When my kids were small, I went through a prolonged period of depression. I didnt know about postpartum depression, none of my doctors had brought it up. But, a friend suggested a Jungian therapist she knew, so I went to see if I could figure out what was going on.
This therapist introduced me to the collective unconscious, Jung’s Red Book, and lucid dreaming. I started paying attention to (and sketching) the stories that were unfolding when I was asleep, or even just daydreaming. In one session, I drifted into a meditation in which I saw myself in a tangled thicket at night. A woman came to me and took my hand. I followed her for a long way, through tall brush and trees until we came to a beach where the sun was just coming up. She told me to lie down on the golden sand, which I did, with the water lapping at my feet. Soon I began turning into water myself. I sank into the sand, becoming one with the waves.
I strongly felt I had been led by, for lack of better description, a dream guide who gently brought me to a place of surrender. Not giving up, but allowing myself to start moving forward from a stuck place. With acceptance came a transition, from vanishing to emerging.
Future Ancestors is about the influences we inherit from the people who came before us, and those we pass on to future generations. 36″ x 18″ x 2″ oil on hardboard
Deep See is a painting about looking inward where sometimes there be dragons. 36″ x 18″ x 2″ oil on hardboard
Available in my studio, contact me for details.
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