Overwhelmed

I have a blog post planned all about the Maravilla benefit for the National Hispanic Cultural Center that we attended on the 13th, I even have photos! Of course the rechargeable batteries are no longer taking a charge, so I can't get the photos off the camera. Anyway, maybe later in the week.

We have under two weeks until our next opening at Chroma Studios. October 3rd is our First Friday show, our first with the Albuquerque Arts Crawl. Lots and lots to do to get ready. We painted the new gallery space at the end of last week and still have to hang art. Plus, clean the floors, promote the show, on and on!

Anyway, figured I'd post something to let everyone know I'm still alive, just busy as usual!

I will try to get photos posted of the new space as soon as I have batteries. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day, week, month and year!

Damn you Rocco!

Now that I've reorganized and started back on the road to following a business plan, I decided it was also time to whip my fat butt back into shape! I've gained over 30 pounds in the past year and I'm literally making myself sick. I haven't felt 'healthy' in over a year, since I stopped my regular 5 day a week workouts. My back is always killing me.

Enter Rocco, personal trainer and recent Albuquerque resident. I found him on my favorite Albuquerque website, Duke City Fix, in a blog post about his Boot Camp workout class. He actually helped a girl lose 30 lbs. in 30 days on the MTV show 'Made'. That was enough to get me interested. I had planned to go check it out since he offers the first day for free, but ever the procrastinator, I put it off. In the meantime, I added Rocco as a friend on Duke City Fix. So, yesterday, who shows up at Chroma Studios? Rocco himself! I guess he saw the sign for Chroma Studios and decided to stop in to check it out. Really nice guy. We had a nice chat and he gave me a few free passes for the boot camp. Now I guess I had no choice but to show up. He took the time out of his day, so why not go work out?

Damn you Rocco! What a workout! I haven't worked out that hard since my days in real boot camp(Army) when I was 18 years old. I'm a little older now, to say the least! I seriously thought I was going to die, or puke, or both. Thank god by the time I started getting the sick feeling in my stomach we were on the next to last exercise. I have to admit it felt good, once I was done! Although, my ENTIRE body was shaking for about an hour afterwards! What an awesome workout, but I have to say it wasn't like boot camp in one way, Rocco is a funny, nice guy! He made sure I did the exercises correctly and talked about eating candy at the State Fair! Nothing like the drill sergeants I had back in the Army. I'll be back on Wednesday for sure, time to lose that 30 lbs!

Organizing Myself

I've been working at getting myself back in gear for what seems like months. I guess it HAS been months. I'm just not myself anymore, but I miss me! I need to get back to myself, my art, my routine. It's been hard, but I'm just tired of my whining already. I'm not usually one to sit and feel sorry for myself. I'm usually hyper-motivated, I love life for crying out loud! 

This past weekend I took out my planning notebook and started working on revising my business plan. Turns out, from looking at my old planner notebook, it has actually been 6 YEARS since I used it. Ironically, the last date I used it was the day I got a call from a hospital in El Paso to let me know that my dad had suffered his first heart attack. He was ok, going to need bypass surgery, but he would be ok. That day, I rushed down to El Paso and spent a couple of weeks with my dad and helped him out as he recovered. 

There were a lot of other things going on that year. Problems with my 2 older sons, hospitalizations, drama, all the things that can derail anyone. However, I hadn't realized until this weekend that I have been derailed for so long! 

Not totally, to be fair, I went back to work and I've worked hard with my art the past 6 years. My style totally changed. I've painted a whole new body of work since then. I just haven't worked diligently on my business plan or used my daily planner since then. 

Of course, hindsight is always 20/20 as they say. It was interesting to make that discovery though. So, I finally sat down and worked on my plan on Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours. I started all over, from scratch, after looking at the old plan and realizing how things have changed in the past 6 years.

So, as a way to get myself going, I just finished reading Alyson Stanfield's book "I'd Rather Be In The Studio". I have been a subscriber to her Artbizblog for years and have always enjoyed her newsletters. Her book is great! It's completely up to date with the 21st century. She spends a lot of time on the internet, blogging, websites, etc. I've read many, MANY artist promotion/marketing books and I have to give Alyson's book a big fat two thumbs up! I'm even thinking about using it for an art marketing class I'm putting together for Chroma Studios. 

