"
Mixed Media on Canvas
2010

This past December saw the Winter Solstice arrive with a bang: a full lunar eclipse. Here in Western Canada, it began before midnight and ended in the early morning hours. I stayed up to watch the event unfold, as did many others. We are far removed from the days when such phenomena were frightening and unexplained and that can lead us into a sense that such events are unimportant.

Just because we can explain a thing scientifically, however, does not mean that we understand it or that it is simply another event of slight interest only because it is remarked on by a few people on either side of the scientific or spiritual fringe.

In other words: just because you are not aware of the importance of an event doesn't mean it won't affect your life!

We live in a time where an astounding number of people are awakening to their own existence and seeing that there is a curable madness inherent in it. The sheer waste we produce, both physically and emotionally is changing the face of the planet. This solstice marks that awareness and even better, the will to do something about it.

Some people still believe that forcing others to their viewpoint will make for a better world for our children's children. Some people despair that nothing can be done anyway, so why get worked up about it? But some change themselves.

That's it. Some people change themselves.

It's really that simple. Behind all the fears, illusions, and defeats is one simple truth: to change the world, change yourself.

Speak more gently, speak your truth more clearly. Act in ways that are in keeping with your values. Like it or not, we are all responsible for the fate of our planet and for each other. We are all one tribe, one people, and turning our eyes away from the suffering our privileged lifestyles cause to our family in poorer countries only harms ourselves.

Be aware. That's how you change. Changing isn't a process of fighting yourself, of straining and stressing, it's simply awareness. Be aware and the change will come as naturally as breathing.

Be honest. Be aware.

As the Sun, Earth and moon aligned, so too can our thoughts, words and actions.

As the Solstice marked the end of the darkness, and as it was broken with the moon slipping out from shadow into light, so too can our lives be illuminated by the gift of awareness.

Solstice in the New World.

Pretty cool, huh?

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Moondance

32" x 24"
Mixed Media on Canvas
2010

A few months ago I happened to look up at the sky and I almost fell down at the vision. What would normally be a waxing moon seemed to me suddenly like a pregnant belly, the rest of the woman submerged under the evening sky. I knew I had to share that image. This painting is dark, but so full of light everywhere! The teepees are a row of warm invitation, the roaring fire a beacon to home and safety. I like to imagine someone is out there, tending to the living fire, watching the sparks rise against the stars as they form a seamless union between heaven and earth. The mystery of the Northern Lights hovers up above, muted as it goes to rest with the rest of the world, and there she is. Dancing in the spinning cosmos, giving life in the same breath as she bequeaths death. We are all on a one way ticket from the moment we board this physical plane, and it is this balance of light and dark, birth and death, joy and melancholy - these things give meaning to it all.


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Moonlife
18" x 36"
Mixed Media
on Canvas

Moonrise
18" x 14"
Mixed Media
on Canvas

2007

Nothing so simple as Moonrise

Nothing so normal as trees
Nothing so common as starlight
Or the scent of wild flowers
You, and the hours
We've spent in the warm summer breeze

Yes, we've spent in the warm summer breeze
You, and the hours
The scent of wild flowers
Nothing so common as starlight
Nothing so normal as trees
Nothing so simple as Moonrise

Thanks to Everyone who came out! It was great to meet so many amazing people. The gallery was absolutely alive with your energy.

Deep In The Winter Wood

24" x 40"
Mixed Media
on Canvas

2007

Once Upon a Time, this is how it was. It was just like this...Snow covered the rolling hills, a cool blanket over a sleeping companion. The night was alive with the twinkling crystal air, and the naked trees stretched out silvery limbs to the hard, unblinking gaze of a thousand thousand stars, appearing closer than they had ever been before, perhaps seeking refuge from the yawning emptiness of the eternal void, perhaps forgetting that the emptiness was their mother and father both. Perhaps just lonely on such a silent night. The moon was just climbing over the edge of the world when silently, on padded toes, Rabbit stepped out of the darkness, and at almost the same time, Raven shuffled into the light.

Raven had kept his Dreamer, or perhaps it was the other way around. Nevertheless, he was looking two places at once, as Ravens do, while Rabbit kept his silence. After all, it was his very own to keep.

It was the subject of his life, tonight, of which he was not entirely certain. Still, he had come, deep in a winter wood, silent but for the Raven's rasp. The breath of a talker, a forager, a scavenger.

The sussuration of a predator's song.

But Rabbit had something else in store tonight. A surprise.