Santa Fe

I took a trip to Santa Fe, NM last month with my high school art students, while there we took a tour of Canyon Road and all of the great galleries. I was wearing one of my necklaces when I went into Mesa House Contemporary Gallery,the owner of the gallery commented on it and before I knew it I had sold her the necklace right off my neck. We started talking and came to a consignment agreement. My jewelry is now selling in Santa Fe,, NM on Canyon Road.

My jewelry was also picked up at another shop here in town. I hope these two new ventures have a positive out come, God knows I've been working non-stop the last two weeks trying to meet orders and providing inventory for the shops where my jewelry already sells.
With all of this work I havn't given my book (I'm writing a family history book) much time. Hopefully once things get settled I will return to writing my book. I'm also interested in writing a book geared towards art teachers. That idea is still in the works.I was told by a friend of mine last week that she was looking through a jewelry magazine and noticed some necklaces that resembled mine. Hmmm, I will be looking for this magazine to make my own assessment. Time for a good book and a hot glass of tea before bed, good night all.

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS! MMMMMMMMMMM, the tamales are ready!

Happy Holidays

Sorry I havn't posted lately, as you know, this is our busiest time of the year and I am busy filling orders and stocking up inventory in the five shops that carry my jewelry. I've had to deactivate my Etsy listings for now just to keep up with the shops here at home. Hopefully I will be able to stock up quickly after the holidays.
Happy Holidays to everyone!

TAEA Conference

I went to the TAEA (Texas Art Education Association) Conference this past weekend in Austin, TX. with several other art educators. It was an amazing conference with great workshops. I have posted two of the lessons in my other blog (the painted apple), I'd rather share a few more personal images here.

Aside from the great workshops the fact that I was in my element, surrounded by sooooo many other artists and educators made the trip so special. I roomed with three other friends in the hotel and we spent some evenings drawing in our sketchbooks and sharing lessons that we had learned at the workshops. It was a fun art packed weekend that will hopefully help push me through the rest of the year.

San Antonio

I took a two day trip to San Antonio to see my son perform in the Alamodome with his high school band. It was an amazing experience to see him perform, I had more than one tear in my eye.

The day before his performance we took a walk around the convention center and happened upon a performance honoring Dia de los Muertos. It was such a great performance with music, dancing and acting. I took a few pictures, but it was getting late and only a few turned out ok.

New Etsy Products

Finally, after having such a difficult summer and fall dealing with several surgeries in the family, with one more to go, I was finally able to post new pieces in my Etsy Shop. I am finally spending more time in my studio where I feel the most at home and in peace. My kids also made the comment that I must be feeling better now that I am back in my studio.

Well, I hope you like my new pieces.

Mannequin Heads

I was approached by a cancer foundation here in town about decorating mannequin heads for cancer patients that have lost their hair. My art club students are making this their community service project. I'm very excited about working on them and also on the impact the kids will be making in somebody's life.

The two mannequins I've posted are the ones I have painted, the mannequins the kids are painting will be posted in my teacher blog.

The red one features the Mexican game Loteria. I have a soft spot for Loteria because it is the game I played with my grandmother.

The other mannequin features a tree that represents rebirth. There are words written all around but are hard to see.

Hope you like them.

Frida on Mexican Currency

Have you seen this? A student of mine mentioned about a month ago that Frida Khalo and Diego Rivera were featured on the $500 pesos ($50) bill. I finally got my hands on one! I have to say that the Mexican Treasury Dept. did a good job in representing their images, although I wish that Frida's image was just as large as Diego's. The bill also features images of some of their best known pieces. I just might have to get my hands on a few more and keep them as keepsakes for my three kids. I'm not sure how long these will be in production so I better not wait too long.

New Blog for Art Teachers

I have started a new blog geared towards art educators. As an art teacher, I am always looking for new ideas and inspiration for myself and students. I also want to use my new blog as a way to keep a record of my lessons. I hope you will stop by and take a look at the painted apple.

This particular piece was created by my Art 2 student, John. It was the first assignment of the year. My students had to show foreground, background and lighting (shading) using a black pen for their medium. The pieces came out great but I especially like this one.

This was the procedure:

• Create a still life on their desk using 4-5 objects.


• The still life should show a foreground and background.


• Photograph the composition to be used only for placement reference but not to draw from.


• Review mark making techniques and shading techniques using a pen.


• Draw!

I had my UVAs (Union de Viejas Artistas) meeting last weekend. Our last swap was to create a portrait of one another. The results were amazing! I had tons of fun creating the portrait of my friend Lourdes and it was a wonderful treat to receive my portrait.

As for work, the school year has started out on a good note, we're already getting ready for competitions and art exhibits. I have a good group of talented students that are eager to create some great art pieces. I will post some of their work soon.