After all that, I'm feeling pretty motivated again! Yay! I have so much work to do, a new website to build, art cd/dvd to put together, mailing list to update, etc, etc. Not to mention blogging more often!

Over at my other blog

I just started a new series of artist interviews over at my other blog for Chroma Studios. Terri Hansen is one of the wonderful artists that has her studio here at Chroma, follow this link to read the whole interview.

Grateful,

for a wonderful week. This has been the most productive week I've had since March! 

Back on Track, Newest Daily Journal Painting, 6/10/08, framed, $50

I finally finished framing a bunch of my daily journal paintings and put them up in my etsy shop this week. These paintings are small (9" square with frame) and make great little groupings. Follow the link above or click on the box in the sidebar to go to my etsy shop directly.

Now I just have to get back to painting more of these little gems. I just realized that the newest one I have was painted more than two months ago! I'll get there eventually, in fact, I think I'll go paint a new one RIGHT NOW!

Feeling Great!

What a wonderful, beautiful day! This is the first week I've been back in full swing since April. I may have thought I was back before now, but I was kidding myself. Or just trying to psych myself out. Finally, it's true. I've spent more time painting this week (and it's only Tuesday) than I have in months. I'm close to finishing my first large canvas since my life changed forever. I'm still thinking about what to title it. 

My dad was right, life does go on, and it does get easier. 

I don't have much to write about today, just trying to get back into the habit of blogging more often. Time keeps getting away from me. One of the promises I made myself back in April was that I would no longer be a time waster. No more procrastination. No more excuses. Life is too short and I have way too many goals to reach. So, it's time to switch back into high gear and get busy!

I just recently received my second check for royalties on my needlepoint designs. One of my goals in the near future is to get a link up to the company selling my designs and the retail locations where they are available for purchase. I have about 6 weeks to get 4 more designs painted and shipped off in time for the January trade show.

I guess I had better get back to work!

Gallinas Canyon

The whole gang, left to right, back row first, my sons Nate and Jeff, Aaron and I, oldest son, Bryan and front row, brother Travis, his wife, Charlene and family friend.

Once again it's been too long since my last post. So much going on! I'm finally back in the studio at work after two weeks of home improvement projects and a wonderful camping trip.
July 30th thru August 1st we went on a camping trip to the Gila Wilderness with a specific purpose in mind. Along for the trip were my husband, Aaron, three sons, my brother, his wife and a good friend of the family. Gallinas Canyon is a place we know well. My dad took us there many times as kids and then as teenagers. This was also the last spot we camped with my dad during the summer of 2005. Camping has always been a favorite past time in my family. This time we were there to set my dad free, to spread his ashes in his final resting place.

One of the last times I saw my dad we discussed what would happen after he passed away. We discussed where he would want his ashes spread. Of course he told me he didn't care, he won't be here so it doesn't matter to him. When I mentioned the canyon to him, he agreed it was a good choice.

Wednesday the 30th we arrived at our camp site and set up camp. The weather was beautiful, the creek was running with lots of water and we found a perfect campsite at the end of the road. We spent the first night around the campfire, roasting marshmallows and playing music. My brother improvised a marshmallow song that was too funny! My dad always loved listening to Aaron and Travis playing guitars around the campfire.

The next day, after eating a yummy camp breakfast of Chorizo and egg burritos, we set off on a hike down the canyon to find the perfect spot. We had to cross the creek several times and in several places the water was up to our knees. The water was cold but refreshing. Our old 21 year old dog, Rusty, decided to follow us on the hike and had to be carried across most of the crossings. The canyon narrowed more and more as we continued down. At one spot we had to climb up the canyon hillside to get across a waterfall section.

We finally found a huge rock sitting in the middle of the creek with a small waterfall beside it and decided it was the perfect place. Just before we took out the box containing dad's remains, a Monarch butterfly flew by us and hovered over the waterfall as if to confirm "this is the place". My brother and I took dad's ashes out and together we emptied them over the waterfall and into the rapid water below. 

No one really had anything to say, it was a melancholy moment and we spent some quiet time giving each other hugs and saying goodbye to dad.

