Tomorrow, I will have my art show at the Artists’ Nook in Bellvue, Co.  And I will also have work in the adjoining Fine Antiques Store owned by the awesome Bev Perina.  I honestly can’t wait for the show.  I am not sure how many folks will show up.  But whatever happens I will be excited.  My mother will be in attendance.  It will be the first time since I started showing, on April 9^th, 2007, she has been able to attend a show.  I think it is fitting she will be here for my last two shows of the year. 

It will be one of the few shows that I will be able to have all my work in a single venue.   I’ll have my originals, prints, t-shirts, and books.  It will also be very cool, because one of my dear friends will be teaching just across the street. 

Kelly Kilmer will be here.  She is a great great artist and even a better friend.  I am excited she will be able to be there as well. 

This show has so many reasons to be excited for beyond my family and friends.  In one of my earliest posts, I mentioned two women that were pivotal in starting me back on the path to art.  They are Christine Webb and Christi Wich.  Christine is hosting this show and continues to remind me of how my work has evolved into something great.  Both ladies have created amazing spaces for artists to thrive and grow artistically and as people.  If you are ever in town please stop at there shops, they are both great great ladies!

I will let you know how the show goes this weekend.

This weekend, the town of Bellvue is celebrating its first Dia de los Muertos.  Bev Perina will be hosting a Dia de los Muertos Celebration:   Fine Art and Antique show (Bellvue, CO) -  Oct 10-12^th, 2008, as well.  Bev owns the Bellvue store and host an event every second Friday of the month. 

There will be multiple artists available at both the Bellvue store and also the Artists’ Nook just next door.  I will have three pieces at the Bellvue store.  One of the art pieces will be the Ntra Sra. Milagrosa (pictured here). Ntra Sra. Milagrosa is collaged on a brilliant background of international papers.  And light is emanating from her.  I love this piece, so she is available via commission.  Also being shown is my Mariachi Tipico Grande (you can check it out on my website) and Dos Corazon (see my post titled Dos Corazon in June). 

The show started Friday night.  If you are in the area, please stop by and check it out.

Tami and Marty met me at my booth.  Special Events, had set up my booth and left two tables for me (and they come and tear it down after the show).  We put out my wonderful linens from Santa Fe, my art, prints and t-shirts.  The booth looked great. 

The show officially opened at 11 am.  Marty and Tami stayed the morning to help me with the booth.  That was awesome, as that was a big lesson learned from Santa Fe.  I need to have more than one person with me during a show.   Rose, her two sisters, Monica, and George all came by and hung out as well.  I had a smile from ear to ear, because it was just great to see everyone. 

I did try to step away around lunch to take a quick break.  And not long after I had, I got a call that James and Eric (of James Judd & Son Vineyard) were in my booth.  I ran back.  They brought me one bottle of each of the wine labels.  They are beautiful!!!  It was wonderful to meet them both for the first time.  It was almost exactly a year ago that James contacted me about designing their wine labels (see my post “Commissions – A Cellar Full of Noise”).  They are going to be doing a wine tasting later this month in San Diego.  And they will have my original art there as part of their booth.  How cool is that?

They left and in the midst of that, I sold two originals, a few prints, and t-shirt.  The show wasn’t as strong as last year, but it was just great to see everyone.  The lady that purchased my first original at my first Castro Street came by again on Sunday.  And she re-introduced herself.  She talked about the art piece “A Good Place” and how much she loves it.  It hangs in her kitchen.  She invited me around to her house, the next time I am out.  She also bought a print as well.  I am truly happy she came by. 

One of the coolest things is that my friends from Seattle and Orange County, flew in and hung out with me in the afternoon.  We ate Sushi from Osaka Sushi, while we sat on the curb and watched amazing people walk by.  They were also there when I sold “What is Life without Honor?”  It is the art piece I highlighted on my e-newsletter, events page of my website, and in this post.  It went home with a very nice couple. 

At the end, we tore down the booth and I shipped everything home right after.  Then Jacci, Jaime, Sara and I all met for dinner at Boulevard (on Mission) in San Francisco.  The goat cheese raviolis are the bomb!!! 

All in all it was a very good day.  I couldn’t have done it without the support of my awesome family and friends!  I am blessed…

When I arrived, the house was empty.  Everyone was out and about for the day at summer camp, work or the baby sitter’s house.  As I walked in, you could see it looked like a cyclone had been through the interior.  I was too tired to deal with it, so on Wednesday morning I got up at 5 am and started cleaning.

