It is a combination of objects from a dream house meditation I’ve been going to in my sleep for seven years now, items from my home studio, my red journal, embroidering the constellation Sirius on a floating veil - a message from a recent dream -, the flora I study and forage on my home mountain, my familiar creatures, and the recurring motif of the Reverse Harlequin I’ve been working with for several years.

There are elements in the painting that have been coming to me in dreams recently - the Sirius Dog Star constellation embroidered in the flying silk, and the apple tree. The plants are wild flowers and mountain sage I collect in the Santa Fe forest. The pen and red notebook are my companions for writing each morning and making my drawings for paintings. The harlequin dress is my evolving portrait motif. The horse my friend and connection to spirit. I painted this painting using mainly the Old Masters palette, a nod to the colors used in portraiture starting centuries ago during the Renaissance.