On the way down the canyon we had passed a spot with a swimming hole and small cave area. This is where we went back to enjoy a dip in the cool creek water and take a break before we hiked back to camp. We found a tree there and left a small memorial to dad. My brother had brought some teaching pins of my dad's and we carved his dates into the tree below them.

It was such a wonderful feeling of closure once we returned to camp. We had now laid dad to rest in a beautiful place and it felt as if he was there with us. 

Dad would have truly enjoyed the second night of camping! Sometime in the evening a big, dark cloud drifted in and settled over our camp. At some point my sister in law and I decided that it was time to get ready for the rain, and just in time! We got everything put away and the rainfly on the largest tent fixed just before it started to pour! It was one of those crazy New Mexico monsoon rains that went on for about a half hour and in no time there was water running through the camp and directly UNDER the tent we had taken shelter in. The best part was all the loud thunder and lightning. Dad loved thunderstorms.

Anyway, to make a long story short, we made it through the rainstorm, although everything was damp. The next morning we packed up camp and had to find someone to give us a jump start as the batteries on BOTH vehicles died. We made it home in one piece and since the trip I haven't felt sad about losing my dad. I just think about the awesome place we laid him to rest and how much he would have enjoyed the camping trip.

Speechless

People who know me well may find it hard to believe I could ever be speechless, but it's true, I've had a down month and I tend to shut myself off from the outside world when I'm down. It's been a while since I posted a blog and I figured it was about time.

I've had dad on my mind a lot this month. I think the shock is just wearing off. 

It's not getting any easier, in fact, it seems to be getting harder. I've tried to move on and get back to my regular routine, but whenever something reminds me of dad, which is a LOT, I get all choked up and feel the pain all over again.

I like to paint happy, cheerful, colorful images. I like to be a positive person, happy and grateful. It's hard to paint and think like that when I've never felt so sad. I hate to whine, and that is the main reason I haven't blogged recently. I don't want to sound like I'm whining. 

People tell me it takes at least a year to get past the grief. I guess I should be kinder to myself. I wonder if I'll ever get past the grief.

I have gone back and forth about posting this blog, too personal and all that, but I needed to get it out.

Above is a progress photo of the painting I'm currently working on. It is a 48 inch square canvas. I still have a ways to go on this one!

Bicycle Commuting, Tom Waits and Cloudcroft

Sorry about the long gap between postings! Aaron and I took a little getaway vacation last week. We spent a couple of days at the family cabin in Cloudcroft, NM and then headed down to Las Cruces and ultimately El Paso for the Tom Waits concert.

Cloudcroft was a nice break from the heat. The second day we woke up to cloud cover and 50 degree F. temps! The first day we were there we had no water most of the day, it seems the village water people did some work and "forgot" to turn the water back on to the cabin. It took them 5 hours to get up there and turn it back on! Talk about slow moving, in a town the size of Cloudcroft, I doubt they were that busy!

Now, on to the Tom Waits concert! What a blast! It was definitely one of the best concerts of my life. Only second behind the Police last summer and pretty close to tied with the Page/Plant concert we saw in 1995. Waits is quite the entertainer, well worth the $90 ticket price! Plus it made my hubby super happy to see one of his favorite musicians ever.

Saturday we stayed in Las Cruces for my brother's housewarming party. So, needless to say, we are dragging a little this week.

Yesterday we bought bicycles. Today was our first commute to the studio. WOW! I knew it was going to be a rough ride at the end because we live in the valley and the last few blocks to our studio are uphill, but damn! I thought my heart would jump out of my chest! Once again, needless to say, it's going to take a little while to get back in hill riding shape. It's been a few years since we've owned bikes, but it's been even longer since I've used a bike for commuting. We decided that it was time to stop spending $80 a week on gas, and riding the bus isn't really a big cut in money, but riding bikes is not only free(other than the price of the bikes), but it's great exercise AND good for the environment. Time to put our money where our mouth is!

Proud of Pride

Peace Pride, oil on canvas, 12 x 12", completed

This weekend is the Albuquerque Pride Festival and I will be there with my art at booth # 27. For those who don't know, Pride is a festival that celebrates the gay, lesbian and transgender community.