I washed baby bottles & clothes, cleaned out Axel’s cage, and threw out ALL the trash.  Bless my husband’s heart; he just kept saying everyone and everything (save one hermit crab) were still alive.  That became his anthem and he stuck to it all day.  AHHHH!!  This is real life.

As I reflect on Santa Fe, it was an amazing trip.  It has amazing people, art and culture.  It is “a place to clean up your stuff” per a gentleman I met during the show.  But, being there for a show, you see Santa Fe as it truly is in the 21^st century, a place under massive change and construction.  If you remain near the plaza and surrounding hills, you see Santa Fe as the magical place it is as well.  I can’t wait until I can go to Santa Fe again…

Well I have an update on how my gallery visit went.  I arrived at The Blessing today at about lunch time and met with Jenni and her husband Doug.  They opened Blessing for Home & Life last October.  It is inside of Annapurna Restaurant.  They specialize in religious icons, statues, scents, teas and much more.  They also host readings once a month at the restaurant.  It is an amazing place. 

I left two pieces with her.  The Ganesh, I showed in my earlier post, and then my 12×12 Our Lady Guadalupe.  During my visit, I met a nice lady, named Patty who invited me to eat in the restaurant.  So, I ordered their Chapati and their awesome Chai (with soy milk) and sat down to chat. 

As we talked, Doug came out of the shop and said, “The Our Lady had been purchased!!”  Is that great or what?  I got tears in my eye.  It was purchased by a young lady named Caiseal.  Caiseal, joined myself, Patty, Doug, and Jeanni for lunch.  It was a great lunch.  Everyone was so amazing and kind and open.  It was truly magical.  I spent 4 hours there, the time just blew by.

I finally departed after 4 pm, to go pay for entry into next year’s Girls Inc. Show in August 2009.  I then ended the day talking to my mother and visiting one more time with Neena.  We ate at Blue Corn Café & Brewery.  It was wonderful to see her one more time.

I leave tomorrow morning for home.  This has been an awesome trip.

Many of the artists continued to say the show was much slower for them.  And it would be a few hours before I got my first sale of the day.  But, all in all it was an amazing day!!!  In the morning, a gentleman stopped by to show his friend my work.  He was there for vacation and had been in my booth the day before.  We chatted and then they left.  Others would stop in and before I knew it, the gentleman was back with his wife and his friend and his wife.  This time he purchased one of my cowboy pieces!!  Yeah!!  And asked if I were selling back east?  I said no, but the more I think about it, I may see if I can go out there for a show.  What would it hurt?  Just need to work out what show might be a good fit.

Just around lunch time, another gentleman returned to my booth, also with his wife.  He had been in my booth the day before.  It turns out that he and his wife own a small gallery called Blessings.  It is in the Annapurna restaurant on Alameda.  They specialize in religious icons.  And they asked if I would be willing to show in their gallery!!  Can you believe it!!!!  There are three images they want.  I am over the moon!!!  I am going by there at lunch time today.  I will let you know what happens in one of my later posts.

The afternoon was hot and slow for me.  But, other booths seem to be doing well, which was great.  I had an individual that came into my booth and spent quite a bit of time.  She use to sell at the show years ago and decided to critique my booth.  She had some interesting feedback:  Have flowers in your booth (as galleries would), dress like an artist, no junk under the tables, carpet on the floor makes the tent lighter and have a light roof tent.  She then said, “because you don’t have a carpet on the floor, you have a blue roof on your tent, and you are dark, therefore your art is difficult to see”.  Needless to say, I was quite surprised about her comments about my skin tone.  Isn’t it funny what people feel comfortable to say to you?  I did keep my composure and thanked her for her feedback.  Luckily God sent someone into my booth that knew her.  She got distracted and finally left.  ARGGHHH!!!!

The show absolutely ended on a great note.  A wonderful lady stopped in and we started chatting about my work and how much she liked my multicultural images.  Ultimately, she mentioned that she is working on a book and asked if I would be interested in illustrating it for her.  I ABOUT PASSED OUT!!!!  Is that cool or what?!!  So, I suggested she look at more of my website and ping me via e-mail, if she is interested in really moving forward.  I hope she is.  But, I will let you know what transpires.

All in all, this was an awesome show!!!!!

