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Inspiration from the Eye of the Artful Dreamer

Kay Vasilakis
Special to the Post Independent
Post Independent
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
Kelley Cox Post Independent
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CARBONDALE, Colorado” Wewer Keohane of Carbondale is an award-winning artist with works in the permanent collections of four museums. She works from Oneirica Art Ranch, her studio in the Roaring Fork Valley.

Keohane has been interested in dreamwork for more than 25 years. She began teaching the Psychology of Dreaming for Colorado Mountain College in 1984, and wrote a short text for the class. She turned that text into a Book Art project In 1990, expanding it.

Keohane was a main speaker for the CMC Writers’ Conference and a guest speaker at the Aspen Writers’ Conference, speaking about dreams as inspiration and creativity from dreams in the early 1990s. She was the featured speaker for the International Association for the Study of Dreams, speaking on art inspired from dreams. From these experiences of writing and lectures, she put together her new book, “Artful Dreaming: A Primer for Finding Inspiration from Your Dreams.”



The first Artful Dreaming book signing is scheduled to coincide with the Carbondale Council on the Arts and Humanities First Friday event, from 6-8 p.m. Friday, May 1, at The Artists’ Collective.

“There are no dream books on the market that are truly simple primers for doing the work,” she said. “The books are esoteric or highly intellectual, and they don’t allow dreamers to work on their own in the simple ways that I have been working with people for years.”



Keohane has been a co-author for a few text books, wrote a book on finding a perfect job/resume building, and has dozens of one-of-a-kind book art pieces. Her poetry has also been published in national and regional publications.

“I have written almost every day for the last 49 years,” she said. “It is my passion.”

Although she says this book has been in the making for 25 years, she put it in its present format and got it off to the publisher in less than three months.

“The book is a primer for self-growth and creativity through dream work,” Keohane explained. “You will learn how to remember, record, honor and create from your dreams in the visual and literary arts, grow into an authentic person and artist through dream work, and learn individual and group processes which will enhance your life and your creativity. The book is straightforward and easy to understand.”

The author’s goal is for people to be able to work with their dreams without professional help, and for therapists who have not had dream training to learn to help clients with their dreams and encourage creativity.

Artful Dreaming is a primer for self-growth and creativity through dream work. Learn how to remember, record, honor and create from your dreams in the visual and literary arts, grow into an authentic person and artist through

dream work, and learn individual and group processes which will enhance your life and your creativity. The book is straightforward and easy to understand.

Wewer has a second book, “Nightscapes,” which will be available soon. It is a symbol journal for keeping personal info on the metaphors in dreams.

Wewer is a name from two cultures: Polish and Cherokee. She imagines the name probably means “weaver” in Polish. In Cherokee, it means “Pit of the Peach,” the symbol for everlasting life.

“Wewer was my maiden name (my father was Polish and my mother was Cherokee). I had gone by the nickname Dee for most of my life and was tired of it, as it meant nothing to me and I am big on symbols. I had a dream an artist friend (Wewer in the dream interpretation) changed her name to Weaver.”

She kept her maiden name when she married Steve, but had the dream several months after they married. She knew when she awoke she was to make Wewer her first name and take Steve’s last name.

So Dee Wewer became Wewer Keohane. It is pronounced We wer Co hane, although many people say, “kee o hanee,” how it is pronounced in Hawaii. But Steve Is Irish.


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