Artistic Statement

Breaking Through with Painting

Dreams have always influenced my art and my life. I grew up in a family where the power of sharing dreams was always cultivated. The fantastic imagery of our subconscious was encouraged and always shared at the breakfast table.

I remember my mother sharing with us a dream she had about my father growing a unicorn horn on his head. Several years later, my father was diagnosed with skin cancer on the very spot the horn in my mom's dream was located. This affirmed for me the power of dreams and their potential.

When I was eight years old, I had a dream about wearing green jeans. The dream was so dramatic that I felt I had to have those jeans in physical life. So I convinced my mom to purchase green jeans for me.

Manifesting my dreams in waking life is important to me. Painting my dreams on canvas is a way of manifesting my dreams. As early as I can remember, I would draw the strongest and strangest images in my dream world. My art has always been an expression of my inner being.

There are several ways I create with my dreams. Sometimes I paint a scene from a dream. At other times, I focus on one particular symbol or image from a dream and I let it evolve. I also paint revelations or "Aha's" that are cultivated through dreamwork. As Jeremy Taylor (a leader in the field) says, "all dreams are endless sources of creativity."

The drawing or painting of a dream unlocks potential means for transformation that go beyond words. My dream paintings are created from images that I just can't get out of my mind. I literally wake up and think, "Wow! What was that? That was an amazing image! I've got to paint it!"

The dream world conjures up some fantastic imagery. Ideas and images one would never think of while awake. Dreams are visual landscapes of the subconscious mind. When we manifest dreams and portray them on canvass, we link the conscious and subconscious. Archetypes truly reside in the dream world, and when you create with them, you can awaken their potential power in your life.

Most of my paintings are an expression of what is happening in my inner world. The process is like finding faces in clouds or rocks. I rarely have any motive of what a painting should be. I just stand back from the canvas, find images in the surface, and I bring them out. When I paint dream imagery, I focus on the dream and I let the painting unfold. It is done at the subconscious level, with my inner realm dictating what my hand paints.

For example, Moondance, was inspired from a fragment of a dream. I remember dreaming of a white horse on a field. Then, a man came, took a sword, and sliced the horse's belly. Suddenly, the horse transformed into a young maiden in a white gown with a slice on her belly. I began to paint the piece with the image and the feeling of the dream in my mind. Again, I just let the canvas unfold. My only intent on the canvas was the horse. Through the process of stopping, stepping back, and staring at the canvass, I proceeded to find images on the picture plane and bring them out onto the canvas.

The story behind the way I was able to connect painting dreams with spiritual transformation affirms that there is much more to the power of dreams than we can imagine. In January of 2001, I had an awesome dream. When I awoke from the dream, I knew in my core being that the dream had important meaning in my life, and that it needed further exploration through a painting. The title of the dream is Breaking Through. In the dream, I am a child with my brother and sister (the twins). We are on top of enormous pillars ascending from the ocean thousands of feet into the air. We are all on a visual hunt for polar bears. We see the elusive polar bear. Then I find myself alone inside a house. The house is warm, full of light, and made of wood. There is a huge panoramic window. All of sudden I hear a sound "phoop!" then, another "phoop!" I look to the window, and I see owls slamming against the window ... one owl after another. I go towards the window, and I look outside through the glass. I see that in the trees are thousands of owls staring at the window like centurions. I awoke and began to paint the image of the owl.

After the dream, by luck or fate, I started taking Jeremy Taylor's dream class in Berkeley. In the class, he explained the process of dream work, the power of writing your dreams down, and the power of creating art with your dreams. Also, during the introduction, a gentle, old lady shared her dream art with the class. I was floored because I had been doing dream art for a very long time and I was currently working on a piece. I had never realized art's validity in the dream community.

After the first class, I was determined to finish the piece and show it to my dream group. I finished the work and brought it to class the next time we met. I was nervous and anxious to show my peers what I had created. The group explored my dream from my painting. From their interpretations of the dream and the painting I started seeing things I never saw before - A plethora of "Aha's." Then, the teaching assistants reviewed my dream painting and I was again flooded with "Aha's." The group had discovered a hidden archetype that I was exploring in my study. I realized that the image of the "Green Man" was on the canvas even though I had never intended for him to be in the painting.

