The Solstice...

We went with our African drums in hand to celebrate the Winter Solstice in Pescadero at the beach. It was an amazing full moon, a wonderful group of people, energy vibrating around the circle and the roaring fire. A little bit before midnight (our local time) the eclipse began, slowly covering the moon with an orange globe. AMAZING!

Bright lights... small town...

Having a bunch of discarded material sometimes becomes handy, like the other night when we realized that we did not have enough light above our table to see what we were eating. So I found a piece of re-bar from my studio, and wrapped around bubble lights added a cord, wire a few screws and voila... we have a little more light were we need it.

Diciembre en México...

Las pastorelas son unas de las costumbres mas hermosas de mi país. En Diciembre los niños de ls escuelas en nuestro pueblito Todos Santos los ninõs se visten representando a la Vírgen María y a San José y a muchos peregrinos que los acompañan. Paran y cantan "Pidiendo Posada" en muchos de los establecimientos en el pueblo.

Roses of the Desert Series...

In this series I used photography as the primary medium combined with found objects, and encaustic. The encaustic wax medium allows me to work in layers encasing fragments of memory as a means of stopping images and words in time. Of great importance to me is the “female” and discovering the similar dualities found in the female entity and in the desert planes.

To see the full exhibition please copy and paste this link on your browser window:

http://glorita.smugmug.com/Art/Roses-of-The-Desert/15020156_S8Yhg#1121802414_vztGg

The show has opened!

The exhibition Roses of the Desert opened on December 12th at Galeria de Todos Santos with a great reception. It is a climatic event, after months of development and creation of the pieces. It was very meaningful to celebrate with a wall to wall gallery full of people. To see the full exhibition please copy and paste these links on your browser window.

Roses of the Desert Series
http://glorita.smugmug.com/Art/Roses-of-The-Desert/15020156_S8Yhg#1121802414_vztGg

Art Reception
http://glorita.smugmug.com/Art/Roses-of-the-Desert-Reception/15075260_CffhH#1126512500_m7W2K

One Day before the show...

Michael Cope, owner of the Galería de Todos Santos came to review the work yesterday and now the 24 pieces have been delivered to the gallery. The studio is empty. As I walked around it for the last time before I took the work I came to realize how intimately I had lived with those pieces of art. The women represented in these series, their eyes and their souls accompanied me for many days as a communal circle.

7 days before the show...

Promotion, promotion, promotion... today was the day to go into town and deliver the invites for the opening reception and send zillions of e-mails containing the invite as well. Roses of the Desert at the Galería de Todos Santos. Opening Reception on Sunday December 12th from 1-4PM. Todos Santos, BCS. Mexico. 6121450500.

11 days before the show...

Even though the series I have been working on, "Roses of the Desert" has taken the better part of a year, 11 days before the show there are thousands of things to be done, and great new ideas that I am trying hard to cram in as well.

Gracias a la Vida...

Hoy Día de Gracias escucho la canción de Mercedes Sosa llamada "Gracias a la Vida". Las palabras en gran melodía me arrullan, "Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto, me dió dos luceros que cuando los abro, muy claro distingo lo negro del blanco y del alto cielo su fondo estrellado y en las multitudes el hombre, la madre, la hija, la amiga y la hermana que yo amo...

A gift...

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, and today I received a gift to be thankful for.
Saw my first whales of the season, 9 of them.
Priceless...

Young Artists...

Tomorrow Thursday November 11th, 2010, 27 young artists from Todos Santos (ages 6-12) will be exhibiting 100 portraits that they created of their favorite heroes celebrating the Mexican Independence's Bi-Centennial and Revolution's Centennial Anniversaries.. Cafelix/Visions will be the gallery showing the work downtown Todos Santos. ARTS (Artistas de Todos Santos) organized this community event in support of the local visual arts.www.artistsoftodossantos.com
Photo was provided by Juan Hernández.

De regreso....