I'm still working on my family tree, I'm up to 800 family members. I've met new family members and have discovered some family information.. I am still working hard on writing my book.

Well, I hope all is well with you and yours, till next time.

It has been a while since I last dropped in, but for good reason. My daughter had her surgery a few weeks ago and everything went fine, thank God. She is still in recovery and needs the majority of my time. I trust in God that all will end well.

In the mean time, I have continued to work on my family tree and now have over 400 family members in my tree! I am also writing a book based on my family. It turns out that I have two cousins that have written books based on their families, from their particular family branches. Needless to say, I have not touched my jewelry in over a month! With the beginning of the school year, meeting new students and revamping my curriculum, I have not had much free time. I can't wait until my life gets back in order!

The pictures shown are those of my grandparent's house in Santa Barbara, Chih. MX. The house has been in my family for over 200 years. Unfortunately, no one lives in the town any more and the house is in disrepair. I don't know how much longer the house will last. I keep reminding myself that it is the people that once lived in the house that matter, not the house itself.

It has been a while since my last post, but by good reason. I had to under go surgery and I am just now recovering and getting back to feeling like myself. Just in time because now my daughter will be going through surgery in two weeks. I'm looking forward to the end of this month.

Aside from my surgery I have also been hard at work on my family tree. I created one on -line and my tree now has over 300 family members. I hope to add a few more.

The two drawings were created prior to my surgery and were created just for the fun of it. They are in the style of Picasso. I'm thinking of getting them framed and placed in my room. A little bit of humor is good now and then.

Well, off to get more rest, till next time.

changes

This is my latest necklace called "love" Actually, I created this piece some time ago but had put it away and forgotten about it. I finally cleaned my studio and out it appeared. I have also begun to use my new mannequin form for my photos. I'm hoping my new images will make a difference in my etsy shop.

I start teaching summer school on Monday and will teach for two weeks. Summer school marks the count down for the beginning of school. A few more weeks and back to work.

One of my co-workers has accepted a job at another school and I was notified that her position was not going to be filled. I am going to be left with a male co-worker that is not always very pleasant to work with. My theme for ths year: changes. I have to accept change and do my best to work with these changes. I will be praying extra hard these next few weeks.

I hope you are enjoying your summer.

New Work

This is my latest piece. I started this piece a year ago and then put it aside. My son asked me for it and so now I picked it up once again. I don't know why I lost interest in it in the first place. Well, it is still in the beginning stages and I have a long way to go. In case you are wondering this is an image from a Tigua Eagle Dancer.

My goal for this summer was to complete unfinished work, photograph my jewelry and begin three portraits. One for each of my kids. I don't know if I'll get to those portraits, but I sure am going to try.

I just purchased a mannequin form in hopes that my jewelry will show better in photographs. I shopped for one on the inter net for some time and I think I made a wise purchase. I won't sing victory until it gets here. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I just finished posting a few more necklaces on etsy. I actually have several more necklaces that I want to post but I am still struggling witht the photography aspect of the business. I purchased a photo tent but half of the pictures that I take still do not come out like I'd like. I've been thinking of making a dress form out of papier-mache to use as a prop but I already have a thousand things to do. I guess I will continue to try new things, hopefully something will eventually work.
Any ways, these necklaces are two of the newest pieces that have been posted. I especially like the silver one. I'm always tempted to keep the pieces that I like, but I have to remind myself to let them go.

Hope you're enjoying your summer!

Batik

This is a new batik I am currently working on. It is in preparation for the Virgen de Guadalupe Competition and Exhibit that is held here in El Paso in Dec. Yes, I am several months ahead but I am hoping to add some embroidery to it and I really want to dedicate some time to it. I won 2nd place several years ago and I havn't entered since. I actually had another idea in mind but several of us got together last Sun. to batik and out of the blue I decided to work on her. I'm sitll learning and I hope some of the embroidery will take care of my mistakes. The colors look amazing close up. To get a better view of the detail click on the pic and zoom in.
As I mentioned before, I had jury duty the very first day of summer vacations, luckily I was not picked. Not that I'm complaining about doing my civic service but I was up late on Wed. with the worst stomach cramps. I had never experienced so much discomfort. By the time I got up on Thurs. doing jury duty was the last thing on my mind. I'm still recovering.

I'm counting today as my first official day off. I want to accomplish three things this summer: art, clean my house and sleep.

I'm about to do one of the three, good night.

This is not Photoshopped

I was in my studio yesterday working on a new batik when my son yelled for me. "Quick," he said, "get your camera!" I went outside and was mesmerized by what I saw. My camera did not do the sky justice. We had a terribly hot day yesterday (108) and then had rain late in the evening. This was right before the rain fell. I've seen these colors in the sky before but the intensity of the colors was amazing.

