Both as dreamworker and artist, Jenny Badger Sultan's been a teacher and role model to me for over a decade now. She's in it for the long haul; notice how her dreams re-introduce themes and variations. She makes me feel like a pop musician writing fluff. My flashy dreams are fun, but they're just bright little self-contained flowers on a bush. But most real growth is subtler, vegetative, not drawing attention to itself. The dark matter of dreams. That's what Jenny works with--as Jung did.
Flashy dreams can cast a shadow. Dreamers who don't have happy little dream-flowers, who may be stuck in a jungle of nightmares (or just lonely plains of blah) may worry they're not making real progress. Jenny's dreams will reassure you. They're working dreams--uncomfortable, anxious, unresolved, but inching you forward.
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BEAR IN THE MUSEUM: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2009/6/7; a dreampainting from the Box of Dreams
There's a large bear wandering the museum, and somehow I feel good about it... |
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BOX OF DREAMS: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2007 to 2009, a boxed set of 19 small dream-paintings
A sequence of short dreams full of creatures. They warn I'll face leukemia... |
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BORN IN A CAVE: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2007/4/20 to 2007/8/9, a painted series of rite-of-passage dreams.
I keep dreaming of awkward but successful transitions into new life, and paint them all in one landscape... |
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BRIGHT NICHES IN THE CASTLE WALL: by Jenny Badger Sultan; summer 2003. A painting of a series of dreams.
Dreams warning of mania and paralyzing shame alternate with calm dreams of life and growth... |
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THE COMING DARK: by Jenny Badger Sultan, 2002/3/2; dream-paintings about one disaster averted, and another... not.
I climb down from a desert cliff before night strands me; but reckless adolescent games in town lead to a crash... |
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DAD FALLS ASLEEP AT THE PODIUM: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2008/3/8; a dreampainting from the Box of Dreams
My father is supposed to speak, but he falls asleep onstage. I rush up to try and rouse him, but... |
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A FIRE ENTIRELY WITHOUT HEAT: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2008/9/11; a dreampainting from the Box of Dreams
On the anniversary of 9/11, I dreamed a friend was welding nude. In his careful hands, the fire was harmless... |
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FLUID DREAM CONNECTIONS: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2003/11/8 and 2007/3/14; linked dreams of pods
A pod of whales in the sky and a circle of children dressed like seed-pods both beg me to interpret them... |
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FOOT CREVASSE: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2009/7/11; a dreampainting from the Box of Dreams
I dream my foot has a huge bloody crevasse. But I study it calmly... |
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GERMAN AT THE DOOR: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2009/7/19; a dreampainting from the Box of Dreams
A hulking, intimidating young man is at my door, with two scary dogs. Wait, is that Carl Jung?... |
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HANK AND THE BENGAL TIGER: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2009/2/27; a dreampainting from the Box of Dreams
At a party, I go hunting for my husband and find him on a terrace facing a Bengal tiger... |
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HERM: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2009/9/8; a dreampainting from the Box of Dreams
In a domed tower, we all look up bewildered by a statue like an ancient herm, floating in mid-air... |
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LATER IN THE DAY, WE'LL CROSS OVER: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2009/7/16; a painting from the Box of Dreams
I know we will cross the water surrounding the heart of Jerusalem, but not yet... |
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LAURA: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2009/10/24; a painting from the Box of Dreams
As we climb down the steep mountainside, clutching bushes to keep from falling, I ask Laura "Do you want another child?" |
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LITTLE BROWN RABBITS IN THE MEADOW: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2009/3/20; a painting from the Box of Dreams
I visit a friend's ramshackle cottage--trees grow through the walls. But glorious meadows! Spring at last... |
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"LOOK UP, JOE!": by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2009/10/17; a painting from the Box of Dreams
A waterfall leaps from a mountain so huge, steep and distant its base is lost in the haze... |
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THE MAN WITH THE SNAKE: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2002/9/3, dream of an aborted shamanic duel
I stood in the desert preparing for a contest with a man and his snake. But he cheated! Then my cat Lulu intervened... |
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MANDALA DURING A TIME OF WAR AND DISINTEGRATION: by Jenny Badger Sultan; Jan-Feb 2003, painting of a dream-series
My dreams were troubled by war. So I painted them in concentric rings--lotus, fire, children, animals, and nightmares... |
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MANDALA OF THE EIGHT DREAMERS: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2007/9/16, painting of a group's dreams
Our dream-group's dreams had a lot of imagery in common: circles, groups, meditation. I fused them into this piece... |
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MY DESIGN FOR THE DOME: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2009/5/1; an advisory dreampainting from the Box of Dreams
At first no one seems interested in my mural-design for the inside of the City Hall dome, but... |
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MY RITUAL BEHEADING: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 1996/3/24, painting of a nightmare
We stood meekly in line to be beheaded. I tried to accept my fate and commended myself to God...
