Category Archives: la vida

First Friday Art Show Opens at La Vida

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Art lovers in hats and coats braved the chilly night to attend the First Friday opening at La Vida – thanks to all who came! Gallery owners Matt and Carole had tamales and rice and beans to warm us all. I so enjoyed talking with fellow artists Kathy and Lionel Sosa, and especially to Jacobo Mendoza from Oaxaca.

Jacobo’s weavings are astonishing – fine and colorful, made from hand-carded wool from local sheep. All of his colors come from natural dyes, combinations of cochineal and marigold, soap root and plants that he described to me that I had never even heard of. His wife, son and daughter share in the weaving art. Please look at the pictures on his website to learn more about Jacobo and his talented family.

I purchased one of his rugs to use as a wall hanging – it looks as if it should be hanging in a museum! Here’s a short video of the evening – the Russian music in the background is a nod to the chilly temps!

Dimensional paintings

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This started to be a tirade about Black Friday, but, you know what? People find their joy and purpose in all kinds of weird things, and if shopping for a TV at the crack of dawn gets ya up and out into this beautiful day, then go for it – just be careful out there! Crowds make me twitchy, so I prefer to be in the Studio finishing up these two new – er, “dimensional paintings.” I like the description. They’re painted on stretched canvas, not strictly collages, but they have dimensional surface applications. Titles are Copper Mountain 1 & 2, and  I’ll show these next Friday as part of my La Vida Gallery opening. I’m still experimenting, but so far, so good. Feedback? Better yet, come to La Vida on the 6th and check them out in person.
coppermtn1 coppermtn2

Working weekend (and winner)

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Congrats to Dani Wildason, the winner of the Threads of Blessing embroidery – Dani’s been a SHARDS subscriber for almost a year, and she’s a wonderful creator of Spirit Dolls. More Friday Freebies to come.
It was a working weekend in the Studio – I’m getting ready for my show opening at La Vida on the 6th of December and just finished a new triptych (actually, they stand as individual pieces, too):

These small earthenware constructions always remind me of the Canterbury Tales! It would be fun to do a series based on Chaucer’s stories. Hmmm, note to self….

I also had a workshop at the Studio yesterday on Image Transfer, and it confrimed what we all know – digital transfer is unpredictable! Conclusion: The two most reliable products that we used were TAP paper with inkjet prints and TonerAide spray for laser prints. Oh, yeah, and Celine discovered that T-Shirt transfers work great on leather! It was fun, and educational, for sure.

First Friday and Friday Freebie

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Yep, it’s all about Fridays! Please mark your calendars for the upcoming First Friday, December 6th,  at La Vida Gallery in Southtown. I’ve been invited back again (December tradition!) to show with the amazing Oaxacan folk artists, Jacobo and Maria Angeles. I’ll be showing some new folk-art-like constructions based on the Guardian series. Here’s the info – hope to see you thpromesasflatere:
And in the spirit of the season, here’s a Friday Freebie for one subscriber to SHARDS, this very blog. It’s another beautiful tapestry from my collection of Threads of Blessings embroideries. I love sharing the work of these women from Uganda. This hand-embroidered scene of daily life is by Magret Biwaga, and it depicts a small house with two figures. I think the smaller one may be going off to school. There’s a giant bird flying overhead who looks as if he might get stuck in the tree! It’s really charming. Be a subscriber before Sunday night and I’ll put your name in the drawing. Thanks, and have a wonderful weekend!
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First Friday and Yvette Shadrock

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It’s always great to go to La Vida Gallery on First Friday, and tonight one of my favorite artists, Yvette Shadrock, was exhibiting. Yvette is a genius at assemblage – she puts together objects in whimsical, scary, funny and profound ways to make works that look as if they came from another place or another time. I have one of her small pieces that I bought at her last show and I hope to be able to have a larger one someday soon. The only problem is, which one to choose? They are all wonderful.

 

 

Create a Candle, Win a Shard

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Special workshop this Sunday at La Vida Gallery in lovely Southown from 3-5! I’ll be showing you how to make these unique votive candle cards, which are gifts in themselves. When you open one, it becomes a glowing screen for a votive candle, but it folds up to fit in an envelope. These cards were featured in an article I wrote for the current issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. You’ll take home several of these cards and can personalize them in any way you want. To save a spot (limit ten, there are five spaces left), click on this PayPal link – tuition is $39 and proceeds go to the San Antonio Food Bank. All materials are provided.

But wait – there’s more (as usual). Workshop participants and SHARDS blog subscribers will be entered in a drawing to win this Scent Shard with Ylang-Ylang/Bitter Orange essential oil and a brochure and gift bag. My dear friend and former studio partner Carol Mylar is visiting me from Colorado and she will do the drawing Sunday night. If you can’t come play with us on Sunday, subscribe to the Shard blog.

Scent Shard prize for winning workshop participant/blog subscriber

And finally, 30 Shades of Twilight opens at La Vida tonight at 7:00 but I’m too nervous to talk about that, so bye for now.:)

30 Shades – up and ready for prime time

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I went to La Vida Gallery today to meet Steve Bennett, the art/culture columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, to talk about my series of paintings. I’d never seen all thirty of them at once – yay! They work really well as a series!

Steve was so easy to talk to – I love reading his stories about art and artists. He’s a good journalist with a finger on the pulse of the San Antonio community. The newspaper editor and the readers are very lucky to have him. The interview should be out sometime next week, but in the meantime, I just can’t wait to share how the paintings look on the gallery wall – thanks to Matt Weissler for hanging so many paintings so straight! Please come to the opening on Friday, December 7th – besides these paintings, you’ll get to see and meet Oaxacan Master Carvers and Painters Jacobo and Maria Angeles, and Chef Susana Trilling.

 

Postcard for Exhibit

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Yesterday I printed a preliminary design for my show at La Vida, partly because I wanted to experiment with the images, and partly to remind myself that there is still a lot of work to be done and time’s getting short. Hard to believe all of this has happened since I made my first Kindle cover for sale in June of last year. Until then, I hadn’t done any real studio art in a decade.

It was good to have a few copies with me when we went to an open house at Inspire Art Center because I saw several old friends who are artists and was able to give them away as a way of saying “I’m back!” That was fun. Have changed the title of the show to “Mythologie.”