Set up happened on Friday afternoon, you had a time slot to come in and do your set up.  I was on South Lincoln between San Francisco and East Palace Avenue in booth 134.  Nancy, Sara, & LeAnn helped put up the tent and then had to head out for a store visit.  So, I put up the walls and weights, which as a novice was not trivial.  I must have called Cassie 3-4 times and laughed all the way through the process, because I did not find this whole process trivial.  In the midst of the calls, I had to have a chat with my son, who was not on his best behavior with Cassie and then I got on the phone with my 3 year old.  She did not want to give the phone back to Cassie.  It was at the least hysterical and a reminder how our kids remind us of the difference between our real lives and our art lives.  LOL!!!  I eventually got done at 4 pm and schlepped back to the hotel and off to dinner at Jinja again.  Then I worked until 1 am getting ready for the show, doing everything from labeling all my post cards to ironing the covers that were going on my tables. 

I was out of the bed by 5:45 am and loading up the car by 6:30 am.  Then off to the show for set up at 7:06 am and parking the car.  Honestly, I should have gotten to my booth before 7 am, because it was my first time and I was stressed.  And I had to improvise on how to hang my work, because what was originally the plan to hang my work off a chain didn’t look right or work correctly.  So, I had to change gear and hang everything from fishing wire and hooks.  It looked really cool.   I was finished setting up just after 9 am, when the show started. 

It turned out to be hot, exciting, and a great learning experience.  First credit cards are the bomb!!!  All but two of my transactions were on credit cards.  I sold prints, which was great and one hand made journal, and one original Our Lady Guadalupe piece.

Many said that the show was slow this year.  But, honestly, I really went into the show hoping that I would just be able to sale a few pieces and get new contacts.  Neena and Pam stopped by my booth and just raved about how beautiful the booth and how cool my art was as other customers did as well.  And honestly they were the key reason it looked so nice.  Their selections of colors for me on Thursday, really made the booth look awesome. 

After the show, I packed up my art and put it back in the car for the next day.

Pam invited Neena and me to visit her home and studio.  Neena was exhausted from work and head home.  I went up to Pam’s place and sat on the back porch with her boyfriend and friend, it was amazing.  Pam lives her art.  She has illustrated how work, life and art can be one.  It was simply amazing.

I left her place and headed to my room, showed, went to Café Pasqual’s for dinner and then back to my room for bed.  It was a really good day.

Yesterday turned out to be a wonderful day.  It started out bit stressful.  An 8 am with my manager, to talk about the company’s restructuring, writing my blog and other various notes, then off to up load the files via the slowest wireless network in history, and finally off to FedEx/Kinko’s to finish cutting up my postcards.  I have to say the morning was stressful, and just like hard work.  And all of sudden my phone rang and it was Neena. 

She asked if I would like to go to the Traveler’s Market, which focuses on Ethno-Centric art, textiles, and jewelry from all over the world.  It is at the DeVargas Center on Paseo de Peralta.   I said sure!  She picked me up at Kinko’s and we were on our way.  It was a sensory overload of color and textures.  I was at first overwhelmed and then in awe of the amazing collections and works.  The place was designed to give people a place to show and sell their work and collections from Afghanistan, India, Thailand, and many more exotic locations.  Neena introduced me to her dear friend Pam who creates jewelry from exotic woods, old fossilized bones, and abalone antique buttons.  She also creates shrines that are called messengers.  And each shrine has a story to tell.  Her aurora and warmth were soothing, thoughtful, and insightful.  She is not on the web and doesn’t use any technology.  She is amazing.

Neena left me to walk around the market.  I had an epiphany while I stood in the market; I realized that the textiles used in the space were perfect for what I wanted my booth to emanate at the show this weekend.  Neena and Pam helped select the fabrics that I will use.  They are warm gold tones, red, and taupes.   I will take pictures of my booth on Saturday. 

Then I realized that along with Neena, two of her friends were wearing these beautiful flowing clothes from Homefrocks.  It is a lovely shop off Old Santa Fe Trail.  The clothes are eco-friendly, hand dyed linens and silks that are beautiful and comfortable tunics, dresses, jackets, pants, and bags.  Nancy, the owner, allowed me to try on a beautiful skirt from her Spring ’09 collection.  Her clothes are very cool!!

