The Trickster's Timeless Tango: Puss in Boots and the Endless Dance of Tradition and Change

September 21, 2025

Should we preserve ancient stories exactly as they were first told, or do we have the right to reimagine them for our own time? From the centuries-old folktale of a mischievous cat to the swashbuckling charm of Universal Studios’ recent animated Puss in Boots, this beloved feline trickster slips nimbly between worlds and eras into our modern day hearts. Reflecting on the reinvention of Puss in Boots feels timely and meaningful. His story offers a vivid example of how a classic folktale can be reshaped to capture the imagination of new audiences. What if tradition and change are not in a battle, but are dancing a flirtatious two-pawed tango—an intimate, ever-shifting eternal dance of lead and follow, keeping stories vibrantly alive.

Caribou Sky, inspired by a folktale about the caribou and their connection to the seasonal cycle of the sun which draws loosely from several ancient stories from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, including many elements from indigenous Sami folklore. Here photographed in the process of being carved.

Summer 2023 Newsletter

August 21, 2023

Sharing several new handmade prints in my shop! Each print contains a precious folktale from the past, a mythos, reminding us of our ancient and intimate kinship with the wild, expressed with a multitude of endearing voices of the earth. Whether it is the sound of clanking antlers, or the mischievous pecking of a black crow, or the whisper of a tiger’s whiskers these heartwarming stories lyrically weave us into the circle of life and remind us of our extraordinary human imagination.

Buzzard Dances & Pokeberry Spells: Feathers, Folklore & Fugitive Fires

July 11, 2023

A reflection on the folk wisdom offered in The Magical Adventures of Pretty Pearl by Virginia Hamilton filled with beloved characters from African American folklore. How folklore and folk tradition bring a small community fugitives into deep relationship with the wild, and how enchantment and magic serve as a source of psychological resilience and practical survival in the face of unimaginable hardship.

The Bird Woman Inside Us

April 2, 2023

Whether it is winged deities like the Hindu apsaras; airborne Christian mystics; Islamic Sufis; or the Greek Goddess Athena with her Little Owl, there is a consistent association between birds and a sense of fierce and powerful womanhood and femininity across cultures and geographies. In what small ways can we reclaim our power, rebel like these bird heroines, and embody the energy and spirit of wild birds?

Rabbits and the Moon Goddess: Traveling the Silk Road

August 10, 2022

Growing up in Asia, I always believed there was a rabbit on the moon assisting the Goddess who passed the time grinding dried medicinal herbs into an elixir of immortality. However, only recently did I discover that this trio of associations (rabbits, the moon and divine feminine) is an ancient archetype, stretching across a diverse array of cultures, landscapes and centuries by way of the Silk Road.

Wild Wings & Whispers Within: Call of the Shadow, the Untamed Self

May 20, 2022

What if the stories we inherit are meant to call us home, back to the old woods of the soul? In this lyrical retelling of a beloved African American folktale, three baker women hear a knock that grows louder with each rising loaf — until their quiet cabin bursts open into wings. Part caution, part invocation, the story hums with ancestral echoes and sacred thresholds. The owl, guardian of the in-between, becomes a symbol of wild return and transformation, reminding us that when we silence the deeper self, it will rise again, calling us back to life. Let this story lead you on a journey to reclaim what is feathered and alive within.