Something new

I did not set out to do a painting about my mother this morning, but that is what came out as I played with color.  I realized I never really credited her use of color in our home and in what she wore as a big influence on my art.  It's one of those Homer Simpson "DOH!" moments - why didn't I see this before?

"Pensando en los colores que Ella nos dio" - (Thinking about the colors that she gave us) is what it says in the right corner.  I'm thinking this must be from our California days in the 70's.  Mom is very tan, wearing a brightly colored house dress as she often did in those days, and there are lots of oranges!  At the same time, though, Mom has her angel wings, and the house is sort of floating up.  She is still an influence on me from up in Heaven.  

Not finished - I think it still needs a little something...

Oh, and did you notice a little change in my blog here?  A whole new layout and color theme!  And tabs for galleries and such!  More to come, but it takes me HOURS to figure stuff out, especially the html for the galleries.  There's always some little mistake that I have to search and search and search for to fix it, but I am learning.  Actually, I learned how to do the gallery thanks to Tricia from Sweeter Than Sweets.  The link will take you to her tutorial if you're interested.  

I like the ability to widen my space with the new template.  I can make my photos giant and the side bar doesn't crowd the blog anymore.  Yay!  But that meant I needed a new, wider banner.  I knew I wanted a collage but I didn't know how to do one.  It was late, so I went to bed.  Couldn't sleep, though (thanks to my long siesta in the afternoon!), so I got back up, crept downstairs and found another tutorial here at Clover Lane.  Whew!  What a workout to pick just the right photos and click on the shuffle button enough times to get something that was JUST right.  I am a happy little blogger!


My little girl (19-year-old) just got back in the States from Mexico!  I'm a happy mama, too!  : D


xoxo  lulu

New Frida Dolls

Seeing other people's art dolls at the Cactus Gallery last month inspired me to play with dolls in a new way.  These two dolls were the result of experiment #1. 

 

On the left is Dia de los Muertos Frida (Day of the dead Frida), on the right is Frida en la Selva (Tropical Forest Frida).

Dia de los Muertos Frida wears festive stripes and a happy skeleton skirt.  Her head is adorned with black and white flowers.  She holds tightly to her dear little blue skeleton doll whose face is painted up with flowers for the celebration, just like the sugar skulls one can find in the Mexican marketplaces.

Tropical Forest Frida was inspired by Frida Kahlo's self-portraits with a jungle background.  I used a tropical leaf print for her body, and combined it with other jungley prints.  She wears a black and white embroidered skirt made up of different laces and trims.  This Frida holds onto her shy little monkey who peeks over her shoulder.

The photos of the dolls are also available in my Etsy shop as blank greeting cards.  Link is located on the side bar.  : )

What's going on?

LOTS!


Oh what a beautiful Spring we are having!  Frequently the Pacific NW springs are dark and soggy, but lo and behold, we have been having glorious weather, especially on the weekends!  So let's get out and about and make some springy art!


Michelle and I got together for some arting at her studio a couple of weeks ago.  While Michelle finished up one of her funkydelic paintings, I pulled out my stash of wool roving and did some needle felting.  Both Michelle and I had admired the student work we had seen from Sunny Carvalho's class at Artfest, so I decided to try one out.  Here is the result:

Very fun!  I think I see some more needle felting in my future!


Over the following two weeks I was very busy in the studio getting ready to do a show at the Washington Association of Bilingual Educators Convention (and having an estate sale at my mom's in the middle of those two weeks!).  I finished one new painting, two new Frida dolls, and numerous little dolls, notecards, magnets, and pins.  I think I previously posted the artwork I had submitted to WABE which won the poster contest.  I sold lots of postcards and posters, as expected, but what I didn't expect was selling lots of paintings and some of the dolls.  WOW!!!  This was my best show ever and I am SO appreciative of all those educators in Washington who so generously gave me their support and encouragement!

The WABE poster image, "Vamos a Aprender"

 SOLD!

Thank you, WABE!

Girl with Bird in Snow, mixed media

 SOLD!  Thank you!

Ella, mixed media

 SOLD!  Thank you!

Red, mixed media

 SOLD!  Thank you!

Snowy Walk, mixed media

 SOLD!  Thank you!

 

Felicidad to the Nth Degree, mixed media

 SOLD!  Thank you!

Felicidad to the Nth Degree was my newest painting that I made just for the WABE show.  Brightly colored, it sneaks in some mathematical concepts like symmetry, exponential growth, and measurement, while still being multicultural, bright and happy.

Dream Girl, art doll

SOLD!  Thank you!

Constanza, art doll

 SOLD!  Thank you!

Sweet Sally

SOLD!  Thank you!

Mother's Day.  Birthday gatherings.  Getting back to work in the studio.  The fun never ends!

Hasta la próxima,

xoxo,

lulu