Once we left Nancy’s place we headed out to Neena’s sweet house up above Santa Fe to meet her husband, dogs, and new cat.  The land here is so lush and colorful.  I was expecting much more arid environment like Colorado.  Neena said that allot of the greenery was due to the significant amount of rain they had experienced this summer.  We then drove back into town and had dinner at Jinja Bar & Bistro.  It is an Asian fusion restaurant.  The rice paper wrapped salmon, Pad Thai noodles, and Thai red curry shrimp are great.  And we talked for almost three hours.  I can’t say how kind and peaceful Neena and her friends are.  They are like Goddesses.  I was so blessed to spend the afternoon with her.  If I went home today, I would have had a wonderful trip. 

Neena returned me to the hotel and we said our goodbyes.  I then got a call from my friend Nancy Anderson.  I met her and her friends at The Shed near the Plaza.  I am so excited that they are here.  We are going to hang out today.  No matter what, this has been a good trip…

So, I have been quiet for a week on my blog!  All I have been focused on is getting through our company’s re-organizations and getting to Santa Fe.  Well yesterday was D-Day.  With that said I packed up the car yesterday morning, ran about a 1,000 errands, cleaned up the essentials at the house, dropped my son at gymnastics, and finally left at 11:44 am MST. 

After seven hours and multiple gas and bathroom stops, I was in Santa Fe, New Mexico!!  Colorado and New Mexico are amazing states.  The mountains along the drive were breath taking and the weather was perfect and hot.  I wanted to take a picture at the border between Colorado and New Mexico.  And I assumed there would be a place to pull over, like at the Wyoming/Colorado border.  But No!  The sign is on an overpass in the Raton Pass.  And all you can do is focus on not running over the car in front of you as you tank down the 6% grade that leads you out of the Pass!  So, no picture from this leg of the trip.  But, as I listened to all my favorite songs in the car, I did hear Route 66 (at least twice) by Chuck Berry and I wanted to share this little 4×4 piece I did about 3 years ago.  It was ultimately published in Somerset Studio Gallery in Winter 2007 issue.

Today, I have to buy some final stuff for my booth, so I can hang my art.  And I need to go to Kinko’s and make some final print outs (to highlight my new prints).

Oh!  One other thing, on Tuesday night, my e-newsletter went out about my website and my forthcoming shows.  I spoke to friends yesterday and they said that they had received it.  Tracey has also set it up (on my website) so that people can sign up for my e-mails.  So folks know what is happening with my art, I am going to send e-mails out only 6 – 8 times per year. 

This afternoon, I am going to meet up with Neena and hang out with her.  We met in Keith LoBue’s class in April.  So, I am really happy she is going to take some time out of her schedule to spend with me.  People are amazingly kind, aren’t they? 

I had hoped to blog the entire trip.  But, it will be tough because there is no internet access in the room.  But, I will not be deterred in recording this event.  Until later….

Well it is almost here!  I think I mentioned in one of my earlier post, that I have been accepted into the Girls Inc. of Santa Fe 36^th Annual Arts & Crafts Show.  It is the first weekend in August.  And there are 250 artists that will be in the show.  You had to be juried in to participate.  And to my absolute joy, my work was accepted. 

Yesterday, I missed my weekly submission to Mixed Media Monday.  Why?  I was overdue for submitting an advertisement to the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper.  So, I sent over a mock up and then discovered I couldn’t link to their FTP site to upload my actual image.  Well needless to say, I was on the phone with the very nice account manager and what came out is that I needed to use FTP software to link to their site (you just couldn’t do it from a standard web browser).  So, I went out to Version Tracker and downloaded the update for my FTP Software (I currently use CuteFTP).  It is pretty simple and made it feasible for me to up load the image.  Yeah!!!

Here is the image I am going to be showing in the ad.  I thought it might be fun for the Southwest.

I am really excited and freaked out at the same time!!!  LOL!!!  It will be the first show I have to do by myself (that is a different story for a different day).  I have decided I will blog during the trip, so I will be schlepping my PC and camera.  And I can’t believe I am going to a town that I only know one kind soul (and not really very well).  It is 453.3 miles from here to Santa Fe, according to AAA this morning.  They are creating a map and directions to the hotel!  Sweet!!  One less thing to sweat!

Now I am going to work on getting prints of some of my key works.  I have been really going back and forth over what I should offer at a lower price point.  Like all art, I want to make sure my art is accessible!  And until I get my book out, my t-shirts probably will not do the complete trick.  So, I am having prints (8×10”) done of my work.  And I will test them out at the show, along with offering original work and handmade books.  I know, I just used this in my earlier post, but “Wish Me Luck!!”