Personal Epiphanies

Christmas 2012

2012-01-20T12:28:00.000-08:00

Christmas around the house:

Among many blessings:

We made our own wrapping paper
~~Wrote~~ Draw our first readable/understandable letters for Santa! (at least one)
Set on Santa's lap for the first time (no crying/screaming involved)
Cami's decided she wanted her own xmas party
Cami got her first bike
Made a potato nativity
After hearing lots of Christmas stories, Cami decided she wanted to be call Maria, she was Maria for one night.

Hope you all had a good one too!

Our Fall 2011

2011-12-01T09:38:00.001-08:00

Most years I wish it could be Fall forever:

“In The Midst Of Winter,

I Found There Was,

Within Me,

An Invincible Summer.”

-Albert Camus

From pink skies to cold noses... Welcome Winter!!

Practice Art ~Kurt Vonnegut

2011-10-24T23:02:00.000-07:00

So... Do!

Aging of Flowers (Paintings for Sale)

2011-10-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

Recent Painting:

Aging of Flowers 2011

2x3 Oil&Acrylic on Panel
Avalable for Sale
For more info/Pics email me at elizabeth@elizabethsanchezart.com

Aging of Flowers 2011 (Available)

Enamorada de ideas

2011-07-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

Big Eyed Women Show pics

2011-03-03T09:28:00.000-08:00

Karina Cutler, Emily Fox, Ashley Mae Christensen, Laura Rowley, Cassandra Barney, Hayley Labrum, Emily Carruth, and Me!. Anne Gregerson, Kirsti Ringger, Sunny Belliston Taylor, and Von Allen are missing in this picture.

Elope

2011-02-28T13:11:00.000-08:00

Although Elope merely means to run away, and to not come back to the point of origination, I am still debating on the title. The painting symbolize to me a more mental and emotional elope, a rise from a situation (instead of running away) and never come back to the same place where you found yourself. It is a very personal and fragile moment where trust and hope take the highest role. My husband mentioned the boy looks like if he is in pain. Perhaps we need it to be painful in order to move on.

2'x3' Available

Labore est dulcis!!

2011-02-28T10:25:00.000-08:00

Thank you all of you who made it to the art show, it was so nice to see so many of you there! It was a great night for our group, and we got really good reactions! The show will be there until March 11th. These two paintings (from me) are available there:

and many more from this amazing group! Thank you ladies to you too!

Happy Valentine's !!

2011-02-14T15:52:00.000-08:00

just another excuse to celebrate LIFE and the awesomeness of LOVE

have a lovely day people,

oxoxo

Oops!!

2011-02-07T08:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry the magazine got it wrong!!

The artist Reception will be on Friday 18th

from 6 pm to 9 pm

at Art Access Gallery

230 South 500 West #125
Salt Lake City, UT

This is it!! (I promise!)

Dear Mr.Winter,

2011-02-01T12:41:00.000-08:00

Hope you don't mind but...

we will just pretend is Summer

(all winter long)

love,

oxoxox

Come party with us!

2011-01-24T14:59:00.000-08:00

Do not miss us at the reception

from 6 to 9 pm February 19th

from luck to love from me to you

2011-01-18T00:23:00.000-08:00

I have been busy the last couple (x4) of weeks...
...sick and busy
and busy...and getting more sick...
I was tempted for a month to state as a fact (no doubts about it)
that taking your wisdom teeth out would take/completely exterminate/ your good luck...
however, I have survived that face and now I am in the denial one.. (sort of)
thus no longer think like that...
and I will only affirm I will never ever take another one out...
just in case...
(at least for now)

In other news, our show is up in less than a month!
Very exciting time!
Also, our little guy is walking at 10 months!
(I cant believe he is almost 1!)
I was informed (haven't see it yet!)our show was mentioned in Salt Lake Magazine this month
...very exciting too!

I was also excited to found this on an old sketch book
just sitting there,
written with a red marker...
I thought of him,
I thought of happiness (I and II),
I thought of oils and sweet pastels,
and I also thought about sharing it with you..
it kind of sets a good mood for next month...don't you think?

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

by e.e cummings

He owns my heart:

2010-11-12T10:51:00.000-08:00

Happiness II *8 months*

Dia de los Muertos

2010-11-02T08:06:00.000-07:00

picture from here

Today is my favorite Mexican Holiday el Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. We celebrate every November 1st is All Saints Day, and November 2nd All Souls Day.
It has always been a fascination for me to see how different cultures trough out the world have very different concepts of dead...and yet we all are mortals..almost all! (I believe).
Where I come from there is a culture/tribe called Raramuri people more known as the Tarahumara or "the running people." It is said that when one of them die, they avoid crying for the dead instead they celebrate with a sort of party/funeral, they are afraid the soul of the dead would feel sad for them and won't return to its resting place. While it's strange to accept the fact that "death" and "festivities" can go hand-in-hand, for most Mexicans, the two are intricately entwined. To me its all about the smell of different flowers together, the taste of "Dead Bread" and sugar cane, the colors, the music play for the dead (supposedly their favorite songs), the finding,cleaning,and decorating of crosses of our dear ones... it is truly a day to live with your 5 senses:

Al fin que para morir nacimos.
Al vivo todo le falta y al muerto todo le sobra.

At last we all were born to die.To the living all is missing and for the dead all is left.

P.S. If you want to taste some "Dead Bread" go to any local Mexican store they have some for sure (only today, since its only made this time of the year) ask for " Pan de Muerto" I asure you it doest taste like its name!!

Mujeres de Ojos Grandes

2010-10-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I met with this amazing group of women in down town Provo.... I always enjoy their company! We talked about our coming group show next year here , we touched on how the world was made for 2 and this and him (we all missed him and are planning on trick or treating his house on Halloween..sort of!). We love you Bob!!

