The adventures in Janet McCall's dreams are neither a passing blur nor a faint shadow.

	Photo illustration by Lake Fong, Post-Gazette Click photo for larger image. Related story A dream journal 'how to'

In her handmade journals, she brings her dreams back into focus with flowing words and vivid watercolor drawings, using her mind at night to make sense of her life by day.

She doesn't remember every dream, of course, but those that she does recall frequently have similar themes and images. Having recorded her dreams now for 10 years, she's developed her own interpretation of past experiences and of those yet to come.

McCall is executive director of the Society for Contemporary Craft in the Strip District, and the images that show up in her dreams reflect her intense interest in texture, color, shape, fabrics, clothing, pottery and other art objects.

"To me, dreams are such a rich source of creativity and self-knowledge and problem-solving,'' she says. "It is the most direct way to access the subconscious."

She flies often in her dreams and can recount the sensation of her body lifting off the ground and the cool breeze brushing back her shoulder-length hair. Deer, snakes and birds are common figures. There are many illustrations in her journals of a bird landing in her hand. Or she'll pick up a bird egg, and it will hatch in her palm. She's tried to replicate the feeling by working with clay in her hand to recreate the sensations of the dream and explore what it means.

With painstaking care, she crafts the covers of her journals in paste paper, a technique that's a close relative to finger-painting. She dampens sheets of paper, coats them with colored paste and creates textured or hand-drawn designs in vibrant hues. Her water color illustrations are just as brilliant.

Lake Fong, Post-Gazette Janet McCall with a decade of dream journals. Click photo for larger image.

A slight, reflective woman, McCall, 50, of the South Side Slopes, stopped using her alarm clock years ago so she can follow her natural sleep cycle, and more important, finish her dreams. Usually in bed by 10 p.m. and up by 6 a.m., she keeps her bedroom blinds slightly open to rise with the emerging daylight. As soon as she awakens, she writes directly in these journals, always using a special fountain pen with black ink, one that flows smoothly with her thoughts.

"I'm often inspired by my dreams," she says.

McCall recalls dreaming about her father a month after he died in September 2000. She was at a joyous community gathering where a hot air balloon was being launched. She saw her father sitting on a bench with her sister, in front of a church. "He was talking and laughing just as he had been in life. He was always the life of the party."

She leaned over to her sister and asks, "Dad's so funny. Does he know he's dead?"

"Yes, I think he does," her sister answers.

To McCall, the dream was powerful and healing. "It made me feel that he was OK."

		Dreams: Day 1 INDEX

There also are moments of precognition. Images of water, plumbing, bathroom sinks or faucets show up in her dreams 24 to 48 hours before she comes down with a cold or congestion.

"They say that while you're sleeping your brain is doing a scan of your body. If there's anything unusual, it can pick up on that."

She would have missed the connection if she had not been recording her dreams, she says.