See the creative work of Tina Azaria, Author, Artist, Trained Healer and Depth Psychology Geek
Cool to see my paintings show up in the background of this article in the Press Democrat about local conversations about Standing Rock, from my show “Still Standing,” which is on display at the Santa Rosa Peace & Justice Center through January 5th, 2017.
Super excited to have been invited by the Santa Rosa Peace & Justice Center to show some of my paintings from the past twenty years.
In light of the recent US election, it feels very timely that some of my older work is coming out of storage to be hung for new audiences.
The opening is happening in conjunction with the 12th Annual SOFA Winterblast.
The SOFA Arts District comes alive each November with Winterblast, best known for the electric sofa parade, where participants create whimsically decorated sofas and push them down the street, accompanied by the Hubbub Club marching band, costumed performers, giant puppets and many surprises. Streets will be blocked off for the parade, plus three stages with live music. FREE and family-friendly!
Honored to be selected to present my work (for the 4th time!) at the International Conference on Shamanism, Healing & Transformation to an amazing room full of individuals, many whose work I greatly admire.
And got invited to speak on the panel (totally unexpected 🙂
Eagle came to me, very powerfully and poignantly in a dream, on the full moon, in a teepee, on ancient sacred ground near Mt Shasta, while on a pilgrimage with a soul sister in 2014.
It’s time to start embodying these big energies. My idea is to bring this with me, and perhaps do a performance, when I present at the shamanic conference this year. But who knows… I learned years ago that masks have a “mind” of their own. So it may or may not wish to be brought into community later this summer.
This is mytho-poetic spoken word piece I wrote several years ago for a multi-media performance presented at a shamanic conference in 2013… and some of the video footage that accompanied it. It’s about becoming present to our mythic roots, our ancestors, plants, animals, the elementals, and the spirits of the Earth that are trying to guide us back into a more wholistic and expanded awareness of the world we inhabit.
I hope you enjoy it!
My recent art journaling to move overwhelm (left side) over to clarity (right side). A friend described this type of spontaneous expression as “coughing up a fur ball”. Exactly. A psychic and emotional fur ball. I always feel so much better after.
Her working title is Grape Goddess (because I’m lazy about naming paintings sometimes).
I don’t even remember when I started this one. Probably when my husband owned his little boutique winery.
She’s a grape goddess/spirit whom I’ve encountered often, living in Sonoma County wine country.
I think she’s done “enough.” Again, not really all that happy with her, but feeling ready to be complete with this lingering project. Clearing the slate to make room for a whole new body of work that’s been showing up in my mind’s eye lately.
I had a ton of fun reading from my masking book and performing some poetry from my book, Sprung (even though I was coming down ill that morning 🙁 ).
It’s been a while since I’ve been on the mic spittin’ words. I returned to oldies but goodies, as they’re deeply embedded in my memory and I can recite them without practice. (I didn’t make time to rehearse).
Here’s one of them, from way back in my late teens:
Torn
Torn like a thorn ripping through the tender flesh
Confused in two worlds that by nature do not mesh
Divided like a canyon that separates the land
Undecided like the dice held within the dealer’s hand
Wanting to be kind with a soul that’s filled with rage
Not knowing what I’ll find every time I turn the page
Trying to be gentle in a world that’s full of hate
Feeling rather mental in this contradicting state
Sometimes I want to heal it upon the sacred mound
Or maybe just conceal it as I crush it to the ground
I am driven onward by my desire to create
Yet sometimes it’s hard to focus in this life obscured by fate
An easier existence I long for in my dreams
But the path of least resistance isn’t always what it seems
So I live with the torment of this life misunderstood
Always opening up doors that I never knew I could
But nothing leads me closer to the answers that I seek
Nothing external to define if I am strong or I am weak
No one to truly grasp all these dilemmas in my brain
Just those who stand outside and judge if I’m a genius or insane
©1990
I’m honored to have been selected as one of the dozen-ish authors to present at this year’s event.
I’ll be doing readings from both of my books, Sprung, Poetry of Emerge and Facing the Depths: Exploring Psyche through the Art of Masks.
If you’re in the area, please come by and see me. I’ll have a table with books for sale and some of my masks, and my man (Christian Lane) will have his books for sale as well.
Integrating the layers of experience, time, life, psyche…not always easy, but made easier with art, creative play, creative expression. Art is one of my go-to self-awareness and self-healing tools.
Mixed media collage and acrylic paint on wood.