That's Kirsty on the right she is the "newest" in our group; she is also curating some shows for this gallery if you are an artist and are interested let me know and I will give you her contact info.

I love these women!!

what is your wildest dream?

2010-10-11T09:44:00.000-07:00

I know I have many of those ..some consensus and many unconsciously...sort of ..and they are probably too wild to share without making a bad impression of me .. so lets not go in there!
But I can tell you one of the wildest dream we all share at the studio we all made a crazily balance group. We talked and share a lot and listen to others people music a lot and some other sounds that I wish they never were share...and we all had something in common, we hate washing/cleaning our brushes and wished even said it aloud..."one day I will make enough money and I will hire a person just to clean my brushes" and some one would add "I will make so much money I will use new brushes every time" and from the background "even if that's the only thing I would afford!!" would be added...

An artist secret is reveal, there you have it!! ...we don't really want to inspire you to see our world different, to move or create change, to barrow our eyes and hearts, or to paint everyday history, not even think of it has "our calling" that thing that we do to feel happy and alive... nope ..all we want is to earn enough for someone to clean our brushes.

I hope we all are not too far from there my dear old friends and fellas!!

Wish you luck wherever you are, and keep painting even if it becomes illegal!

Now to clean my brushes before the paint petrifies.

Provo Orem Word

2010-10-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

Have you heard about Provo Orem Word? This month they have a special issue celebrating the Hispanic heritage month. I can't tell you how much I LOVE the theme for this month ...so duende!

Great Work Girls!!

Did I mention my painting is on the cover!

Saints and Jelly on Bread

2010-09-02T09:58:00.000-07:00

I hung a picture of Modigliani's portrait of a woman above my stove. I have decided to take more time to enjoy cooking and preparing meals but first I needed some inspiration to start. It kind of looks like a kitchen guardian ...but a very indifferent one.

If I had a printed picture of my Abuela I would probably have chosen that. She is the best cook I have known, if she were Catholic she would probably be canonize in life as a kitchen Saint by now ...but I may be exaggerating things a bit.
She enjoys cooking and you see it on her face, her kitchen is known territory for her, like if it were the soil were her roots grew from. She moves like a wave in the ocean graciously and almost unnoticeable then she would stir and pray aloud for the food to be tasty and delicious...sometimes I do that too.

Last night I stay up late making peach jelly (we got too many peaches this year). The sugar melted into my skin and mixed with my sweat. I stirred with one hand and on the other one I hold a little book with some love poems... I was bread for a night.

Hopelessly human:

2010-08-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I remember how human I am, how fragile everything really is,
and its unbearable awful ..that feeling...
and I paint ...
and then I think I am helping the world.

How worldly that is?

Project Update

2010-08-30T15:08:00.000-07:00

Want to know what a group of art-minded women in Utah are doing?

Go here

Dad's recipe

2010-08-19T14:49:00.001-07:00

There is a time when every piece of what I considered me, or mine..

craves poetry. I don't really think too much about it...
It isn't a huge deal in my life,
until I go thirsty again,
and I stay up late reading words aloud,
words not intended for me but yet so suitable.

I asked my dad what he would recommend,
once Neruda's verses surprisingly weren't satisfying enough.

Benedetti, he suggested nothing more...

and it was so proper.

Little Stones at My Window

Once in a while

joy throws little stones at my window

it wants to let me know that it's waiting for me

but today I'm calm

I'd almost say even-tempered

I'm going to keep anxiety locked up

and then lie flat on my back

which is an elegant and comfortable position

for receiving and believing news

who knows where I'll be next

or when my story will be taken into account

who knows what advice I still might come up with

and what easy way out I'll take not to follow it

don't worry, I won't gamble with an eviction

I won't tattoo remembering with forgetting

there are many things left to say and suppress

and many grapes left to fill our mouths

don't worry, I'm convinced

joy doesn't need to throw any more little stones

I'm coming

I'm coming.

Mario Benedetti

Summer Naps

2010-08-12T15:57:00.000-07:00

When there is wind,

2010-08-09T15:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when there is a lot of wind,
the past swings by..happy,
just like the day I left him

Sometimes is sad,
sometimes it hurts deep inside
sometimes I try to ignore it

Then the clouds mock my face
my back is wet
my luck is suit...
he goes away
I am Between.

2010-06-26T00:17:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to visit US here

Big Eyed Women

2010-06-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

Second painting for the Big Eyed Women series.

I decided to make these paintings about jewelry.

I think about jewelry as the things you either has pass-on or in-heritage from family or significant people in your life. In this series I wanted to speak about the women behind me, the ones that have come before and somehow prepare “the way” … my current way, or in other words make who I am at this moment.

Jewelry is something pretty; something that is not ignored and you want everyone else to see it. Our heritage is the same, it is our legacy and even when we can change it, we can’t ignore it.

We inherited these things…talents, looks, will, notions, ideas, spirit, character, and we used them everyday sometimes unaware of their existence, without realizing how powerful their forces are. This is what Big Eyed Women means for me, it pays a tribute to all the women that had influence my life aware or unaware of it, directly or in a roundabout way. I recognize I am made out of little people, most of them “big” women… and I am a whole thanks to them.

I wish for every women/person to do the same. To "open their eyes" and to find their “roots” new or old and realize the gladness of their new encounters…

We will step on their prepared soil and connect with the past and future in every step.

One woman represents the daughter. She has been given the “family pearls” each pearl has taken a face representing a woman in her life. She has taken part of her mother’s spirit but instead of the bird she has only taken a few feathers. She now wears them humbly on her hair.