The picture reminds me of the art project kids do in elementary school. The one where they watercolor the background and then put black construction paper landscapes in front. You know the ones?

On an even better note, two more days for summer vacations! Wait don't get so excited for me, I have jury duty the next day:(

Oh well.

UVAs in UTEP Magazine article

I've mentioned before that I have an artist group called the UVAs. All of the members are females and are practising or retired art teachers. We were featured in an article in the UTEP (University of Texas at El Paso) Magazine. I finally look good in a picture. Here's the link if you'd like to view the complete article. http://utepmagazine.utep.edu/ Just scroll down to the article titled "Art Swap" or page 46.

I just returned from a trip to Santa Fe with a group of students. It was an enjoyable trip but now I am exhausted. There's 5 school days left!!!

I'm getting together with some of the UVAs this weekend and we are going to do some batik. I can't wait, art makes me unwind. I have a few pendants waiting on me to be turned into necklaces. I'll get to those soon. I also have a few clay pendants that need to be glazed. Sooo much to do.

First things first though, I still have to clean my studio :(

Happy Arting!

Time to Clean, again!

I swear I think it was just yesterday when I last cleaned my studio! It feels as if I spend more time cleaning it than actually working in it. Something is obviously not working for me. I think I'm going to buy one of those magazines that shows personal studios of artists. I need some ideas on how to set up my studio. Before you ask, I purge every time I clean, so how is it that it still looks like this? I don't feel like working when I know that I have to clean first, this is why my new painting has sat unfinished for the past two weeks. Havn't even touched the brush. I keep telling myself that I will clean when vacations begin, but that's two weeks away and I can hear the paint brush calling my name.

As for my new painting, well it's something I'm playing with. Not something intended for sale or exhibition. Just something for me. I also want to work on some new jewelry pieces. That will have to wait. I have to clean my studio first.

Chalk Art

I had my 2nd annual Chalk Art event at my school last Fri. It was such a great break from the usual schedule. The students enjoyed themselves and the event allowed me to blow off some steam. We started at 8am and finished around 12pm on a very hot day! We had mild weather all week and the heat arrived on Fri. Poor kids, they were quite hot, but persisted until they were done. I hope to make this event a yearly tradition.
If you'd like to see more of the chalk art you can do so by going to my teacher web page.

Three more weeks to go! This has been a very difficult school year, alot of little things have happened and with only a few weeks to go, they continue to happen! I can't wait to have one un-eventful year. Do those even exist?

This is one of my latest pieces. This is a more "quiet" piece and I am especially enjoying working with copper. Actually, I've been working non-stop and have created dozens of necklaces. I hope to post them on etsy as soon as summer vacations begin and I get my new photo tent. I've never been able to take good pics so maybe a photo tent will help me.

This past week has been a "doozy"! My water heater sprung a leak and by the time we became aware of it the carpet was completely drenched. No hot water for a day was also quite difficult. Luckily I was able to have a new one installed the next day but it took a while to get over the sticker shock. It's been a while since I had one installed, I spent a good $500 for the water heater and installation. OUCH!

Then, I got word about graduate school. Good and bad news. I was accepted into the Art Ed. program but I was not accepted into the studio classes. I was going to minor in studio. I know the kind of pieces this university looks for. More contemporary, non-objective kind of pieces. I was going to do some abstract work before I applied, but I've been sooo busy. I hoped they would be satisfied with my pieces. I graduated with honors and I hoped they would remember my work ethic. What's ironic is that I am being featured in the universitie's magazine because of the work that I do. Oh well, I will be applying else where.

I'm going to look forward, not backwards, so on I go...

Grad School

It has been a while since I've blogged, I have been sooo busy. The artist's studio tour is this coming weekend and I have been working diligently on my jewelry and paintings in preparation for the tour. I have to tag everything by tomorrow so I could concentrate on cleaning up my studio this week.

I am also hosting the UVAs meeting at my house this Fri.! Like I said, soooo busy. One great piece of news is that my group is going to be featured in a magazine. I can't wait to see.

I've also been asked to have a jewelry show at the store where my jewelry is sold. The only bad thing is that the show would be on Mother's Day weekend. I am going to try and work on some new things for that show. I have several ideas, but I haven't had time to sit down and experiment.
I am looking forward to summer vacations. I am eager to paint and create new jewelry without the added pressure of work. The piece that is pictured is a small watercolor collage that I made just to relax and keep the creative juices at bay. I have several paintings I'd like to start on right away, but I have to take care of business first.

Oh, I almost forgot, I find out this week if I have been accepted to grad school. Keep your fingers crossed.