My first and only time(so far) at a Pride Fest was a couple of years ago when Aaron and I went with my dad. My dad was a gay man and I have to say I was very proud of him. It can't be easy to come out of the closet in a country full of hate crimes and discrimination. I am dedicating this show to the memory of my dad. He would have been here cheering me on and we would have had a wonderful time. So, in his memory, I plan to have a blast this weekend.

The Pride Fest runs thru Saturday at 8pm. Saturday morning there will be a parade down Central Ave. into the state fairgrounds. There will also be concerts and a pet parade.

I had planned to do a whole series of paintings for the show, but only ended up with time enough to finish one. "Peace Pride" is available for $300, plus I will have prints available for $20(13x13" matted) and $8(6x6" matted).

Grand Opening a Hit!

This past Friday was our Grand Opening art show and open studios event. Most of the photos posted were taken before and after the show. I had planned to take more during the show, but the place was so crowded and I was so busy talking with our guests that I ended up putting the camera away.

The show was a huge success! Many people came by to see the space and ended up staying for the three hours to enjoy the art, talk with all the artists, enjoy a little food and beverages and many even left with a piece of art or two. I have been told by several people that this was the best art opening they've been to in some time. I would have to agree with that, even if I am a little biased. The art was amazing, the artists friendly, the refreshments yummy and the atmosphere in general was positive.

Thanks go out to everyone that came out to support Chroma Studios. Thanks to the guest artists that brought in their wonderful work, to the studio artists for all the hard work they put into getting everything ready, to the musicians(Aaron and Michael) that created a festive atmosphere and to our good friends Kathy and Benita that prepared the awesome food!

Chroma Artists from left to right, Michael(guest artist), Barak, Vashti, Josephine, Terri, Angelo, Aaron and Paula(Chroma Artists not pictured, Diane Reitz, Chris and Amy Schelling, guest artists not pictured, Ray Maseman, Jacqui Lewnes and Brandon Atencio)

You're Invited!

Please join us for our Grand Opening celebration!

When: Friday, June 6, 2008 5:30 - 8:30pm

Where: Chroma Studios

1606 Central Ave SE Suite 201

(there is plenty of parking in the East and West parking lots and in the adjacent church)

Who we are:
Chroma Studios is Albuquerque’s newest professional artist’s studio space. Located on Central just West of University, Chroma is home to 10 professional artists and a growing community of visiting artists and students. We are dedicated to promoting the work of established and emerging artists through studio spaces, exhibitions, and class offerings.

Meet the artists:

Painter Paula Manning-Lewis creates stunning works of art that incorporate spirals depicting the cycles of growth and invention, inspiration and experience, failure and success. She is a passionate and inspired artist is one of the founding members of Chroma Studios.

Aaron Lewis is an accomplished musician who will be gracing us with his tunes on opening night. Lewis is currently mastering tracks for his third CD “Space Travel”. He plays gigs througout New Mexico, and teaches music to children in his spare time. He is also a founding member of the Studios.

Josephine Brionez de Flores is another founding member, born and raised in Barelas. Brionez de Flores is a prolific artist who shows her work throughout New Mexico and internationally. Her feather masks are held in private collections throughout the world.

Angelo Flores, the final founding member, is an entrepenuer that creates custom engraving on pendants for all occasions, ie graduation, new baby, memorials, etc.

Diane Walton Reitz studied fine art at Schular Fine Art School in Baltimore, Maryland, and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with a specialty in painting and illustration from Texas A& M. She has been living, painting, and teaching in New Mexico since 1998, and is a member of several New Mexico art associations. She is represented by Chroma Studios, and Dreamscapes Gallery.

Terri Hansen is an award winning classical realist painter who has recently relocated to Albuquerque and positively loves living here. Primarily an Oil and Watercolor artist, her compositions and colors are unmistakable for their highly charged dramatic flair.

Chris and Amy Schelling are a husband/wife artist team. Chris paints colorful abstract oils and Amy works in several media.

Israeli Barak Naggan is a professional adventure travel and nature photographer and videographer. On his first visit to the American southwest several years ago, he became deeply inspired by the area's natural beauty and in 2002 he made New Mexico his home. His photographs have shown in Israel, California and New Mexico, and have been published in several magazines including Men’s Journal and National Geographic Adventure.

vashti b, a New Mexico native, is an artist who explores text, found objects and mixed media in her work. She is a professional teaching artist who works to promote literacy and a culture of creativity and kindness.

