Painting faces..

As fas as I can remember, my mother has been an artist. She has China Painted, sketched, used watercolors, pastels, even zentangle designs. Growing up she would bring her face paints with us every summer to our family reunion at our family's dairy ranch. Our Perazzo family would gather all 42 of us cousins and she would paint all of our faces!! Even some of the adults.

It was a memory that defined that part of my childhood. What could I be today? A cat? A fairy? She could pick up her brush as transform me into anything my little imagination could dream up. Even an American flag!

This weekend my children had their faces painted by my mother, and it was a moment I felt the need to capture on camera. I hope these memories stay with them forever..

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Honoring the pieces of me..

I am multi-racial.

What does that mean to me? It means I am Lakota, Dutch Indonesian, Swiss, and Portuguese. I am pieces put together, a cultural mural of mosaic textures and histories compiled into one portrait.

Me.

I am proud to be all of my pieces, and most recently in life I honor the part of me who is Lakota. I spent the past few years learning, observing, and immersing myself in my culture. I had a desire, and HAVE a desire to grow that part of who I am. I owe it to my ancestors who desperately fought for our cultural survival, to own that part of me. To live as traditionally as I am able.

I beaded my own medallion, wear my own medicine bag that I have added to, and have offered Tobacco to the earth. I have smudged sage that was gifted to me by a mentor who holds a very special place in my heart. I actively seek to learn and grow with respect to my elders.

I am learning to dance. I am learning to dance in a way I have never learned. There is something deeper in my movements this time. It's not ballet, it's not jazz. Its Fancy Shawl...it's Jingle dancing. My soul is rooted into the earth, and I feel grounded. When I run around my neighborhood for exercise, Northern Cree is blasting in my headphones. It's as if the drum is pushing me on when I feel like quitting. Primal, and in my heart.

This part of me is awake. This part of me is real. This part of me is honest and I will never let her go.

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