Curve-billed Visitor♡

There has been a curve-billed Thrasher visiting me for the last couple of weeks. I had never seen one before? He is a beautiful, big bird and loves to chat with me. Hope he stays a while!

Bird Lovin’ Sistas

My sista loves birds and unfortunately, some people are mean and she couldn’t keep her bird feeder and bath cause of some heartless neighbor. Why people gotta steal other people’s happiness is my question? Well… sista loves me and knows imma fellow lover of birds, so a few weeks ago, she so kindly gave me her stuff. Clearly Kobe likes the new set up. Pups been working on the backyard all summer too.

“Do not allow any negativity or ugliness in your surroundings, or anybody at all, destroy your confidence or affect your growth as a blooming flower. It is very normal for one ugly weed to not want to stand alone.”

•-Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

Submerged

“…buried in those two infinities… the ocean and the sky at one and the same time. One is a tomb, the other is a shroud.”
○~~~Victor Hugo
○~~~Les Misérables

Here is my latest digital composite. I think it may be one of my best yet. There is so much symbology here on so many levels. My head is a mysterious, dark and powerful place. This design took some intricate layering, blending techniques and other effects.

Digital composite by Felicia Lujan ~ 8.2017

Oneiroi Dream

just one
so faint
I taste it’s core
it never went away

lingering
a sullen scent
night swallowed
by the day

one dream
wrapped up
in distant stars
burning memory

drift away
go far from here
though the dream
shall set us free

by Felicia Lujan
11.15.2016

In Greek Mythology, “the Oneiroi were the dark-winged spirits (daimones) of dreams which emerged each night like a flock of bats from their cavernous home in Erebos–the land of eternal darkness beyond the rising sun. The Oneiroi passed through one of two gates (pylai). The first of these, made of horn, was the source of the prophetic god-sent dreams, while the other, constructed of ivory, was the source of dreams which were false and without meaning.” Source: theoi.com

Flight of Faith

“The reason birds can fly and
we can’t is simply because they
have perfect faith, for to have
faith is to have wings.”
-J.M. Barrie, The Little White Bird

It has been beautiful to see these little ones prepare for flight. I’ve been watching their parents give them lessons from my kitchen window… going back and forth and forth and back. What great teachers. I know I should let them be, but I just love them and want them to be safe. I’ve been so worried one of them will fall onto the cement and die attempting to fly.

Today it struck me just how brave they need to be when the first time comes. What courage it takes to spread your wings, not knowing if you can truly soar. This evening I whispered to them and said “it’s really windy out here. Don’t try. Just wait.” I fear that soon I’ll go to check on them and they will be gone… in flight… living an amazing life.

Ravenous

•Digital composite by Felicia•

hungry still
consuming black
feeding on the
nightmare of your
moon drenched kiss
a blood filled bite
now wishing time
would stop or stay
with broken things
ravenous dreams
like burnt up stars
for satiated beasts

by Felicia Lujan
2.23.2016

Dreamcatcher by Felicia

Flightless

~Today we moved the final books out of the Tony Hillerman Writers Conference bookstore. While I loaded my 4runner, I noticed this tiny bird. The bird was sitting very still in the middle of the road. I think he was sick. Feeling sorry for the flightless creature, I gently moved him out of harm's way. I didn't want him to get run over, even though he was dying. I wanted him to be comfortable so I moved him to a sunny, quite spot.~

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
“You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.”
~~~~Mary Oliver

Feathers Fall

~~~~~~~~~
Feathers fall.
Silenced by her
thirsting skin.
Once caught in
webbing of a
moon kissed ray.
Catcher of
dreams…lost
in time and
morning’s light.
~~~~~~~~~~
by Felicia Lujan
9.15.2014

Cast Away

……………………………………..
*****My Maleficent
movie poster.*****
……………………………………..
Today I saw Maleficent at Regal Stadium 14. It was so amazing and Angelina played a flawless role. She was perfect as Maleficent. It is a movie I have been waiting for since I was a young girl. I love this fairy tale. It was awesome that I got a free movie poster.

Why are they all such sad love stories? It’s heartbreaking… crushing… I could literally feel Maleficent’s agony when the man she adored severed her wings and destroyed her gift of flight. It was such a symbolic moment in the movie. Wings were a primary symbol of freedom, love and fear at different points in this telling of the tale.

In this story, the villainess was both a victim and heroine of love. As it turned out, there was some hope for true love. I noted several movie quotes I liked, but decided I would only share my favorite and the most important one. The quote marked the moment the dark fairy fell in love.

“Maleficent thought of
how he cast his ring away.
Someone with so little, in
hope that their hands
could touch again.”
~~~Sleeping Beauty

Wingless

“The shadow cast her heaviness. A wall becomes the place to stop. It is the place where wingless dreams have gone to fade away into the comfort of a windless night.”
…
~~~~~Felicia Lujan
~~~~~5.20.2014

••I love this stone gargoyle. She has been on guard in my yard for many years. Maybe she guards me from the open sky? It’s ironic to carve a winged creature in stone. How can she possibly fly? I found the shadow she cast on the wall this evening ironic. Maybe it is symbolic of the inability to fly?••

The Last Petal

…
Her body longed to let go…lift high above the frozen earth.
…
The last petal fell as if it were the first…gravity like concrete.
…
Her hands clung tightly to the flower…sprung from eternity.
…
The last petal sank as if it didn’t care…taking every tear.
…
Her wings longed to touch sky again…inviting her surrender.
…
The last petal wilted as if sun had disappeared…light darkened.
…
Her mind longed to let go…the soft petal was for another.
…
The last petal disappeared as if it wasn’t meant to be…kissed gently by the wind.
…
by Felicia Lujan
4.26.2014
~★~

A Dream Catcher and Wish Dust: It’s All Just a Fairy Tale

A couple of weekends ago, I made my very first dream catcher. It was more difficult to spin a web than I thought. I decided to design a contemporary piece as the Lakota and others feel that the dream catcher has been highly commercialized. Yes~ I did my research! Instead of making a traditional catcher, I opted to use metal and several symbolic items in my design. If I make any more, they will be contemporary out of a deep respect for tradition. I happened to make this particular dream catcher on the weekend of Indian Market here in Santa Fe. It was a coincidence at best. I really did feel something when I created the piece. Maybe divine inspiration? Maybe I’m mad? Maybe something deeper than I am able to comprehend? Maybe it was really nothing at all? Anyhow… it’s all just a fairy tale after all isn’t it?

 

~~~~ Detail images of a handmade, contemporary dream catcher by Felicia Lujan. The catcher included: spirals; golden thread and ribbon; a gold hoop; gem stones; a lock and key; a golden fairy tale book with a rose on it; and metal feathers. ~~~~

~~~~ A contemporary, handmade dream
catcher by Felicia Lujan ~~~~

Repair the Broken

A wish to mend
the broken shards
with a piece of
special string.

I would sew it
tight and dry your
tears with the
softest angel wing.

A wish to fix the
empty hole and
seal her memories
in your heart.

I would give you
a chance to see
her smile before
you had to part.

Felicia Lujan
4.24.2013

Haunted

“Here in the dark~
haunted like a raven
in the midnight hour.”

~~~~~~Felicia Lujan