I am the voice that guides you. When you can’t hear me, I come in the form of an animal and steal your attention.
You listen to the animals…you hear their songs and speak their language.
We are One
You must speak, my daughter. You must paint your visions
And write our story.
Remember, my daughter, remember…
This series is a visual journey of the soul from the beginning of time on earth to our connection with the universe and all living things. As a symbolic and narrative painter, I created archetypes based on Native American stories and from the visions and dreams that inspired me to explore the Great Mystery.
On the night after attending a sacred ceremony, I awoke to the sound of someone whispering in my ear—“Remember, my daughter, remember.” The dream of an old shaman woman did not fade but grew stronger as I sat up in bed and focused. “Who are you and why can I see you?” My mind was instantly filled with memories of events when nature and animals spoke.
These four paintings are the foundations of the book entitled: The Wisdom of Shadow Bear.
My art is a result of the guidance and messages I heard from Spirit. It is an expression of the visions given to me in meditation and the dreamtime. Animals have always usurped my attention and made their voices clear. They made sense of my world and offered wisdom. I believe if we listen to nature, answers to questions we never knew to ask can be clarified. The one who whispered in my ear and woke me from my sleep I have come to know as Shadow Bear.
Origins
In the beginning when the Earth was new, she was seeded with star material and life began. Blue lights danced across her developing surface as light beings kept a watchful eye on what was to root and become.
Millions of years in the development, Pleiadians would return to observe and found that life was taking hold in a variety of forms, shapes and configurations. They too were manifesting into what appeared almost humanoid, radiating a silvery blue light as they floated along the surface. What they knew is that all life, including Earth herself had a consciousness and a voice…a living, breathing, planet.
The Pleiadians were able to communicate with all living things. With permission of a host animal, they would merge into their physical body enabling them to walk amongst indigenous lifeforms experiencing all five senses belonging to this dimension. A deer, an animal whose energy is that of innocence, curiosity and gentleness, offered to share her physical form and allow one of these light beings to see through her sensitive eyes and feel the pulse through the bottoms of their feet.
The painting “Origins” is a portrait of one such light being at a time when all of Earth could communicate. The art of shapeshifting was planted in our very DNA for future incarnations, and respect for all living things was the law.
As the Earth supports all life, our own physical bodies support life within our cells from bacteria to procreation. We are star matter on a molecular level, binding us infinitely through all time and space. We Are One!
Description of the Pleiadian
Standing at about 6-1/2 feet tall, this being appears humanoid. She radiates a silvery blue glow that lights up everything around her like a candle in the dark. She floats lightly across the surface, and if you can tune in to a Pleiadians’ vibration, they have a beautiful harmonic sound that penetrates a physical body as if it were transparent. This resonance is almost like a pitch on a tuning fork that is so in harmony with us that the sound may go unnoticed, yet a feeling of well-being and healing are perceived.
I’ve had dreams and visions of the blue planet, Pleiades. I perceive it as being in slow motion, flowing movements like an underwater world in a gentle surge.
Pleiadians appear to me in a gown of fine silvery-blue metallic that flows like chiffon veiling their slender bodies, as if they wear the stars themselves as a garment. As they communicate with different life forms, it’s hard to tell if they receive this exchange through telepathy or harmonics. With Earth ears, I hear nothing. With psychic ears, I hear music and experience a “knowing”. What a beautiful way to be…just “knowing”. Life is… and is unconditional. Even the most hostile appearing plants and creatures have a place and a note to play in Universal Harmony.
Reincarnation
The Story of Shadow Bear
The second painting in the series is entitled ‘Reincarnation,’ and is the introduction to Shadow Bear. She is Wisdom Woman, Shaman and Shape-Shifter. Earth evolved millions of years since the Star People seeded the planet. Shadow Bear walks with a wolf who is a teacher, pathfinder and guide. Wolf’s left paw stands directly behind Shadow Bear’s right foot signifying they walk the same path, (although it does not show), and as she lifts her hands and eyes to spirit, the wolf looks at the viewer…They are one.