CAUTION: READ THE TITLE! |
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NEST, EGGS AND LEGS: by Jenny Badger Sultan; l993/9/7, painting of a comic/transcendent dream
Two friends send energy through me, transforming me. Now that my legs are detachable, I can sit comfortably on my eggs... |
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NIBBLING FRUITS: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2009/2/3; an advisory dreampainting from the Box of Dreams
I am given a gift of "Nibbling Fruits" which only I may eat--because I've been feeding everyone but me... |
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PEGGY’S CAKE: by Jenny Badger Sultan; l998/10/26 , a nightmare plus surrealist painting.
At a party I meet a friend I thought was dead. She’s become a small talking rabbit made of cake, and I...
CAUTION: UGH |
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THE PRIMEVAL ANIMAL and the Survival of the Earth: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 1999/4/28; an epic dream-painting
A huge spiral nautilus needs healing; its coils are coming undone, and if it dies, all on earth may die with it... |
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RED OCHRE, CLEAR LIGHT: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2003/5/1?; a painting that blends two red-rock dreams
Mt Everest is snowfree and red; and next I get to color sandstone caves red with ochre. That red feels full of energy... |
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SAINT BRIDGET: by Jenny Badger Sultan; between 1963-68, a dream on adversity's uses.
In a Scythian church, a painting says "Little St Bridget was bound so hard that when they released her she flew"... |
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THE SKULLS AND CORN: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 1989/1/10, painting of an initiatory dream.
I'm shown corn plants growing from skulls, and it seems like I must plant some skull-corn myself... |
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SNAKE PACKAGE: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2007/5/27
I am given a dehydrated package of dried snake to insert in my vagina. Inside it will unfold and come to life...
CAUTION: KIDS, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! |
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TONY DIGS UP THE RED EARTH: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2008/2/23; a dreampainting from the Box of Dreams
It's Thanksgiving but my brother won't come in; he's digging up red earth. In our family he always digs up... |
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TWO GORILLAS IN THE FIELD: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2008/12/5; a dreampainting from the Box of Dreams
I see two gorillas in the field. One waves at me and approaches. I feel excited but a little scared... |
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THE VEGETABLES OF SHADOW: by Wayan; 1999/10/4. Nondream surrealist art technique.
Make silhouettes of your beloved vegetables; then listen to the spaces between...
CAUTION: LEWD SQUASH |
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VERITY'S WINGS: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2009/8/21; a dreampainting from the Box of Dreams
My friend Verity's given a beautiful set of wings. I feel envy--until I consider what angel wings can imply... |
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WEAVING MATS: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2009/3/15; a predictive dreampainting from the Box of Dreams
In a camp, women wove mats. I was tempted to try. But it was months until I learned what they'd really been weaving.. |
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WILL I BE BITTEN?: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2009/3/15; a predictive dreampainting from the Box of Dreams
A friend who's struggled with lymphoma invites me to sleep in a cave, but I worry I'll be bitten by a rattlesnake... |
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WINTER DREAMS: by Jenny Badger Sultan; winter of late 2004/early 2005, a painted series of color-dreams.
After teaching a class on color, I had a set of vivid dreams about color, and tried fusing them into one painting... |