Motherhood

2010-05-06T11:26:00.000-07:00

A night out ( Camila 18 mths , me 7 mths )

It has been almost two months since our baby boy was born. The feeling is amazing and I am loving every minute of it. However, I completely forgot how demanding a new born can be. Yesterday, I was thinking about when I used to complain because I had no time (no kids just an art student at that time). Then Camila came and I started complaining again. I silently laugh at how naive I was. I thought about it...but this time I won't complain...nights aren't getting any longer these days!

Some how I feel an easiness to my life. I know I was born to be a mother and I was made to be an artist, and even when, at some point those two worlds seem to become water and oil, I smile and take it slow... or small.

A few weeks ago I was reminded of this video. It was presented at BYU a few years ago. I was there not only to be moved and be transformed by the video but also to experienced a kind gesture I will never forget.

Please Enjoy!

Welcome Home

2010-04-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

From 2 to 3

to now 4...

and life gets better

Welcome bebe Matias

B.E.W

2010-01-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

Here is I what I have so far:

b.e.w. project painting#1

i think I would call it Silver Souvenir

#2 Passed Pearls or just Pearls (not sure inthis one)

Sorry, I will explain them later, this is just a quick upload this morning for meeting.

Also, what Whitney is working on:

Eternities

Long time!

2010-01-05T19:02:00.000-08:00

We have been working hard at the studio!

Seriously!

I am really excited for a new project I have embarked…

And I am glad after almost two years of having the idea I am finally working on it.

Right Now!

But what is even better it is not only my baby anymore but other nine talented and amazing women have adopted it as their own.

Since I am 30 weeks pregnant, I should make clear I am talking metaphorical about the baby part. I just have this weird idea that everything I create it’s like a little son or daughter to me, but I will talk about that latter… (Is it just me or pregnant women can get their thoughts in order?...and lets not talk about dreams!!) No offence to any pregnant women out there. I know what you are going trough!

Anyways… (Sorry about that)

Everything started in 2008 when an wonderful experience open my mind about what, until that time I considered “my own strength.”

After the experience I realize I was made out of little women I kept inside me. My mother, grandmother, great grand mother, sister, friends, teachers, etc. I realize I had a little piece of them inside me.And that I was able to be today where I stand because of them.

Then after a family trip to my natal town in Mexico and after visiting relatives and spending most of my time there at my grandma’s kitchen listening to her. I realize I wasn’t too different from her, or from my mother’s best friend.

And this is what this project is about…

It speaks about that circle, the path that we as women have walked since the genesis of motherhood and had been passed almost silently through out generations.

We as women recognize we are vastly different and yet have something in common; we may all have felt in love the same way or we all may have experience from time to time and urgency to nest, to care, to love and to be loved.

There is a continuity living inside of us, a common strand that is woven throughout our lives as women.

I believe women art is a witness of human experience, always charged with the present but deep rooted in the past. I believe each of us represent more than ourselves, more than our profession and titles; we represent the mothers, the daughters, the sisters and the friends, in our present and in the past.

We have called this project Big Eyed Women

As women artist we recognize our responsibility to other women. We see things different but yet we feel the same. We are aware of our strength, we feel powerful in a way and we want all women, all ages to feel the divinity in them as well.

Wish us luck!

P.S I will keep you posted!

Flying Wishes

2009-05-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

Available at Springville Museum of Art

Like a night bird

2009-03-29T23:49:00.000-07:00

Lately the only time I can work on my paintings is late night (really really late night). Life became so busy for me I don't even have time to think of all the things I would like to get done during the day. I just go day by day and finish what I can, so I wont be frustrated with myself. Today I was drawing on the floor (my desk still full of unfinished projects) and at my left a purple unicorn lying on the floor reminded me of happiness. She is now my muse. I paint, and read and look, and draw and erase until my mind stop wondering, then I know it is time to go to sleep. While turning the lights off I am eager to see her face, sleeping peacefully with the little penguin she calls "papa" on her side. I am not excited for the morning to come .. until I hear her laughing...then an energy coming from no where refreshes me and makes me smile. I am up again playing, feeding, cleaning, reading... and all the "etc"s in between. It is when the sun hides when my mind stars flying again like a night bird hold by a red string (just in case someone needs me).

Happy First Birthday Happiness!!

2009-03-19T23:00:00.000-07:00

Happiness is getting old and wise...

She is even more precious and loving everyday. Her eyes still remind me of a moonless night and her smile is all... all before... all after... all eternity.

It is been twelve months, a lot of kisses, a lot of smiles, a lot of blessings and since then I have praised God every single night for letting her in our lives.

As all things are filled with my soul ...

2009-02-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

- I Like For You to be Still
by Pablo Neruda

I like for you to be still: it is as though you were absent,
and you hear me from far away and my voice does not touch you.
It seems as though your eyes had flown away
and it seems that a kiss had sealed your mouth.

As all things are filled with my soul
you emerge from the things, filled with my soul.
You are like my soul, a butterfly of dream,
and you are like the word Melancholy.

I like for you to be still, and you seem far away.
It sounds as though you were lamenting, a butterfly cooing like a dove.
And you hear me from far away, and my voice does not reach you:
Let me come to be still in your silence.

And let me talk to you with your silence
that is bright as a lamp, simple as a ring.
You are like the night, with its stillness and constellations.
Your silence is that of a star, as remote and candid.

I like for you to be still: it is as though you were absent,
distant and full of sorrow as though you had died.
One word then, one smile, is enough.
And I am happy, happy that it's not true.

the sweetest ride

2008-12-28T21:24:00.000-08:00

Tonight Camila couldn’t sleep.

My husband and I tried putting her in our bed, the music box, and a few more tricks but they had no effect on our super girl. I usually request my husband's help in these times but tonight he was very tired and almost unaware retrieved early to the dream world.

