The Dawn Women

The painting below was inspired by a fragment of a Zuni song. It is incomplete and the only two references I could find about it give two different uses for the song- one says it is a grinding song; the other says it is a song/prayer used to greet the day at sunrise. Perhaps both are true- I don't know. What I do know is: These few lines evoke deep feelings in me- they seem to talk about the stages of a woman's life, and the deep connection of all women to Mother Earth. The four life stages of woman spoken about in the song reflect the changing seasons- the unending cycles of life and Earth. I had to paint this painting: these words simply had to become an image!

This painting is 18" x 24", acrylic on raw canvas, with a beaded saguaro rib frame. I no longer have it- it has gone to it's rightful home with an Irish storyteller in Minnesota!

This song fragment has but eight lines- to read them, just scroll below the painting.

Dawn old women

Dawn matrons

Dawn maidens

Dawn girls

Prehaps if we are lucky

our Earth Mother

will wrap herself in a fourfold robe

of white meal.

A Storyteller's Art Gallery: back to the introductory gallery page.
"I Wonder if the Moon Rides a Horse...": painting
A Wiser Lion Now: sculpture
Elder Brother and the Spider People: painting
I Stand for my Horse: painting
"Mommy, does the sun come up riding a horse?": painting
Grandfather Toad: sculpture
The Wonderful Watermelon Horse: sculpture

Back to the Very Beginning: Turtle Woman's Home Page.