Please join us for an evening of refreshments, music and art as we introduce ourselves as well as the work of several other local artists.
See you there!

For more information or any questions call Paula at 259-6320.

Mi Vida Loca

Peace Pride One, 12" oil on canvas, in progress

Hectic, crazy, overwhelmed, emotional.......this is my life currently! We are in the crunch time for preparing for the grand opening of Chroma Studios. Picked up our postcard announcements this morning. I have to get busy writing blog posts for my other blog(Chroma Studios) to introduce all our studio artists. Because I've been so busy and haven't started yet, I'm going to have to group artists together instead of everyone getting their own daily post. We've hired my youngest son to help with getting all the trim painted at the studios. Thank God for summer break and bored teenagers!

This weekend, same as last, we have to travel down south to Las Cruces/El Paso. Aaron has a gig on Saturday in Las Cruces and we have one more load of stuff to clear out my dad's house. Gas prices are skyrocketing so basically the money Aaron is making on the gig will all go towards gas! Oh well, it's all about the exposure, right?

I'm working on a new series of Peace paintings, incorporating rainbows, for an upcoming show. I have a booth at the Albuquerque Pride Festival this year and wanted to do some special pieces for that in memory of my dad. The painting above is the first one, in progress. It's a 12" square oil on canvas. I plan to make prints and notecards of these images.

Surprise of the Week!

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to find that my Etsy shop was featured as shop of the week on the front page of Duke City Fix! DCF is a local news/community website here in Albuquerque, all about the Duke City (Albuquerque's nickname). The same website that had the group show this past Friday at VERB Collective. Spring Griffin is the blogger that wrote the feature, thanks Spring!!

New Grief painting.....Life Goes On......

Life Goes On

I think I may be finished with this painting now. This is the last (for now) grief painting. It's time to move on and get back to my regular paintings. I have a large one that I blogged about what seems like long, long ago. I was supposed to finish it the day my dad passed away, but it didn't happen for obvious reasons. My next goal is to finish that painting. Until then, here is a new painting, this one is 20 x 20", watermixable oils on canvas. I could probably do more, but I feel ready to move on!

Life is slowly getting back to normal. Summer is almost here. My youngest son finishes up the spring semester this week. Another trip down to Las Cruces to help my brother and his wife move into their new house! It has been HOT the last couple of days, topping 90 degrees!!! I can only imagine, it will be even hotter down south of here!

Also, coming up soon is the Grand Opening for our new studio spaces! Chroma Studios! I've started another blog just for Chroma news. I plan to interview our studio artists there as well as writing other interesting art related stories. We are having a grand opening reception/art show on the first Friday of June, June 6th 5:30-8:30 pm. If you are in the area, come down and see our great new space! We plan to have some fun summer art and music classes coming up soon as well. We will have more information about classes and upcoming shows at the opening.

Another planned event I'm excited about is our monthly Salon group. Our first topic of discussion will be "Censorship vs. Artist Responsibility". For anyone that doesn't know, a salon is a group of creative people getting together to discuss certain predetermined topics in a safe, friendly environment. We have had salons in the past, but it has been years!

Life really does go on

So, a couple of days ago I started what I think will be my last grief painting. It's called "Life Goes On" and I can't believe how easily the ideas have flowed for this one. Yesterday was my second day working on it and it also ended up being the first day that I felt almost normal again. I did think about dad a couple of times, but I didn't cry or tear up, I smiled. I will post a photo of the new painting once I finish it.

Yesterday, I went to the dedication of a public art project that my artist friend, Vashti, worked on. The project was three worm composting benches that were painted for a comminity garden. She worked with kids from a local community center and also had some high school students helping out. It was so refreshing to see the kids all happy and excited about going to see their work in the garden.