I very hopelessly, placed Camila on her little car and start pushing it around the house. I suddenly saw her little hands, the ones I carefully check for five fingers nine moths ago, and realize she holds on pretty good. She turned her head and giggle at me…

She is happy.

She drove and I pushed around the house tonight for a good hour, we only stop to pick up some little things to put in the little car’s compartment.

While pushing the car on my knees I had a sweet thought…

I took a deep breath as if I could disintegrate the scene and save it somewhere…inside.

I figure one day I may not be able to sleep and I will happily exhale this moment and feel like I do tonight.

Fidalis Buehler at the Meyer Gallery

2008-12-23T13:37:00.000-08:00


I have been waiting for this show and I am so happy it is finally up!! I really admire Fidalis, he is a great artist and a great person. - If you live in Utah or if you are here over the holidays you don't want to miss his show... trust me!! to see more click here Meyer Gallery at the Metro Condos
350 South 200 East #100
Salt Lake City, UT

Book-Painting

2008-12-15T21:46:00.000-08:00

I am Back!

2008-12-10T12:03:00.000-08:00

Few highlights of my recent trip to Mexico.

1. Family is awesome
2. My sis wedding was beautiful
3. Grandma taught me how to cure the empacho
4. I finished a book while there (reading... I don't write as you can see)
5. I ate and ate and ate and slept more than usual
6. I had the best sushi ever
7. I learn how to play Cuban domino
8. the weather was surprisingly nice
It was awesome, I did miss two things: high speed internet and Camila's high chair

I was obviously the only one carrying her!!

Eating morelianos
At the plaza

Gone!

2008-11-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

I am so happy to say that I will be gone on vacation for a few weeks. I am visiting my natal Chihuahua. I am so deserve this! I was born and race there and I move here for College and even though I see my parents every year I really miss them. My favorite part of these trips (besides waking up at my parents house) is sitting around the table with the grandpas and eating grandma's food. I must say I am a little nervous, this is the first time I take Cami. Wish me luck I wish you the best of luck in whatever your doing ..I am sure it is fabulous!

P.S I am planing on blogging while I am there...lets just hope I don't forget English!!

Pause is good!

2008-11-07T14:53:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have not substantially blog for a while.Our baby has been sick and I am also been busy preparing for our coming trip to Mexico... Yay! It is been hard for my husband and I seeing our baby ill. It is noting serious but she has always been a healthy baby and as first time parents we pretty much worry for everything. It is incredible how fast babies grow and how much they can teach you everyday. I know it sounds very cliché but right now I cannot think of another way to say it.

The other day I was thinking I haven’t read a book in moths. I used to read a lot when I was single then I got married and read less and now I got a baby and read even less. I am sure I can squeeze a book between our playtimes but the thing is that I can’t take my eyes of her. One because she is now crawling and standing everywhere, and two because I would hate to miss a thing. Yesterday, she started dancing and now she dances at every single music-sound-beat she hears. I guess I will keep pause for a little more. I know there are a lot of things I could be doing but I like to think that there is nothing more important that I could be doing right now. I was only 17 when I decided to be a stay home mom. I was baby sitting my little cousin. She started walking towards me for the first time. When she felt my arms she looked at me. She had the biggest smile and the biggest round and happy eyes I ever seen. From there I knew I never wanted to miss a moment like that with my kids. It is not always easy and glamorous but right now pause is great!

Could nature be enhance?

2008-10-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

I found a name marked with a star in my sketchbook. It didn't look familiar so I Google it. An image appeared in the screen... and I felt beauty.
Of course!! I knew him and how could I forget him!
He is one of my heroes. It is said that an artist cannot be satisfy with the results of his work if he doesn't love the art making. In fact many artists say that the process is by itself their art. Ask Andy Goldsworthy my favorite and maybe the most famous environmental artist. I really like his work. I have a fantasy of hiking at the America Fork canyon an encounter one of his cones or leaves projects... It will be a more than fantastic experience!! He is soo creative and you wouldn't know he only uses natural material available onsite to do his work, whter is mod, water, rocks, sticks,etc. It only takes one image to figure out he is fantasticly amazing. I really admire his work and his process even more every day. Click here for more images.

(my Goldsworthy interpretation at the AF canyon 08)

The Perfect Cage

2008-10-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

I haven't upload this Lithograph to my website but it is for sale. Email me with questions at elizabeth@elizabethsanchezart.com

sculpture class

2008-10-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun in this class I felt like a kid again playing with clay!! An the professor was SUPER too!!!

Crib Safety Article

2008-10-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

Crib safety checks urged after 2 deaths

All parents, grandparents,aunts,
uncles and good friends
I thought you might be interested in this article on ksl.com
about Crib safety.

Please click HERE to read it or go to:
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=4582188

and then

2008-10-19T16:13:00.000-07:00

...she found beauty.

sweet false apology

2008-10-14T23:19:00.000-07:00

This is just to say
I have eaten the plums
that were
in the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

William Carlos Williams

I kept thinking about this poem today.
One because I keep feeling like I need to apologize and two because I bought a box of plums at costco and after eating a bunch, I realize they are just too many for me.
Some of them are sweet and some of them are sour...just like my thoughts...just like today...just like life...
I like it when I put then in my mouth to find out its taste. I guest I have to try, I guest I need to try, many many days to see what is in store.
I don't like it when I picked sour after sour, it makes me doubt about trying again.
But I like a sweet after a sour, it melts my mouth and all my senses...and then I think about the sour sacrifice, now sweet.

heart chairs

2008-10-11T22:12:00.000-07:00

A chair for every day and every mood!! I am loving these chairs from Anthropologie. They are so inspiring. It is impossible not to imagine myself siting on one of them (any!!) with a BIG smile on my face.

sketchbook

2008-10-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

From a sketch into a study into a painting..?
I really think I get it right the third time (most of the time) sometimes it takes one time and sometimes it takes 10 or more times. (how many times I said times???!!)

