The mask/shield sculpture in this picture I created in 1998 as part of my training in art therapy. I used and shaped leather over a life plaster cast of a person's face and used an overall palette of gold, red and black. Found crow feathers and a smaller sculpture of my beloved cat are incorporated onto a natural wood spiral symbolic of my journey with an attached "medicine bag" of more symbolic objects inside. This has never been shown nor hung in a gallery, instead it hangs in my house so I can see it every day and remember my dreaming self that it represents... I was fully employed at the time in a very legalistic career, while art had always filled my spare time, and I dreamed of becoming an art therapist. I completed a program and became a Certified Expressive Arts Therapist in 2000... because of my belief in the power of art to heal, and that undefinable sacred place that creating something takes me to, "the zone". I continued that career, but I added teaching Creativity and Coaching peers to my repetoire. Now retired from the career, creating art is a full time passion. And the dreamer is still here.Meditation
Who is your dreaming soul beneath the everyday face that is presented? And notice how does this spark change and evolve over time? Reflecting over all the years, it is the same me beneath everything, still there... but perhaps my "outer face" is more in harmony with my "dreaming self".
Now, here is a fantastic You-Tube Video. Unfortunately, my audio is still not working so I can't vouch for the music as I can't hear it, but "The Omo River People" video presents stunning faces with body paint and adornment, all masterfully photographed by Hans Sylvester. The Omo River is in southern Ethiopia. I love these faces, they are so soulful, and the eyes are truly captivating. Enjoy and contemplate who you are and your place in the world...
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