The animals surrounding Shadow Bear are the ones allowing her to walk and speak through their bodies. Each of these animals has a message, and to those who will listen, great lessons can be learned. I chose to keep Shadow Bear’s eye color the same for all the animals as an indication that it is she who is speaking through them when permission is granted.
Shadow Bear’s skirt is gray from the waist to a bit over half-way to the layers depicting Earths’ unwritten history. The colored layers represent the many geological changes to our planet from the time it was first seeded. She stands on roots and rock grounding her to the elements, the communication system of trees and plants. She hears their voices, and they enlighten her to their medicinal properties and purpose. The flowers are not as animated in this painting, but bloom in the colors feeding our chakras and revitalizing our spirit. The trees are dense forests in the background producing oxygen for all life. I brought the Bodhi tree leaves over as the forest canopy to continue the idea that all life forms have a voice, communicate, and enlighten us. Our planet is healthy, and respect of all nature is the law.
Hands open and looking up, Shadow Bear is in complete harmony—enlightened, connected and in communication with all things.
Isolation
In the sacred spiral, we find ourselves as a human species out of communication with the Earth Mother and her creatures. In the age of noise and light pollution, computers, cell phones and humans over-talking each other, we are lost. Attentions are turned inward to self as we tune out the subtle voices of nature: the song of water carrying our life force, the animal chatter, the whispers in the wind, and the gentle communication of plants. We have lost the art of hearing. We are disconnected.
Human influence has diminished wildlife habitat and scarred the earth leaving destruction and non-biodegradable trash in our wake. In the short time since humans appeared, we managed to damage the very force that gives us life. We’ve polluted our air, poisoned our water, and left debris in our oceans. This painting depicts the yearning of nature to include humans once again, but only if we can listen and hear the voices of the planet. The Earth Mother will survive, but will mankind?
In this depiction a girl sits naked, exposed and vulnerable under an ancient weeping willow tree. She represents the human species. Grandmother tree caresses the figure who sits at her base, encouraging her to connect and plant her feet upon her roots. Grandmother’s bark swirls like a gown around her ancient body while animals gather, each with a story to share of their purpose and skills.
We have come to a point where we must silence the noise and listen to nature. The Earth Mother will remedy herself with or without the presence of humans. Are we to become just another layer in the earth’s geology, or will humans get back to being a part of nature rather than trying to rule over nature as well as themselves?
As we have seen through the eyes of archeologists, paleontologists and botanists, species will evolve, change and die off as the planet changes. She is a living breathing entity with the desire to live. She shakes when her tectonic plates move, winds and water change her surface, ever evolving and renewing.
So, the question is: do we thrive as a part of nature, or perish as a disease upon the earth? This painting poses the question, but all of nature is begging us to wake up. I chose to depict nature thriving rather than the bleak picture of deforestation and pollution. It is my belief and hope that nature will regenerate, even after humans have long eliminated themselves from the equation. I believe that survival of a species is co-dependent on each other in the circle of life.
When did we lose respect? When did we stop listening? When will we wake up and co-exist with nature?
Ah Ho! We are One!
Grandmother Spider – The Weaver
For many Native American Tribes, Grandmother Spider is the creator of the world and the universe. She spins her web of creation and embellishes each strand with dew drops, then throws the web into the sky. The dew drops become the stars and planets.
Grandmother Spider is symbolic for the feminine aspect of the Creator. As humans, we are intricately connected to nature and all living things. The Earth Mother, a living breathing entity herself, supports another feminine aspect– Mother Nature.
Out of the void Grandmother Spider weaved the web of life through her thoughts, dreams, desires, songs and prayers. The web is the matrix of the cosmos, the complex pattern of threads connecting everything to everyone. The spiral dance of the weaver is the spiral dance of creation.
This painting is about connectedness. In the right corner is Shadow Bear, the embodiment of our ancient ancestor archetype. As she drums, her prayers call on the Creator to cast her web in sacred geometry, the geometry of consciousness that creates balance.
As we look upon the stars from our place in the cosmos, we are reminded of its vast size and reflect on our relative insignificance and how much there is to know. We are made of star matter and therefore connected to the central source via the web of life.
We Are One!
*A special thanks to my models Norma Rodgers for being my Grandmother Spider and Sally Moon, the face of Shadow Bear.