But I do recognize the incredible feeling of spontaneity and chance... Although sometimes I do hesitate to leave that door open. But they sure are amazing guests and I well respect them!

Finally!

2008-10-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

I finally started working with oils again and although these are just small sketches I am pretty excited to start a new series of paintings!!!

I think I will call this one Knot to the Heart

For Sale

2008-10-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

I thought I would keep these 3 paintings from last show but the perfectionist in me cannot hang around my own art for too long. If you are interested email me at elizabeth@elizabethsanchezart.com

Maybe...

2008-09-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

Love animals!Their patterns, textures, colors, personalities...etc. They are amazingly beautiful and unique and that to me is another prove of how creative God must be. Lately I am been thinking about staring an animal series on paper. I am always looking for an excuse to add an animal to my paintings so I thought it was a great idea to just do animals for while mmmm...maybe... but then I glanced my sketchbook and look at the cool drawings impatiently waiting to become a painting and I change my mind...maybe.

It thought it is funny when I think about animals I immediately think of the plastic animals I used to play with when I was a kid. It was my third favorite game after coloring and paper dolls. I never owned one, at that time they were more a boy toy so I would always had to go play with Raul on of my cousins. He had the jungle, savanna, outback, farm...you name it. We would separate the animals in two groups the Lions and the most aggressive ones were his (Classic!!) and I would have the zebra, and the giraffe, etc. I never told him but in my mind I created a whole story behind my group of animals. I gave them a name, a gender, a family a personality and whenever he wanted to kill one, to me he/she was resting or at school. Sometimes I needed to go home before the game (in my mind) was over so I would finished "my game" over dinner or while in the shower.I still miss that game but even more the creativity of a kid....Well maybe I will go to the library and checkout a lot of books about animals and I will study them and once I return then I will makeup stories about them and give them a name, a gender, a personality just like I did with the toys and then I will make little paintings about them from memory. mmmm Maybe...

Oh so nice to see you again!!

2008-09-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

One of the most beautiful things I ever seen is Utah's fall. It is a delight to be able to enjoy this amazing nature spectacle every year. LOVE... LOVE... Fall. It is my favorite season. It is when time goes slower and hugs feel warmer. It is the perfect prelude to a rich winter.

How to fix a long neck

2008-09-16T20:38:00.000-07:00

Few years ago I met a giraffe who didn't like her neck. She said it was too long and that everyone notices it and talk about it. I didn’t know what to say... I thought it was beautiful but I offer her to decorate her neck with colorful ribbons... I also had to learn how to love myself. It wasn't easy, it took me a lot of thought, love and some maturity but I finally got it ...I think (you know with the exception of those few days). Growing up I wasn't really happy with my looks. I hated my ears and my nose and every day I probably found something else I wasn't happy with. It wasn't until I start doing genealogy I discover more about what I had reviled so much. Going back to my roots, asking about people, looking at pictures, etc. I found out my ears aren't really mine, they are Bisabuela's Kika ears and my nose is actually grandpa's Mario and dad's nose too. I felt a connection, I was part of them and they were part of me. I was made out of little people!! ... I am like a walking history book and I felt proud. Now I think about them like my heritage and I feel like my friend the giraffe when she recognized how beautiful her neck was. And so she asked me to do a painting to celebrate this life-lesson and so I did!

2008-09-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

How can I not be in love with these pictures!!!! Thank you thank you Heather

NFL what??

2008-09-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

Isn't it the coolest football team!

my husband said he felt so bad for UCLA that at the end of the game he wanted to cheer for them. Goooo cougars!

Soup of Today…

2008-09-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

Politics are hot!

Lately the only thing I hear and see it s politics. TV, internet, in-laws, etc. even when I walk Camila I overhear women talking about it (not that I do that very often). Not me! never like to talk about politics, I don’t like it…it is kind of like math to me. Never been good at it! I don’t like when people plays with my emotions. Maybe I am too susceptible or maybe it is that I am getting more and more insensitive about it; as they had kept us busy since last year.
I don’t like politics that’s it! I can give you my cold opinion about it but the truth is that I like to believe in people… and politicians …well! You know what I am talking about. I still believe in someone’s eyes, someone’s words and heart. Maybe I am a political utopian or I am just very naïve. I am always guide by a rule… If it feels right in your mind and in your heart do it! But not politics I always get deceive by them and can not really convene both in one picture. That’s the difference between math and politics you can always trust math! But my husband, he is really good about it and I am sure all of you out there are too. Anyways I am still waiting another year to be able to vote in America so in the meantime I am just going to hope… hope hope hope like a 5 year old and trust in YOU America.

A Little Moon in my Purse

2008-08-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

The Moon

You can take the moon by the spoonful
or in capsules every two hours.
It's useful as a hypnotic and sedative
and besides it relieves
those who have had too much philosophy.
A piece of moon in your purse
works better than a rabbit's foot.
Helps you find a lover
or get rich without anyone knowing,
and it staves off doctors and clinics.
You can give it to children like candy
when they've not gone to sleep,
and a few drops of moon in the eyes of the old
helps them to die in peace.

Put a new leaf of moon
under your pillow
and you'll see what you want to.
Always carry a little bottle of air of the moon
to keep you from drowning.
Give the key to the moon
to prisoners and the disappointed.
For those who are sentenced to death
and for those who are sentenced to life
there is no better tonic than the moon
in precise and regular doses.