Another event that has me excited is a group art show, Porque Burque, over at VERB Collective here in Albuquerque. The opening is Friday night from 5-8:30pm. Check out the link for more info. It is a show of members of the Duke City Fix website. I have two pieces in the show and my hubby Aaron will be opening up the night with a set of his guitar music. There are also four other Chroma Studio artists participating.(Vashti Gamble, Josephine Brionez de Flores, Barak Naggan, and Terri Hansen)

I grieve

This is a great song! Thanks to Sus for reminding me of it! I first heard it on the City of Angels soundtrack, which btw, is one of my favorite movies of all time. Check out the video at the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O18A4RugiMs&eurl=http://www.last.fm/music/Peter+Gabriel/+videos/+1-O18A4RugiMs

Grief Paintings

I've finally had some time in the studio to paint my emotions and work thru some of the feelings I've had surrounding my dad's passing. Working thru my emotions and pain has been very helpful. I have finished 3 out of the 4 grief paintings that I plan to paint. I doubt these will ever be for sale, but I wanted to share them. Dealing with my dad's death has been the hardest thing I've ever gone thru. I still wake up every morning and think for a minute that it must have been a bad dream. Then I'll realize that it's very real. Tomorrow it will be one month since he left us and life is finally getting back to the regular routine. Normal is different now. I can't even remember the last time I've gone this long without talking to him on the phone or seeing him in person. Even though he lived 4 hours away from us, we almost always saw him on a monthly, if not more frequent, basis. I still miss him like crazy! There may end up being more than 4 of these, but for now, here they are;

Denial, 8 inch square oil on canvas

Pain, Sadness, Grief, 8 inch square oil on canvas

Anger, Heartache, 8 inch square oil on canvas

Contact your Congressperson!

I just received this forwarded email and wanted to get the word out to everyone I know. Below is the forwarded email and a link to the website. You can go to the website and send emails directly to your congressperson. If you are an artist, this is very important!

This is serious stuff. Congress is getting pushed by big companies to change the way the copyright laws currently work. If you have deep pockets, you'll weather the change...But if this law is passed, you will be forced to register (for a fee!) every single painting, photography, lithograph, sculpture, or pot that you make. The current copyright – you create it; therefore it's copyrighted – will no longer exist. The only way to stop this is to stand up and be counted.

How?
Today at 6 pm Eastern Time (New York time)
The Society of Illustrators
128 East 63rd StreetNew York, NY 10065

Will hold a live meeting and a WEBCAST.You don't have to leave home!
Just log on to: http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/And send this out to every artist you know!

Oh well.....Life goes on

As my dad used to say. Life is getting back to normal a little more everyday. Tonight we have an artist's meeting at the new studio. This will be my first full week back at work. We'll see if I make it thru the whole week. Last week we took off Thursday-Saturday to get the house clean and put my dad's record collection away in one of the bedrooms.

Not sure if I've written about my dad's record collection before. My dad was nuts about music. When I say nuts, I mean he had OCD. He collected records, I'm talking vinyl here, albums and 45s, starting when he was around 16. He ended up with a collection of around 40,000 records! It's difficult to picture that many records, so let me help with the visualization. His record collection takes up one FULL bedroom! That is records all around the room floor to ceiling! Now, many people have record collections, but not only did he collect them, he organized them! They are all cataloged extensively. The 45s are cataloged chronologically by the week they hit the Billboard top 100 and also by artist alphabetically. The albums are cataloged in alphabetical order by artist. He had the top 100 singles from 1943 thru the early 1990s!

Some of my best memories as a kid were the times I spent with my dad listening to music. It's no wonder I married a musician! Dad always had a record room. When I was younger it was just a closet or half a room, but as I got older, they took up more and more space. I remember weekends spent combing yard sales, Goodwill and anywhere else he could find records for a quarter or less. My brother and I would always whine because it was so boring! He always had a list in his wallet of the records he was looking for to fill out the collection. Every week when he received his newest Billboard magazine he would show me which songs had gone up the charts, which had fallen, and which were new to the charts. That was always my favorite part because he would then play any new records for me and we would talk about what we liked or didn't like. He loved to make me mix tapes of my favorites and I would play them on my cassette player over and over. If there was a record I liked, he would buy it for me and make a tape. I rarely got to keep the record myself, unless he had a double of it!

Now, all those records are in my house and I look forward to playing them soon. We still need to put up shelves so they can be accessed and set up our record player so they can be played. I know he will be there beside me, listening to music, just like the old days.