The California Desert ~ In Color and Black and White

These photos were taken in Southern California on the back Road to Big Bear. Some were taken out the window. (No I wasn't the driver!) A few were taken on a pit stop, in search of a restroom. Anyway, there is something strangely beautiful about this landscape and I love the Joshua Trees. They look otherworldly or like something Dr. Suss would have created.

My Great Grandmother lived on an Indian reservation, when she was a child, and rode on horseback to school. Ever since I was little, this captured my imagination. I would try to imagine what that must have been like ... so different than my life near the beaches of Southern California. She wasn't Native American though, that bit of ancestry comes from my Dad's side of the family. 

Anyway, I love the Native American flute, and many of the Native Americans' teachings, and thought they would somehow fit this post.

Here is the beautiful music of R. Carlos Nakai

Native American Prayer

Oh, Great Spirit

Whose voice I hear in the winds,

And whose breath gives life to all the world,

hear me, 

I am small and weak,

I need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty 

and make my eyes ever behold

the red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things you have made

and my ears sharp to hear your voice.

Make me wise so that I may understand the things

you have taught my people.

Let me learn the lessons you have hidden 

in every leaf and rock.

Prayer excerpt, translated by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark in 1887.

In Black and White

Honor the sacred

honor the Earth,

our Mother.

Honor the elders.

Honor all with whom we share the Earth:

Four-leggeds, two-leggeds,

winged ones,

Swimmers, crawlers,

plant and rock people.

Walk in balance and beauty.

Native American Elder

Hold On

Hold on to what is good,

Even if it is a handful of earth.

Hold on to what you believe,

Even it it's a tree that stands by itself.

Hold on to what you must do,

Even if it's a long way from here.

Hold on to your life,

Even if it's easier to let go.

Hold on to my hand,

Even if someday I'll be gone away from you.

~ Pueblo Indian Prayer

Blessings and Light to you all!

On the Lake (In Pakistan) ~My Little Boat Pastel

This pastel was done from a photo I took in 1997, in Pakistan. I was sure that photo was on our way out to Taxila (where the ruins of one of the world's first Buddhist monasteries lies) but my dad seems to think it was a lake not far outside of Islamabad. 

Either way, I loved the colorful boats and put this piece in my last show.

On the Lake, 2014

Pastel on LaCarte 

8" x 10"

Traveling - 

It leaves you speechless,

then turns you into a storyteller.

~Ibn Battuta

Blessings and light!

48 Hours in Big Bear ~ A Reunion in the Mountains

Hope everyone is enjoying the end of summer! Wow it has been flying by! I have gotten sick a couple of times (isn't this not supposed to happen during the summer months?) So, I feel like I missed part of it!

Anyway, a highlight of this summer, was a weekend with 3 of my oldest and dearest friends, up in Big Bear. It's only a couple of hours or so from L.A.! Crazy right?

We got up there midday Friday, packed up our picnic and headed for the hills! Turns out you can take the ski lift up in the summertime, to the top of Snow Summit. 

My moccasins, on the chairlift ...

There is an area where there is food you can buy, and a bunch of tables, but like I said, we packed our own wine, cheese, fruits, meats etc. and we were on a mission to find the perfect spot!

Bingo! Check out our lunch view! This picnic table was all by itself, under a bigbeautiful pine tree!

We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed.
As in filling a vessel drop by drop,
there is at last a drop which makes it run over;
so in a series of kindnesses 
there is at last one which makes the heart run over.
~Ray Bradbury

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy,
they are the charming gardeners
who make our souls blossom.
~Marcel Proust

My friend Lynn, (who lives in Ojai near my folks) was offered this cabin for the weekend, from her in-laws. Sweet huh?

Apparently, her in-laws bought it from a couple, who has a thing for bears ... all kinds of bears and many were left behind.

Next time, we need to turn it into a game of "how many bears can you spot?!"

Well, it is a cabin in Big Bear after all!

We spend a lot of time just hanging out on the porch, chatting and catching up ...

And finding lots of bears in town to photograph. We actually have a lot of silly bear photos with us posing with bears around town.

It was rather warm on Friday, and then Saturday the clouds rolled in. It was still pretty warm though.

Our Saturday picnic by the lake moved under a big gazebo and off the grass, as it started to drizzle.

Shea taking some pics ...

We did a bit of walking through town, then went on a mission to find a place to have a cocktail on the water ... and we found it!

The Boathouse Lakeside Tavern!

And there was live music! (Randy Boswell- Ukelele High - super fun classic rock covers!) We stayed for about three hours and ended up dancing for most of that, up until sunset! We had a ball and got everyone else dancing, too.

Randy, from the band, even started referring to us as "The Boathouse Dancers."



We want to make up t-shirts. ;)

We had so much fun making dinners, picnics, and breakfasts ... chatting and dancing and singing, hot tubbing ... maybe next time we'll do it in the snow! 

I don't think any of us wanted to leave. Shea headed back to Culver City, Lisa to San Diego and Lynn and I drove back to Ojai. (I had some gallery-sitting to do the next day.) 

We had to plan pretty far ahead to make it work, but time flew by and we were so happy we did. These things have to be a priority or they never happen!

Thanks again to Lynnie's in-laws, for being so generous with the cabin! Wonderful memories were made!

Girls with Bears

Friendship is born at that moment 
when one person says to another:
'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'
~ C.S. Lewis

Blessings and light!

Big Bear Website