Jaime Sabines

-- Poemas sueltos, 1981
translated by W. S. Merwin

This is one of my all time favorites. Maybe because it remains me of dad's poetry or just good times. I always thought that the dust you see coming thru the windows just before dawn was moon dust and I would breath and dance in it... to be honest a part of me still think that.

Happiness Sits on a High Chair and Eats Apples

2008-08-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful day outside. I was in the kitchen doing albondigas one of mom’s specialties, thinking about her I remember “that thing” she does with her hands while she is cooking…I take my ring of and I start doing the same thing. I feel someone is looking at me, I turn to my left and there is Camila sitting on her high chair with her eyes on my hands. I smile to her and she smiles back and continues playing with a spoon while “singing.” I stop the clock and recount… My heart is filled and I have a smile on my face.

Another of my epiphanies and one of the most beautiful ones too. I am definitely doing a painting about this but I haven't came up with a good sketch yet. Meanwhile here is a picture of my Muse. BTW this time she is eating green beans not apples.

Picture Perfect!

2008-08-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

Finally our very first family pictures since we are officially 3 ...and I love them.Thank you Heather...you are a genius!

Celebration of Fantasy

2008-08-19T12:19:00.000-07:00

It happened at the entrance to the town of Ollantaytambo, near Cuzco. I had detached myself from a group of tourist and was standing alone looking at the stone ruins in the distance when a small boy from the neighborhood, skinny and ragged, came over to ask if i would give him a pen. I couldn't give him my pen because I was using it to write down all sorts of boring notes, but I offered to draw a little pig for him on his hand.

Suddenly the word got around. i was surrounded by a throng of little boys demanding at the top of their lungs that I draw animals on their little hands cracked by the dirt and cold,their skin of burn leather: one wanted a condor and one ask for a ghost or a dragon.

Then, in the middle of this racket, a little waif who barely cleared a yard off the ground showed me a watch drawn in black ink on his wrist.

"An uncle of mine who lives in lima sent it to me," he said.
"And does it keep good time?" I asked him.
"It's a little bit slow,"he admitted.

The Book of Embraces 41.

P.S. I want to be that boy

dancing, laughing,dancing

2008-08-18T14:04:00.000-07:00

My inner crafty Diva has been release this month. It is almost impossible not to be crafty while I still cannot make it back to my paint brushes. Especially rainy days when the sound of water transports me to my childhood and I remember all sorts of projects my mom invented to keep us busy and out of the rain. It is then when I start looking for old socks to make dolls and old skirts to make Tutus for Camila.

do you know you are loved...do you feel my love?

2008-08-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

You are the trip I did not take;
You are the pearls I cannot buy;
You are my blue Italian lake;
You are my piece of foreign sky.

(“To My Child,” quoted in Charles L. Wallis, ed., The Treasure Chest [1965])

I wish, I wish ...

2008-08-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

Few nights ago I was contemplating some ideas, and debating between possibilities and potentials. I couldn’t came up with an answer to all my questioning and whenever I thought of “a good one” in the back of my mind I knew it wasn’t it. I couldn’t sleep and I had anxiety in my feet (at least that's how it felt) and at the same time I kept wishing for the wisdom of an old man to solve all my problems. And I thought…why is it that we need to wait until the end of our life to know what would have been a better path? It doesn’t make sense
...and then I realize that it is now when I have the energy and the strong will to try to make it right over and over again. Isn't wonderful!!
God must be pretty old to know all this!!

A stroke left the grandfather paralyzed from the neck down.
One day one of his grandsons came to visit with him.
The grandfather asked him how old he was and what he most desired in life.
The grandson replied that what he most wanted was
for the next ten years to pass by immediately so
that he would know what had happened in his life.
The grandfather told him he was very stupid and cut off the conversation.
The grandson did not understand
why he had called him stupid until he turned thirty.

Tomas Rivera
…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him

2008-07-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

Love this wallpaper from Woodson and Rummerfield's House of Desing!! My very favorite is the first one.

Wow!!! We all can enjoy this!!

2008-07-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

This summer there is a special exhibition at the UMFA from the Cleveland Museum of Art. It is beyond amazing!!! it includes masterpieces of Renoir, Dega, Monet, van Gogh, Dalí, Picasso, Matisse, Mondrian, Rodin and much more!!!!!!!
We went two weeks ago but I can't wait to go again, you really need to take time for this... I wish I could go everyday and look at a one piece per day. Some works are just genius that literally pierces your soul. At the entrance there are some quotes from the artists that I wish I have had more time to ponder on them more. I truly saw paint strokes of life in those pieces. To me, the whole experience was a dream come true and I am still cannot came up with a word to describe my encounter with Cezanne, Van Gogh and Matisse.

http://www.umfa.utah.edu/pageview.aspx?id=22251

Ode to the studio

2008-06-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

It is a lovely day outside but yet I rather be with you...

we share a lot of moments together...happy and not so happy ones

but together we learn how to work things out

good bye old friend

I am already missing you

I could write the very saddest verses tonight

2008-06-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

I enjoy poetry, one of my all times favorites is Pablo Neruda if I could pick a favorite poem by him it will be this one...
Every time I read it leaves me speechless with a big smile! enjoy