Wow!! I was amazed. I was moved to explore the symbolic meaning of the Green Man in my life and how he appeared on my canvas. I left dream class with an amazing high, gained through the experience of showing my art and revealing my dream. I had a breakthrough. The experience transformed my being and I realized the power of painting one's dreams. I saw that doing so is a grand tool in catapulting personal evolution. That dream remains in my conscious world today, and the painting has become a marker in my evolution. The irony is that while I began to harness "Aha's" and realize potential for transformation, I experienced an ebb phase in painting. I found that I was not creating. But in my spiritual and intellectual life, I was evolving.

While my painting drought was worrisome at the time, it actually led to a new development in my work with dreams. The following semester I was again honored to take Jeremy Taylor's dream class and partake in the awe-inspiring richness of wisdom in the dream groups.

During the course of the semester I had yet another powerful dream. But upon awakening, I was not inspired to paint. I took the fragmented dream to my group and I entitled it Sleeping Egyptians. In the dream, I am walking on a cliff. I walk past a man and his two dachshunds on leashes. He has made a spectacle out of the poor dogs. They are both dressed with fake orange fur and the dogs have hermetic-like caps on their heads. He was pulling them up and down like puppets. Then I am in a room -- a skinny corridor made entirely of windows. I am laying on my belly (like a child). I look out and I see this spiral in the ocean. I think, "are they seals?" No they're dolphins. They are creating a spiral in the ocean. (I am awe inspired) Then I turn around and I see an amazing view. It is a mountain with a navy blue, purple and an orange glow. It seems to be the in-between times of twilight or dawn.

I get uncomfortable because others have arrived at the scene. I worry about my cats. Then I enter a dark room and there are people sleeping on the floor. They are contemporary Egyptians. I see my black cat, Griffin. He is under a chair. I startle one of the Egyptians and she rises with a cat on her chest. Then the dream shoots to a co-worker in the art gallery. He says that you can get aids through the computer.

When I shared the dream my dream group, I have to say I was startled with "Aha's" left and right. One particular wise man transformed my dream into a mystical adventure. I left the group awe-inspired and needing to paint this dream.This painting marks a change in my process. Before I painted from the literal imagery and I let the canvas unfold. This painting was from the "Aha" -- the insight I received during dream work. I started painting and focusing on the "Aha." I have to say that when I stood back from the canvas, I really did not understand it. It was a bizarre painting. I finally finished it and I brought it to dream class. From the insights of the members of the class, I found its meaning. I had tapped into some ancient archetypes.

Throughout the years, I have painted several other pieces from my dreams. The following is a brief list of some of them:

• Astral Travel was derived from an actual out-of-body experience and its likeness to my own dreaming experience. I was in a serious car wreck (in real/waking life) and lost consciousness for about ten minutes. In that experience, I saw my body and watched the paramedics put a halo on me. "I" was floating above. The feeling and experience was like those I have in my dream world. The painting depicts the spirit exiting the body and entering another dimension (may it be the dream world or beyond).

• Zen in the Mayan Rainforest was inspired by the rainforests of Costa Rica. I was on a fantastic adventure tour, and one night, we stayed across the Arenal, a magnificent volcano. It was so magical to see the active volcano and to hear and feel the spirits of the forest. That night I had a dream of a giant being that looked like an indigenous Indian. The being was in the clouds and was looking down at me. When I got back to the states, I was inspired by the adventure and began to paint. I focused on the image of the Indian, and Zen in the Mayan Rainforest was created.

• Catacomb was inspired from a dream where I was walking in a catacomb. I came around the corner and this entity was chained with shackles in a shelf-like area. It had a gold mask on and I could see its eyes. I woke up startled and that morning I painted the entity from my dream.

• A Mist of Avalon was derived from an entrance through dreaming into the land or dimension of the subconscious. The terrain is fertile with archetypes and images from my dreams. The sun represents consciousness and the moon represents unconsciousness. There is a veil of clouds representing my consciousness as I enter the creative and rich landscape of my dreams.

Dreams are fantastic. They invite you into a world of imagination. There are times when dreams have led me to wake up laughing hysterically, as well as times when they have led me to wake up crying. Through my paintings, I have discovered many layers within my dreams. They have been prophetic and challenging at times. My dreams were just expressions on canvas (markers of my being) until I took the dream class headed by Jeremy Taylor. The power of sharing your art in a group is phenomenal. The receptivity of your creativity in a dream group is so positive. From my dream class experience I have gained the tools to break through and unlock my potential for self-growth and transformation. I encourage all to paint or draw our dreams and approach our work with non-judgment. "Create, create and create" is the mantra of the universe.