Last Minute Things

We're headed up to Santa Fe on Friday and feels like I still have a million things to do. Not to mention the fact that I can't seem to stop painting! Still have to pack up the art, myself, color my hair, clean the house, wash clothes, decorate the tree to surprise my little one when she comes home on Sunday...and whatever else I can think of! Wish me luck. We need a good profit from this show or else we're gonna be eating arroz, frijoles and top ramen for the next 3 months! jeje
Quick preview of the fun I've been having painting on mirrors:

Soli

Sometimes things hit the heart and sometimes you've just gotta paint...or create...or do whatever it is you need to do to release the pain.
I was making a logo girl for my daughter's artwork. Something we can make little cards of and put her jewelry on. I had the logo girl all painted up but was having a really hard time with her face. I painted her face three times but took it off because it just wasn't coming out right. As I sat there looking at my blank faced chica, I realized who the face wanted to be.
Soli.
Sol was a beautiful woman. Inside and out. I knew her as a little girl and watched her grow into a young adult. She babysat my daughter many times and as my daughter grew older, she and Sol became friends. Sol was killed in a car accident in 2006. I think about her a lot and I'm sure my daughter thinks about her even more.
So I painted Sol's face on her and she fit. Perfectly. I love it when things are as they should be. It happens so rarely and makes me only more appreciative when they are.

Sanctuary! Sanctuary!

Here it is. My workspace. My disaster. My escape. I can watch movies. Listen to music. Put on my little heater or my little evaporative cooler. Lately with major hot flashes it's the cooler that gets the most use. Yeah so maybe I'm spoiled...but it has taken me almost four years to build up this little slice of mess pie...one piece at a time.
On the walls are most of the paintings I'm taking to Santa Fe next weekend. With any luck, that wall will be nearly empty when I return. And I'll start all over. I'm hoping that I'll get accepted to the San Antonio art show. My SA friends tell me that it's a good one and after reading about it, I agree. But if I'm not accepted, there is another show I'll apply for in Austin. We'll see how it goes.

New Items Listed in my Etsy Shop

At last finally! I have new items listed in my etsy shop. If you have a few, take a look!

Original Art Mirrors & Other Stuff

These are my latest project geared towards lower end priced original art. With the economy and everything else, I figured it's best to go into the art market with lower priced items. Unlike the summer market when I focused on larger pieces, this time I'm working on more items priced under $100.00. Although people are still spending money, they're spending it more carefully, so with that said hopefully these mirrors will do well.
This first group are part of my Calavera Couture. The styles are my own spin on Dior spring fashions. I had so much fun painting them. And of course I threw in a little Audrey just because she seemed to fit right in!

My Sirena mirrors always do well. When they sell out I always get mad at myself for not making more, but I just can't mass produce like that. It bores me to work on the same subject for too long.
The Geisha was an idea I had in mind and had originally planned to do about three of them. But time is short and I've only managed to finish one so far.

In the Works...

Painting to pay the mortgage! These are currently in the works for Santa Fe. With any luck they'll be done by this weekend. Then it's on to the Geishas!

Yeay! I have a Follower!

Thanks to my good friend and wonderful artist Carolyn Flores! Now I have a follower and somebody else besides myself who actually reads my blogs. jeje

The Branigan Cultural Center here in Las Cruces is having an exhibit called "Tattoos as A Personal Form of Expression." I think it's great. There are lots of tat parlors here in town and anymore, tattooing has become the norm. I'm a huge fan of tattoo art and have met some wonderful people in the business. Anyways, I loaned them three of my Kill Bill badass broads original acrylics and I'm proud to say...they have sold! All three of them! I had originally done these chics for the summer Hispanic Contemporary in Santa Fe and I was really surprised to see how quickly they sold. And how much attention they garnered! Most people seemed to know the movie, and like myself were huge fans of both I and II. So I figured I'd do a couple of the main characters...in calavera form of course...and they sold immediately. I re-did three of them and this is the first time the new ones have been on display and now they're gone again. Good news yes. But a mixed blessing. Years ago I had an artist friend tell me an old vendor story. I never really understood it...but darn if I don't now!

An old indian woman was sitting in front of her home one day selling her handmade painted pottery. As she sat there, a man walked up to her and complimented her on the beautiful work she had done. He told her that he was impressed by her fine work and that he wanted to buy everything she had. The woman frowned and looked him then asked "But if you buy everything, what will I have to sell?"

So now my Kill Bill calaveras are gone and I can't take them to Santa Fe. Yeah. I understand it.

Anyway here they are.