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Tah Dah! I met my deadline and the “En El Jardin De Frida” is hanging in the Phoenix Frida’s Folk Art Exhibition at 500 south Mill Avenue. It runs from March 5th through July 14th. It was next to impossible to take good photos through the windows of the installation and it was still in progress when I left, so no actually photos of the finished installation. Sorry!

Today I am back to making more coloring books. I have a couple of huge wholesale orders. Thank goodness for good friends ~ a dear friend is coming over to help me put these together and get them on their way. I think that I have some of the best friends in the world and am very fortunate to be surrounded by the light and love of wonderful people. One friend, in particular, is always there to lend a helping hand. She has been with me all the way through the brain surgeries and beyond. When I am feeling discombobulated, she is there to keep things going smoothly. ~ I feel a retreat coming in our near future!

Hawk medicine flew into my stormy, Tuesday morning as I prepared my gardens for flowers and planted bell peppers and strawberries in containers. Hawk is “The Messenger”, teaching us to examine life from a higher perspective giving us a broader view as we circle over our own lives. The Red Tail Feathered Hawk is my earth totem. Hawk medicine people are aware of omens and messages from the spirit. I am mystified and in great awe whenever I see a hawk. I feel some kind of deep connection to them, feeling that there is something that I need to pay attention to when they fly into sight. Although they are quite common in Arizona, they are not as common in the big city. Occasionally you will see them circling overhead caught in a tailwind or searching for food in the middle of Phoenix, but they are much more abundant in the outlaying areas, in the low and high deserts. Shortly after this great morning magic, I retreated to my room and pulled out my Medicine Cards. Medicine in the Native American tradition is “anything that brings personal power, strength, and understanding.”The number 2 card in the deck begins with the poem;

Hawk…  Messenger of the sky,

Circle my dreams and teach me

The message as we fly.

“Hawk has a keen eye and a bold heart, for Hawk flies close to the light of Grandfather Sun.” Although I did a short “Butterfly Reading” and the Hawk card was not pulled during the reading, I still felt that it held some significance due to Hawk’s morning visit as it circled over me for quite awhile. Generally, the first sign of a nearby Hawk is the scattering of all of the smaller birds. ~ just fascinating ~

After I did the reading, I laid down for a short nap thinking about the Frida painting that I need to complete for an installation window display in downtown Tempe with the Phoenix Fridas. The installation date is March 4th, I have a 36″x36″ blank canvas. After falling into the dream time, I awoke with creativity raging through my veins. AH! Finally, I knew that some sort of inspiration would appear at the perfect time. Up until this morning my head was as blank as the canvas. The ideas and designs flowed through my little pencil stub, only stopping for a moment to realize how different this painting is materializing than most of the others. The process feels familiar, yet foreign at the same time. I am chalking it all up to Hawk medicine, giving credit where credit is due. There is even a deer in the painting, the first time that I have ever painted one. Deer medicine is “gentleness”, but that is a whole other story and I won’t go into that! I LOVE taking cues from animals and nature. It definitely adds magic to the journey.

“Have the colors of the morning inspired you to create?”