reminder.

If you are sighing internally because you want to play with your art supplies, create, or somehow express something down deep inside~ I just want to remind you that all you need to do is open up a bit of time and space, and it will unfold.
You can do it. turn off the TV, movie, or internet. spread out. open up. tell your inner critic to be quiet and give you room...

I need this reminder too...

new work. the map maker

I have been vacant on my blog all week...

I am just having one of those weeks that feels like nothing I do is enough. I want to delve into it more, and I had imagined explaining it further in this overdue blog post, but these pictures from today will have to suffice for now.

I will mention it has rained and rained and rained here, and one of the best things about the weather and my week in general has been the rainbows that peek out every day.12" x 12" x 1.75"

an oldy but a goody.

This piece is sitting by our computer and I thought to scan it today for the first time. It is an assemblage/collage over an etching I made. The whole thing is encapsulated under a sheet of mica (a transparent thin rock). 2001.

new work

I am taking a break from trying to design my craft fair booth (my head is swimming from all the choices) to show you my newest painting. The colors in this one are a wonderful assortment of oranges, reds, and browns. I changed the depth of this size painting too. Now they are twice as deep as my older paintings of this size (6.5 x 6.5). On the bottom I used this polka dot fabric that I have been very stingy about using because I only have a little scrap of it and I love it so much, but had to use it because it just called out to be in this painting.

old friend and introductions

One of my dearest childhood friends was in town this past week. We hadn't seen each other in 2 1/2 years because we live on opposite sides of the country. In the time that has lapsed since we saw each other last we have both settled into our own homes and had babies. So not only was seeing each other special in itself, I finally got to meet her son Corbin, and Erin meet Lili for the first time. As the years pass and some friendships fade and some new friendships are formed, I am constantly amazed by my old friendships~ the ones that are formed in elementary school and are still as pertinent as ever. As Erin and I sat in my living room drinking wine and talking after that babies had gone to sleep, I realized that we have been a witness to so many stages of each one another's lives and all of the ups and downs and little bits in between. I was thinking:

She knows what my dollhouse looked like, she knows what it felt like to sleep on my water-bed when I was a kid, I remember what the pancakes tasted like on Saturday mornings at her house, She was the one to explain what it felt like to french kiss, She convinced me I would look great in a perm, I confided in her when my parents were in their messy divorce process, We rode bikes, we bought 1 cent candy together, we were in plays together, when we moved away from each other after high school we wrote letters, and we were in each other's weddings...

And so, when we tell each other something now, we have these 22 years of our own personal history to reflect on and drawn from as we talk. It was as if 2 1/2 days had passed instead of years. You know what I mean? It was a beautiful moment to meet her son, and introduce Lilikoi~ our friendship is expanding and deepening and we are getting older. The good kind of getting older.

Paula Fuga

I had a wonderful day today. To sum it up:

1. first thing in the morning went to the local greenhouse with Ema, Gita, and Lil to buy tomatoes, peppers, and some other various garden goodies. After many years of wanting one, I finally bought a rhubarb plant!
2. studio time where I worked on a commissioned painting, and I am feeling excited about it.
3. ALL afternoon in the garden. :) :) :)
4. lovely dinner with kale from our garden!
5. a nice long phone conversation with my mama. :)

and I will leave you with this video of Jack Johnson and Paula Fuga (a very talented Hawaiian musician) singing her song entitled "Lilikoi". Sometimes I sing or hum this song in Lili's ear and tell her it is her song...

finished. i'm pretty sure.

I had a woman who was examining my art recently ask "Do you know when you are done with a painting?"
and I replied that I did. That I would work, and re-work until it clicked into place~ almost like a lock: click! and that I just knew deep down in my heart that it was finished.
but then... it is like she jinxed me. This past month I have been plagued by the lingering ending. It is the product of thinking too much I suppose.

This painting is about finding your own voice and dreams in the midst of a crowd. It is painted on a map of NYC.

elephant

She is especially in love with elephants this past week. It struck me as weird yesterday that she could identify an elephant but not a fox. Mainly because elephants do not live on our continent, and we have never been to the zoo. Then I realized she probably has no idea how big they are either. In her mind an elephant could be the size of our cats. I made this illustration in my journal~ daydreaming about Lili's elephant love...

I hope all Mothers, and Grandmothers, and Mothers-to-be, and anyone who "mothers" in their heart is having a beautiful day, and that you feel tremendously loved and appreciated for all that you are.

On the table

run down.

• 7:00:I wake to the sounds of Alex getting ready for work downstairs and Lili peering over me signing she wants to nurse.
• 7:45 after being attacked with books by Lili I finally get out of bed.
• 8:00: Change poopy diaper, dress her, and we eat cereal.
• Do dishes, pick up, make coffee, make phone call, Gita comes over...
  
• Attempt to drink coffee and read Newsweek while letting the girls play~ ha!
• Gita sets up a beauty parlor and I pay her (in pieces of paper) to face paint Lilikoi's face with water.

• Lili and I take the 2 mile walk to the mailboxes and back to mail off our Mother's Day cards... late as always.
• Lunch~ leftover chili.
• 1:00: Lil goes down for a nap, and right after I spy the largest bee I have ever seen buzzing about our house. I have to capture it very quietly.
• Take shower, then spend the rest of the nap working on my newest painting.
• 3:00: Start to make quiche for our "Family night dinner".
  
• In the meantime Lili crawls up and starts banging on the computer keyboard. Randomly hits our stumbleupon button and this is what I find on the computer screen when I finally de-flour my hands and pull her away from the computer. She thinks it is funny. I am beyond words.
• Have a great dinner with the Carmonas and Brandon (every Thursday)
  
• 7:45: Lili goes to sleep
  
• Watch "Survivor" back at the Carmonas, drink Mojitos that Ema made, and stay and chat.
  
• 10:00: Check in with my Etsy site and see that I am in a treasury. I have been in a few, but this one is special because the person who created it picked a painting from each of my etsy stores! So that was a fun surprise. Click HERE to see it.
• Write a mammoth blog post.
• 12:30. Go. to. bed.
  

new small collages

Some new work for my SHOP...

I had a lovely studio day this afternoon where I worked on some small (3.5" x 5") collages. I enjoy the lightness and playfulness of creating little things like this. Unlike some of my other paintings that weigh on me sometimes, these little projects only make me smile. I walked home in my red rubber rain boots (yes Lucy, right through the puddles!) with a small stack of these tucked protectively under my raincoat. It has been a good night tonight too. Hope you can say the same. ♥

a little journal collaboration between Lili and me.

7" x 9"
crayon, marker, pen, colored pencil, water soluable crayon.

while i cook

dear Salome.
So often I will be in the kitchen- cooking or whatever- when all of a sudden I will feel you watching me from above as I go back and forth... Except for your stirring eyes you will be still, your paw gently dangled over the stair in your elegant way.

Just so you know, I think of you sometimes as the omniscient narrator of my days.