Summertime.......

Just realized it has been over a week since I posted here. We spent the first half of the week at my brother's house in Las Cruces. Aaron and Travis spent time in the recording studio playing around and writing a song. They have been talking about doing that for years. So, while they did that, I took a drive around town, drove out to the mountains and took some photos. I will post some here once I get them downloaded. Update: See below Other than that, I sat around the house and watched tv.

While we were gone, we finally had some much needed rain. Actually, it was more like hail mixed with rain. All the plants have been beaten up pretty bad. Our shed, which is under ground, was flooded with around 8 inches of water. It took Aaron all day yesterday to shop vac it out! The good news is, we really needed the rain! Maybe now they will open up the hiking trails again!

Yesterday was my great aunt's 90th birthday! Day before was my mom's birthday. So, we had the family over for dinner last night. Aaron made peach cobbler for dessert. It was very yummy, too bad there is none left!

So, today, I have to get back to work. I have some orders to get out and I should clean the studio so I can get back to painting. I have been having a very hard time getting motivated.

Oh, and thanks to everyone that has been commenting on my blog, it's nice to know people are reading it!

New Spiral Flower Abstract

This is the newest painting in my Spiral Abstract Series. "Daisy" is a watermixable oil painting on canvas measuring 16 x 20"(inches). The sides are painted so it may be hung as is. The inspiration for this painting is the beautiful Daisies that my husband planted for me in the backyard. I plan to continue this series of floral abstracts indefinately. It may sound sappy, but flowers make me happy!

This painting will be going up for auction Saturday on eBay. I will add a link once the auction starts.

Artists in Times of War

I just finished reading a great short little book by Howard Zinn titled "Artists in Times of War". He talks about how it is the artist's responsibility to speak out against war. Historically artists have been the ones to speak out.

I agree with this wholeheartedly! Problem is, I'm torn between knowing that I have to speak out and do something and being afraid to speak out and do something. In reality, feeling afraid to speak out just makes me angry and makes me want to do even more.

Is this not the greatest country in the world after all? Are we not free to speak our minds? I don't like to write about politics on this blog, mainly because I am a visual person, I am not a writer. I don't really know how to put my feelings and beliefs into words.

I do know that I am tired of all the crap going on in this country and I am tired of all the ignorant Americans who continue to believe we are in this war for good reason. I am tired of the propaganda and the use of the media to distract us from what is really going on.

Why is peace such a difficult concept? Why does greed run this country, this world? Why are so-called Christians(not bashing all Christians here, I know there are good and bad) so gung-ho for war? I mean, isn't 'Thou shalt not kill' one of the ten commandments? I have often wondered how a person can be against abortion but for war? It is murder to kill a fetus, but sending my 18 year old off to die is patriotic?

And my ultimate question.....WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?!!!!!

Let there be peace on earth!!! I think it is time for me to pick up where I left off with my peace series! Painting is the only way I know how to contribute my voice and make it heard (or in this case, seen!)

In what ways are you making your voice heard?

photos of ruins available

I just finished putting these two photos up for sale in my etsy.com store. They are 7 x 10" images in an 11 x 14" mat. They are priced right at $9.99 plus $5 shipping. Follow the links beside the photos.


Quarai Ruins


Abo Ruins

Trip to the Salinas Ruins

This last Saturday, the 10th, was mine and Aaron's 9th wedding anniversary. We had hoped to spend the day hiking to the top of the Sandias, but thanks to stupid people and high fire danger the mountain is closed! How can you close an entire mountain?? So, instead of a hike, we took a short drive southeast of Albuquerque to check out the Salinas pueblo ruins.




We visited two different sites, there are 3 total. But, since we have recently visited the third site on Memorial Day, we decided to skip that one this time. These pueblos were occupied up until the 1600s when water was scarce and most of the people moved closer to the Rio Grande river valley and the more modern pueblos. I'm posting some of the photos I took there.



I plan to do some paintings from some of these as well as making prints from some of the photos themselves. I just love visiting these sites, they are so mysterious and beautiful! I always feel a presence when I am there. I am sure there are still many spirits living there. These pueblos did not escape the oppression of the Spanish explorers, as all three of the sites have both Spanish mission churches and Kivas.
It is obvious why they were abandoned, there is no sign of water anywhere and man is it hot! So, check back soon to see the paintings that will inevitably come out of this day trip!

Lazy Days

I am enjoying vacation time. Yesterday was Aaron's birthday, Saturday is our anniversary. 9 years of great memories. We usually take a trip at this time of year, but Nathan had to go to summer school, so we couldn't go anywhere. Maybe later in the summer. I really want to go down to Mexico to meet the Mata Ortiz potters. I sold a bunch of my pottery prints to go into the museum down there and was invited to go down for a visit. I would love to see how the pottery is made and watch the artists paint the wonderful designs. One of my dreams is to learn how to make my own pottery.

I have been doing a little bit of work here and there. I finally cleaned up the studio. We had a huge dust storm a few weeks back and I never did get around to cleaning up after it. Until this week! So, my plans are to get back into the studio and paint! I have one painting started right now, I need to stretch some more canvas before I can do more.

It has been unbelievably hot here recently. I think that is the main reason I'm having trouble wanting to work. Of course, our swamp cooler isn't working right now!

Over all, I have decided that I need the vacation time to recharge. I am catching up on my reading. We went to the library yesterday to pick up more books. I'm reading about Leonardo da Vinci right now. In fact, I think I'll get back to that!

Too long

I know it has been a little while since my last post. Have I mentioned how hard it is to get things done with everyone home from school for the summer? I know, I'm whining. The main reason for this is that I just want to be on vacation too! So after fighting it for over a week now, I've decided to take it easy and have a little vacation time. I will still process any orders that come through and answer my email, but I'm going to give myself a little slack in the work department.

In case you didn't know this (if you know me you should), I am a workaholic. If I'm not working, I'm feeling guilty about not working. Basically, all I ever think about is working. OK, most people would say that I don't really work, because I'm an artist and I do what I love. This is true(that I do what I love), however, being an artist is more than just painting! There is a LOT of business related work to be done in order to make a living as a full time professional artist. People often ask me how I have made it this far, how am I able to work as a full time artist? First off, I have to admit, I have a wonderful husband who supports me AND pays the bills! So, just because I spend my full time as a professional artist, does not mean I make lots of money at it.

What has been most important for me is perserverance AND hard work! I have a business plan that I review yearly. Believe it or not, I actually spend more time on the business side of things than the art side. I have read that it takes 50% of your time on business, but I think that should be raised to at least 70%! If only I could spend ALL my time painting and creating!

So, now that I finally completed my newsletter and sent it out, I'm going to spend the next couple weeks working on art and only art! I will try to get something new posted here soon. Until then, I hope everyone is having a great summer, whether you are on vacation or not! :)