POEM TWENTY

from Twenty Poems of Love and One of Desperation

I could write the very saddest verses tonight
Writing, for example "The night is sprinkled
With stars sparkling blue, far away."
The night wind whirls in the sky and sings.
I could write the very saddest verses tonight
I loved her and at times she also loved me.
On nights like this I had her in my arms.
I kissed her so many times under the infinite sky.
She loved me, at times I also loved her.
How could I not love her big staring eyes?
I could write the very saddest verses tonight.
To think I don't have her. To feel that I have lost her.
To hear the immense night, even more immense without her.
And the verses fall on the soul like dew on the pasture.
What does it matter that my love couldn't keep her?
The night is full of stars and she's not with me.
That's all. Far off someone is singing. Far off
My love is not used to having lost her.
How my glance looks for her to get close to her.
My heart looks for her and she's not with me.
The same night that turns the same trees white.
We aren't now the same way we were then.
I no longer love her, that's certain, but how much I loved her.
My voice searched on the wind to touch her ear.
Someone else's, she's someone else's. Like before I kissed her.
Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes.
I no longer love her, that's certain, but perhaps I love her.
Love lasts so short and forgetting takes so long.
But on nights like this I had her in my arms.
My heart is not used to having lost her.
Although this may be the last pain that she causes me
And these may be the last verses that I write her.
Pablo Neruda

Misplaced

2008-06-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

I just want to share... I found this beautiful poem by Debra Gingerich and I immediately though of my painting Uprooted. Here it is:

Silent Territory
My grandfather wouldn't speak to his children in German. His transition to English was too full of misunderstandings and embarrassing accents to turn back. Upon my request Mom dredges up the words for bread and morning chores. Everything else is lost. My husband abandoned his mother's Romanian for the language he'd need in school. Now he clings to every foreign phrase he learns as if he'll find something he misplaced between the new words. With language absent, I have left the town of my birth, the clothes of my ancestors. The family farm was sold to strangers years ago. We don't plan for children, having nothing left to bequeath them.

About Inspiration

2008-06-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

What would I do without inspiration!!! I wake up everyday looking for inspiration, sometimes it is hard to find and I go through weeks without it and other times I found it in my doorsteps or on my nightstand waiting for me. I divide inspirations in three categories Visual, Spiritual, and Intellectual. The first two are the most easy to find or I better say I know where to look for them (most of the time) but the last one that is the tricky one. Sometimes comes with just an idea or a phrase...most of the time in a human form or in books. I think of it like the little pieces that purposely fall from another person's pocket. When I was at school it was very easy to find, it actually came to me most of the time... I had the honor to meet the most amazing professors and share classes with very inspiring people but now that I am at home an a 24 hrs mom I need to consciously make time to find it. This week I was organizing some papers and I found a poem my dad wrote to me when I was pregnant, he call me "A Woman Tree" because I was going to give my "fruit" in spring (Camila was suppose to be born on March 21st). I have read the poem before but this time I saw that phrase with different eyes...another epiphany! And the light was on!! So I have the intellectual and spiritual....I only need the visual and vuala a painting is done!!!

Hope is that Thing with feathers

2008-05-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

Today at church someone ask me about "the beak" it is not a typical question you expect to heard there so it took me few seconds to realize he has seen my website and he was referring to Hope is that Thing with Feathers...one of my paintings. So what's with the beak? I like to paint about everyday things I don't make art to "escape" of the world but to make sense of it. In the past months I have found myself in a situation where I don't feel comfortable and I never thought it would happen to me. However, right now I cannot do anything to fix it... and I guess its just one of does things you have to go through and only God knows why. I was in the studios thinking about it when I came across Emily Dickinson's poem Hope.
I realize that hope was the only useful thing I could do and that's what inspired this painting. She is totally out of place and obviously too heavy for the string she is suppose to sit on but besides her unexpected situation she is trying to do the best she can and she even put a beak on!! Those situations are also the ones that show us how fragile things can be and what is left for us is just to hope.

Hope by Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me

few things I am in love with

2008-05-20T22:55:00.000-07:00

One of my most favorite works of art in the whole world !! by Marc Chagall, it is called "Birthday." I love this painting...it almost make me cry the first time I saw it! It is so intimate and romantic. Every time I see it I fall in love all over again.

Another of my favorites that also makes me fall in love every time I listen to it!!

And last but not least:The perfect couple!

Family+Nice weather= Lovely afternoon

2008-05-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

Finally the nice weather is here and we are enjoying it!! This was Camila's first walk with Lucas (her 4-leg older brother) so we documented all. We had a nice walk (everyone behave) and the weather was amazing. It is nice to share everyday with Camila and her daddy ...and Lucas too.

Eye Candy

2008-05-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

I LOVE pattern!! and I try to use it in my paintings whenever the painting allows it. I usually take inspiration from wall paper, scrap booking paper, fabrics and sometimes stamps...But today I found these lovely rugs from Design Sponge!! To me is like eye candy... enjoy!

A Daily Delight

2008-05-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

I am reading for third time (it is that good!!) The Book of Embraces from one of my favorite authors Eduardo Galeano, one of the most celebrated writers from Latin America. The book is composed of short pieces of prose; more are less than a page and since it is the longest I can read with Camila's schedule the book is perfect for me!! I found this book very inspiring and sincere. It has a little bit of everything, I love how in one page he talks about politics and in the next he would talk about his love for his wife Helena. It is kind of like a very good mix but a surprisingly coherent whole. It is definably a delight. Here is something...

"The system feeds neither the body nor the heart: Many are condemned to starve for lack of bread and many more for lack of embraces,"

"In the River Plate basin we call the heart a "bobo," a fool. And not because it falls in love. We call it a fool because it works so hard."

Patrick's Mattness

2008-05-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I visited the art studios and I saw Patrick working on his "Matt-painting" he is into realism...(photo realism that is). Here are some pictures of his work. The one on the right is the photo and the one on the left is his oil painting (if you cant tell) . Never seen someone using oil as pencil!!! I keep telling him he is crazy (he knows what I mean) but the truth is that what he does is pretty impressing...I had to take a close picture of the work he did on the neck, I don't think he missed a single pore. Anyways he is preparing for his show this summer and I am also looking forward to it!! Keep the good work Patrick!

