These are two of my latest creations.  I am a big fan of Frida Khalo, her work appeals to me.  I give my high school students a lesson on Frida Khalo and the misconceptions that the kids have about her and her work are mind boggling.

I had a dream last night that I was a student and that I was creating two paintings.  I havn't worked on a painting since last Oct. and I am feeling the need to get my paint brushes.  What to paint, though.  In reality, I don't have time to paint.  Not with three months left of school, I should just wait for the summer.

Speaking of summer, I've been thinking of getting my masters.   As much as I enjoy teaching, it is not what I want to do for the rest of my life.  As an artist, I would love to retire early and make a living off of my work.  It is time to start working on my dreams.

Happy Anniversary

I love how you spoil me

I love how my flowes come to my classroom every year

I love you

Happy Anniversary my love

Imagine

A Year in the Life of an Art Journal prompt #2-I decided to play with colors for this prompt, mostly because I felt that I could not do the word 'imagine'  justice with a few chosen images.  There is no possible way to show all that I imagine on two pages of my sketchbook. If I put one thing that I imagine, what about the million other things that I imagine?    Well, I couldn't have that, now could I?   I'd like to imagine that the colors represent all of the things that are in my imagination.  What about you, what do you imagine?

I couldn't resist it, I just had to show you my bottle.  I will be meeting with my art group tomorrow and we will be swapping bottles that we "re-labeled".  We won't know what is in the bottles until we drink them, but I am mostly looking forward to seeing all of the great art work.
My bottle, as you can see, was inspired by The Death of Marat.  Marat was murdered by Charlotte Corday in 1793.  I thought it fitting that I surround Marat with women. 
I hope my bottle is well received tomorrow and that they also like the drink.  To be honest with you, I bought the bottle because of the color of the liquid, not the type of drink that was inside.  What can I say, I am an artist first.

At the downtown art market today on this beautiful sunny day.  I was to lazy to put my tent out, what was I thinking?  No shade under the El Paso sun, big mistake.  Half of my face is sun burned, although it looks as if I am wearing blush.  Ouch!  Even though we had more vendors come out today it took a while for the shoppers to come out.  The downtown art market is new to the city, I hope it continues to grow.  It is a great outlet for all of the creative minds of the city that usually have to drive to another city to sell their wares or put together seasonal craft shows.  If you are ever in the city, please stop by and say "hello".

My Word for the New Year

It took me a little longer to create my word for the new year, but there it is...PROSPER.  My goal is to prosper this year in all facets of my life.  As a wife, mother, teacher and small business owner I put so much of my time and energy helping others (as many of you probably do too) and I believe I need to put some of that energy back into myself and the things I love to do.  I will hopefully continue to be the person I have always been, but I now want to "prosper" in some of the endeavors I have set for myself..  Creating my art and my jewelry bring me so much joy and I would like to see that part of my life prosper.  I also want to make sure that my relationships with my friends and family continue to grow and prosper.
I also added a picture of last year's word...flight.
What is your word for the new year?

My New Studio

I moved into my new studio space over the holidays with the help of my husband and kids. I made the move in two days, which is why it looks the way it does.  I had been in a 10' x 10' room, and was extremely crowded, I have no clue how I fit everything in there.  My husband will turn that room into an office/man cave  space.  What is now my studio was once our family room, it was a great space for tv watching, thanks to the dark walls.  Now the dark walls are not so great for my studio.  I will paint the walls over the summer, buy some colorful rugs and ad a few more tables.  We removed the water damaged (another story) carpet and found that someone, at some point, wrote the name "Roger" on the floor.  Ugh.
I have a vision of what I want my studio to look like when it is all said and done, I just have to be patient and slowly work my way towards my vision.
I can't wait to show you the end results.
Another plus to this space is that not only will I be able to create my jewelry, but I now have enough space to create my paintings without having to put things away.
This was the best gift ever!

Happy New Year!  I don't know about you, but 2011 flew by for me.  I can't believe how quickly time is going by.  Does this happen the older we become?  I can't believe that I am now the mother of two adult children, and my baby is three years away from graduating from high school.  I wish I could make the years go by a bit slower.  I resolve to enjoy my children more this year, soon my husband and I will find ourselves as empty nesters.  I also resolve to grow my business more.  I had a great year with new ventures, but it is time to spread my wings a bit wider.  I have a meeting tomorrow for a new shop opportunity, we'll see how that goes.  I also resolve to take better care of myself, it is off to the gym tomorrow morning! 
The piece shown above is a new addition to my etsy shop.
 Hope your holidays have been as wonderful as mine. 

I went to sell at the downtown art market yesterday morning, but even with all of the advertising from the city, the weather kept people and vendors away.  It was too cold and wet for people.  It started to snow the second we arrived and didn't stop all day.  We left after a short while, went home to mom's and made tamales for dinner.  We had breakfast here at home and opened up gifts with friends and family.  I hope your are having a very Merry Christmas too.

I created these pieces just yesterday in preparation for a private party where several artists were invited to show their work.  We had a wonderful time, until the temperature started to dip that is.  My husband came along and helped me to pass the time while we watched the festivities go on around us. 
I always enjoy meeting new people and what I enjoyed more was meeting people that have bought my work at one of the shops where my work is sold. 

Now it is back to the studio, I am still trying to replenish all of the pieces I sold a couple of weeks ago in Galveston.  I have two more shows coming up and we are still selling at the El Paso Artist Market.  The market is a bit slow going, the temperature does not help.  Starting the market in the winter time is not an easy task.  There have been weekends when their is great attendance and then we have a weekend like this one.  Very low attendance.  Still met some great people and my work is always well received. 

Til next time!