Spider Woman is an important goddess among many southwestern Native American tribes.  Spider Woman is responsible for bringing fire to the Pueblo, Tewa and Kiwa tribes.

For the Hopi tribes, Spider Woman is a creator of the moon, and their  emergence into the world. Spider Woman has the power to give and take life, and is connected to hunting and agriculture.

Cherokee Grandmother Spider brought people the sun and fire. She taught them pottery, weaving, and how to make ceremonial blessings.

The great blessings and history of Spider Woman will not “expire“ and will continue to be a wonderful tradition in Native American culture. Remember to pass on your cultural and family traditions so that they will live on for generations to come!

Work-In-Progress: The Spider Woman painting started out as a graphite sketch, proceeding to mix media including: ink, watercolor, acrylic and finally a light glaze of oil paint! It was a timely process, but so worth the luminosity that cannot be seen on any screen version!

It is a painting of my grandmother and her friends in the Caribbean. My grandmother was Carib Indian, who was very proud of her heritage and passed that on to her grandchildren.

This painting is in my home, and gives me much solace when I look at it. It speaks of love, friendship and journey; the journey of her grandchildren to America, the journey she made when she left Dominica and St. Vincent to live in Trinidad. It speaks of the loss of her children during that journey and the friends who supported her through the hardship in her life.

It’s odd to me that I’m putting this on Illustration Friday, since it is so personal to me, but it is an homage to her and her incredible life. I have missed her terribly since she passed several years ago. Here’s to you, Nana Dear, alive in my thoughts always!

Peace to you all this weekend.