“Oh, no! I forgot how to paint.” Does this ever happen to you? It happens to me when I’ve taken a break from my regular studio practice. It happens when life gets too busy. If I’m away from painting for more than three days my saboteur tells me I can’t do anything worthwhile. That’s when […]
Re-solutions and staying in the Studio
By now, if you are like most people, you have let your New Year’s resolutions lapse. At the beginning of the year, we naturally think about making this year better by improving ourselves. We want to be thinner, healthier and become better people, do more, be more. We set resolutions. Resolutions can help us meet […]
The List: One Hundred Things that Marked the Year
Various artists and bloggers I follow do a public year in review. Some write a narration, one publishes hers in an annual report magazine, and one makes a list every year of 100 accomplishments I always reflect on the past year as a prelude to goal setting. I’ve just never made it public before now and […]
“Break a Leg” works for Art Shows too!
Something always goes wrong. It’s inevitable. Every time I’ve had an open studio or exhibition, something unforeseen happened. Now, I wait for it so that I can finally relax. I figure it can only get better from there, right? This February is For Love of Art Month in Las Cruces and I’m participating in the […]
Quitting Painting or Pivoting?
This past year saw many changes for me, some positive and some challenging. In early February, the gallery I was represented by in Santa Fe dropped me. It happens. At first, I felt relieved that I would have time for other painting projects that were looming, but little by little I began to feel deflated. […]
HOLIDAY SALE
As a way to show my gratitude to you for following me and for supporting my art, I am offering free shipping on all the items in my Small Works Gallery until December 15th. (Just enter HAPPYHOLIDAYS at checkout). There is a mix of new and older work so please check it out. Do you want […]
Thanksgiving and gratitude without the leftovers
I was born in the month of Thanksgiving. It’s easy to forget the things we’re grateful for, the successes we’ve had and those who helped along the way. It’s easy to get lost in the details or work and forget how lucky we are that we are able to create art. We’ve all read about […]
Because You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
I’m a self-taught artist… …and I have a Master’s degree in painting. When I was 3, I persuaded my mother to let me use a paint by number kit. It was fun. I loved what I did. But I knew even then that it didn’t look anything like my grandmother’s paintings. My grandmother came to […]
Watery birthday wishes for everyone
I used to hate drinking water. It’s not that our water tasted bad when I was growing up, it’s just that it wasn’t laden with sugar like Kool-Aid and Dr. Pepper. I never fully appreciated water until I lived in Latin America where clean, fresh, parasite-free water was not always available. In Honduras, we’d go […]
A Room of One’s (My) Own
Years ago, I read Virginia Wolff’s book, A Room of One’s Own. In it, she posits that in order for a woman to do creative work she needs space of her own and her own money. I’ve been lucky to have had a studio space, even if it was sometimes part of the living room, […]
My Desert View
When I was a kid I brought back souvenirs from my wanderings in the outdoors. Rock, shells, leaves, frog skeletons – really, just bits and pieces or anything I found that l thought was interesting or pretty. I’m not sure where the urge to collect comes from but these natural morsels reminded me of where I’d […]
What I learned from the film about Antonio Lopez Garcia, Dream of Light
Recently a friend visiting my studio asked me why I paint the way I do. She asked if I paint the ceramic figurines in my paintings to look real merely to show that I can do it or if I had other reasons. I answered her that I thought it was a matter of fidelity. A […]