'Till next time :)

I'm sitting here, listening to the wind roar outside. We have 60mph winds and so my allergies are having a field day. Since I don't feel up to working on my jewelry I thought I'd just show you the last few pieces in my collection. These were some of the pieces I had at my exhibit. I added some enameling in my pieces and I have to say that I really like how they look. I especially like the one with the blue. I think I might just keep it for myself.

I want to create some bracelets, I just havn't quite decided on the style. Maybe I'll sit and sketch while I watch Project Runway with my daughter.

I'm still preparing for the Artist's Tour which is three weeks away. I have my house to clean, my studio rearranged and jewelry to make. Yes, I am stressing a bit. I hope to have my bracelets in time for the tour. Wish me luck!

Stained glass necklaces

I have signed up for the "Artist's Studio Tour" in April. Artists open up their studios for two weekends and the public is welcomed to tour the studios. I will be selling several different types of necklaces and prints of my paintings. I should've spent spring break making new pieces but I spent the whole week working on the house. If I work two hours or so after work I should be able to have enough pieces for the tour.

One thing I am struggling with is finding a new supplier for chains. I havn't been very happy with the chains I've been using. Any suggestions?

The UVAs exhibit is still up, but this is the last week. I wish it could stay up forever, it is such a beautiful show, if I do say so myself. If you type in "Union de Viejas Artistas" into your search engine you will find several articles written about us.

Well, time to get ready for bed and prepare to face my students once again. Eleven more weeks until the end of the school year :)

Exhibit Last Night

We had our exhibit last night. We had a very good turn out and several of us sold some pieces. My jewelry also did very well, I sold several necklaces and picked up some orders. I was very impresssed by everyone's beautiful pieces, the caliber of work was of higher quality than last year. A total of 14 female members exhibited.

I made some "collaged" pieces using the faces of the UVAs and put them in famous images. They were a big hit at the exhibit as were our bra purses. We wore buttons that said "Ask me about my bra". ( You can see some of our bra purses in a previous blog.) If you're passing through El Paso, please stop by!

$28,000 scholarship!

I had a hard time deciding what to title this post. I have had an extremely busy few weeks with many things going on. The biggest news this week is that one of my students received a $28,000 scholarship to go to art school in California. This happened on Friday, and even though I've been fighting a bad cold, I was on a cloud! Then my students competed in several competitions and they all came out winners! Four of my students will be traveling to Houston to compete in state. I wish I could post their art work, it is absolutely beautiful, but I have already turned them over. My kids are amazing! I am going to give them a little party tomorrow, I think they deserve it.

Also the UVAs exhibit is coming up. It is this Saturday and I still haven't finished my jewelry!!! I will be working late everyday this week and hopefully I can get everything done, including any last minute things that come up.

In case you are wondering those are our bra purses on our invitations.

Still at it

Three weeks away from the exhibit. I'm beginning to feel the excitement. My group the UVAs will be featured in our local newspaper, on tv and a magazine! If only I could lose a good 20lbs before the interviews. Oh well, no can do.

My goal is to make at least 50 pieces of necklaces for the exhibit. I work late into the night, or at least until my back gives out. Aside from making the pieces I still have to make all the tags. I'm also loading up the kiln tomorrow, I'm experimenting with some clay pieces. If all goes well I will include them in the show. The pictures above show my jewelry at La Galeria Azul. This gallery is located in historic Old Mesilla, an hour drive away from El Paso. It was a big thrill when my work was accepted there.

Still working hard for the upcoming exhibit. I'm not sure about this piece. I like it, but I don't know if I'm going to exhibit it. It might just end up in my house somewhere. I had a week of slow paced work, but now I have tons of work to do. My students have three art competitions to prepare for which means I have matting to do, I want to make at least fifty pieces of jewelry for the exhibit and I was hoping to finish one more painting. To top it off I've been informed that I have to attend four prof. development sessions at work.

All this plus finish putting the exhibit together.

As if I don't have enough to do, I applied for graduate school yesterday. To be honest with you I'm quite excited about returning to school, it's been something I've been thinking about for some time. God help me, I hope I can pull it off.

Happy Birthday to me!

It's my birthday tomorrow! I celebrated today since it's back to work tomorrow and my honey is going out of town on business. I love being surrounded by my family. My mom had her surgery and everything is going fine, she was sitting right next to me as they sang the "Mananitas". Singing this song is a family tradition and the water works began as soon as they sang the first notes. This should also be the last picture with my braces on.

MY BRACES ARE COMING OFF ON FRIDAY!!!

Am I going to do anything different this year? Yes, I promised myself to live with passion and look towards the horizon. I've finished a total of four paintings in two months, I'm starting a small series of paintings tomorrow and I have an idea for three others for the summer. My jewelry will also have my full attention. The exhibit is two months away!!

As for my family, well they are my first priority. My kids are my life.

Happy Birthday to me!