Use the release from the past to propel forward, rebuilding anew. Digital collage by Jude Valentine.

To see more from contributing artist Jude Valentine, click here.

Dear Friend and Reader:

Unlike our editor-publisher Eric Francis, whose artistic expression is evidenced throughout the pages of Planet Waves, the Book of Blue and elsewhere across the web, I haven’t yet shared the other part of my creative life here at Planet Waves. Today, I break that silence.

I’ve been an actor and writer for years here in the San Francisco Bay Area, working mostly in women’s theater projects. Most of my writing work is as a dramaturge – someone who takes words and stories and makes them work for the stage. If you were wondering where my writing style comes from, its from aВ traditionВ where every word written needs to be spoken out loud.

I’m going south, literally. I’m drivingВ Interstate 5В В for a 400-mileВ road tripВ down to the coastВ of Santa Monica, also known as Los Angeles, to present a play that I’ve been helping develop this last year.В  Its called “The Unsung Diva” on the life of Sissieretta Joyner Jones, America’s first В black opera singer. Its going up at Highways Performance Space as part of the Los Angeles Women’s Theater Festival.

As an actor, it may seem strange that I haven’t gone down south to live and try to practice my craft. But I’m more of an art nurturer, or Art Mom, as my nephew calls me. I tend to go for more innovation in theater work, and I like to make and develop new work. San Francisco seems to support that.

Now for those unfamiliar or who think California is Los Angeles and that’s it, there are two cities that have direct claim to the economic and cultural life of the state:В  San Francisco andВ LA. В LA has a very very powerful energy charge, very different from the north. Like San Francisco, the Los Angeles metropolitan area also sits by the Pacific Ocean, butВ its ten timesВ its size. TheВ bulkВ of the city is inland, a basin divided by a mountain range. That basin is a huge collector of energy.

Setting aside the film and television industry – also known as “the community” in localese and already a formidable global economic force,В  Los Angeles is one of the world’s centers of business, international trade, science, technology, and education.В With 12.9 million souls speaking over 200 different languages, its population is double the sizeВ ofВ the В San Francisco BayВ region’s population.В For me,В any stay in LA is plugging into a huge energy grid. If you’re not grounded, you can fry your circuitry. Many have. Just look at the tabloids.

Springtime almost anywhere in the world is a poem. I’m looking forward to this road trip not just for the creative process I’m about to undergo at its destination, but also the change ofВ internal landscape. Sometimes, even a cozy Berkeley cottageВ can be a bit of a cage, particularly if you’ve made coming and going into your own home a robotic waltz of habits and routine. I need to feel what home is being away from it a short while, and take a look at what the rains have produced.

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A longing and reconsideration pull at the heart--turn combat into a dance meditation. Digital collage by Jude Valentine.

To see more from contributing artist Jude Valentine, click here.

Sea-deep beliefs, rigidly and soul-fully felt can now be released for a renewed future. Digital collage for Planet Waves by Jude Valentine.

To see more from contributing artist Jude Valentine, click here.

Riding over the eclipse bridge between collective reflection and self-absorption the ethers are patterned with pulsing potential.

To see more from contributing artist Jude Valentine, click here.

Jude writes: “On the Beach is a composite of images from the week that suggestsВ unconscious power struggles (temple of Osiris image in the water) andВ the visual astrology of Full Moon eclipsing the Pleiads on Dec. 10, and Gemini meteor showers at the end of the week with theВ brightest an biggest Full Moon since 1993 (according to Sky andВ Telescope) on Dec. 12.” To see more from contributing artist Jude Valentine, click here.

To see more from contributing artist Jude Valentine, click here.

Editor’s Note: The collage you see below was made by Jude Valentine, inspired by today’s Venus Jupiter conjunction. Jude is a new addition to the Planet Waves team; she’s been helping me manage the blog in recent weeks and is a joy to talk to and work with. She will be contributing one piece a week, based on an aspect. Enjoy! –RA