Show Pics

2008-05-06T10:14:00.000-07:00

Here I am with my big belly and showing of my other babies!!!!

Here are some pics from the March show. Everything came together really nice and I was very pleased with how people responded. I am glad I didn’t have the baby that week… it was a crazy but yet super exiting experience! It was perfect timing since Camila was born the following Thursday after the opening reception. It was sweet and bitter to see some of the paintings go because they all are a landmark in this special time of my life but at the same time all of them when to good homes and “the new parents” love them as much as I do. I haven’t had the chance to paint again…remember the juggling lady? My painting with the six arms lady …well I am there!!! I don’t want to think of it as time off …I am just going to call it mommy time!

A New Arrival

2008-04-19T00:19:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone here is the reason I haven't blog for a while... isn't she adorable? Camila is finally here and we are getting used to our new life!! One thing I can tell you since she is here my mornings seem to be more beautiful.

Marriage

2008-01-27T21:32:00.001-08:00

One of my professors suggested I should title this painting "Marriage"

I had some people visiting my studio, they liked this painting a lot and they wanted to know more about it. I asked them -well what do you think the painting is about?-and they said, -well it looks like a pregnant woman and her husband trying to balance their lives- That's exactly what it is ! I said...It was until then that they notice my big belly under my apron. It was very funny!!

Through this beautiful but sometimes tiring journey I had felt like I am doing this on my own and I am literally trying to vainly balance all my physical, emotional and professional weight on an unstable ball… so sometimes I lean on my husband to help me with this fantastic act of equilibrium without realizing that he is also learning how to balance.

We Must Make Art!

2008-01-06T16:56:00.001-08:00

When I tell people I am a painter, they often say that they would love to have some artistic talents referring to those of music and art. The truth is that there is so much talents out there besides fine arts but we just do not see it.
Things that interest us, our passions, our dreams... all of them came with us, they were giving to us and they may be good indicators of our part in this "big plan." They can direct us in what we need to do and where we need to be. I don't think there is a better feeling than knowing that what you are doing is what you are meant to be doing. We all are giving talents...and we all have dreams.Let us all do our part... God is doing His and mother nature is doing hers. We all should do our best in whatever we are doing.

Like an Elephant in the Sea

2007-12-30T09:42:00.001-08:00

What can I say about this painting!
I was working in my studio finishing on of my big pieces for my show and I had to do some detail at the bottom but my big belly didn't allow me to reach the base of the canvas….then I drop my paint brush and the same thing happen. It was funny and frustrating at the same time! After that, I realize that was how an elephant in the sea should feel like. It was a very funny thought and couldn't resist to make this painting. It is very small about 4x6 in and it will be the cover of one of my book-paintings for the show in March.

Big Fish

2007-11-26T21:59:00.001-08:00

This is one of my latest paintings. It's not done yet but this is one of those paintings that sticks with you and won’t let you do another one until you finish it first! The story behind it is very overwhelming and funny at the same time. It has a lot to do with the fears and insecurities of pregnancy...but that is all I will tell this time.(sorry for the picture its not the best)

Why an artist?

2007-11-12T11:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my husband and I spend a wonderful evening with some very lovely friends. At some point, in the so many topics held in our conversation we encounter the almost inevitable question a lot of people ask me…Why an Artist? For some reasons some people have this idea that artist either are going to be miserable poor or insanely rich (which most of the time none of both are correct…I hope!). The truth is that even if I will be miserable poor or rich I will still make art. Thank God we all have different talents and are driven by different desires or inspirations. I don’t know what I would do without art, I don’t know what the world may look or do without art. There is a divine orchestra in my head (most of the time) and a thirst to create. In fact when my Lamaze instructor asked us to close our eyes and think in something to relax I couldn’t help seeing colors and the wonderful textures created by oils. Art is the way I make sense of concepts, feelings and emotions that without art would born and die the same day without me acknowledging them. Yes I know that sounds crazy but the truth is that I will make art even if it was illegal.

There is a Bird in my head

2007-11-06T20:48:00.001-08:00

Every day when I wake up and think about my art... I have these new and totally different ideas.I am always afraid of never being able to finish something. I am working in a painting and my mind is giving me 3 more images, sometimes it is really cool but it can get chaotic. At the same time I am scared if I don’t fallow these ideas or get these images out of my mind I will loss them forever..and that will be even more chaotic! So when people want to understand my daydream ness or preoccupation I simply explain this peculiar feeling by saying that there is a bird in my head and I can never catch it…I don’t know which of both explanations is better or less crazy but I prefer the bird.

Birds are amazing and graceful creatures..they symbolize so many things for me. They always bring me back home and at the same time signify freedom. They occupy a sacred space between God and us, like if they were mediators or tellers of our secrets.

Uprooted

2007-11-05T12:34:00.001-08:00

Few months ago I was introduced to a new word “uprooted.” Almost four years after I had moved to the U.S and being very busy getting some American notions, a new language and getting used to all these new commodities (dishwashers, fast food, drive thru… everything, etc) I finally found a word to described how I was feeling when I found my self far from home and from the things I have only known my entire life. In my urgency to learn the language and to get some American notions, I unconsciously forgot the past years and I felt something was missing from the inside… I loss my memory, part of my identity, I felt disoriented, frustrated…uprooted.

if I could put windows in you

2007-11-05T12:05:00.001-08:00

If I could put windows in you..what would I find?

Why is it human to forget? or I better ask why is it in our nature to forget?

Do we really forget? Are all our words already said? Are all the things already seen forgotten? I title this painting Windows as a tribute to a very inspiring person that one day said to me “If I could put windows in you” that got me thinking about where I had stored all my thoughts, memories, old conversations, sensations and feelings for the past years.