De regreso de la caminata de ésta mañana paramos en un pequeño altar dedicado a una mujer que aparentemente termino su vida junto a un árbol de torote. Los locales le llaman a esta área sagrada "La Ahorcadita". El área está llena de flores, rosarios y velas como muestra respetuosa a la difunta. Definitivamente se percibia cierta energía dolorosa...

Buenos Días Todos Santos...

Eran las 4:30am cuando me desperté ésta mañana. El cielo estaba obscuro y lleno de estrellas brillantes. No logré re-tomar el sueño nuevamente así que decidí levantarme por ahí de las 5am. Me vestí y salí en el carro acompañada de Rey y Bambina (mis cachorros). Nos encaminamos hacia el desierto a una zona alta de donde se pueden ver más las montañas. Ahí caminamos silentemente por unos minutos y esperamos a que la luz del sol se asomara por la cima de los montes. Fué un buen comienzo de día.

Full bloom...

the San Miguel vine is in full bloom all around us. Particularly close to the dunes where it grows totally wild. It's color pink is so vibrant and lush...

La vie en rose...

Roses are a particular flower, with which I have had a love/hate relationship all my life. There were many “rosales” in our home’s garden while growing up. I used to pick all their spines, encase them in each other and make necklaces out of them. In the process I always ended with bloody fingers. My favorites are of course, deep red. However in the Baja desert we have our own rose, and this one does not have any spines. it has a smooth and succulent trunk giving way to deep green lush leaves with pink, red or white flowers.

Celebración de la Vírgen del Pilar en Todos Santos...

A ls 5am se reunió una gran comunidad de uns 300 personas en la playa de Punta Lobos para rendir homenaje a la Vírgen del Pilar (nuestra Patrona en Todos Santos). Se rezó el rosario y el Padre Sergio dió Misa al amanecer. Los mariachis acompañaron canciones y fué una de las más bellas mañanas que he vivido. La ceremonia hace honor a la Vírgen y le encomienda que bendiga a nuestros pescadores, los cuales salen diariamente a pezcar aquí en el Océano Pacífico. Al terminar la Misa fuimos todos invitados a abordar las pangas de los pescadores para acompañar a la Vírgen en una pequeña travesia hacia Puerto Nuevo.

Fresh Laundry...

Can’t help but think of the wonderful restaurant with this name in Napa Valley.

How do we keep growing and learning...

In my art I love working in a series because it allows me the possibility to explore a theme in depth, to expand into all kinds of options, and allow myself the act of repetition with slight differences. Hoping… that by the end I am ready to move into something new.

Recently I found something that Matisse wrote in 1916 “When you have achieved what you want in a certain area, when you have exploited the possibilities that lie in one direction, you must, when the time comes change course, search for something new.”

Sometimes it is hard to change direction, because we are within our comfort zone or because there are some questions which take a long time to answer.

A good morning in the studio...

Listening to Leonard Cohen… From bitter searching of the heart quickened with passion and with pain we rise to play a greater part. This is the faith from which we start men shall know comonwealth again from bitter searching of the heart.

Mothering...

It is amazing to observe a beautiful finch work so hard to build a nest, carrying feathers, branches and twigs and padding it down with her chest. Of course that is only the beginning of the job. Followed by keeping the little eggs warm and protected from the wind, then feeding the baby birds to make them healthy and strong. And eventually the final the day comes when it’s time to teach them how to fly and let them go. I thought about that on October 4th.

The desert is green...

It took only two days of rain out of 365 to turn our desert into a green lush and lovely site.

Are we in love?

Sometimes I ponder upon questions like…
“Is it that we are in love, or that we are enamored with the concept of being in love?”

El Bicenenario...

The plaza in Todos Santos was full of people celebrating the 200th time of El Grito de la Independencia.

Viva México!!!

Padre Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla on the night of September 15th declared war against the government in what was known as the Grito de Dolores. Mexico celebrates the Bicentennial since the declaration of Independence in 1810. Tonight in our little town there will be a celebration of "El Grito" in the town's plaza. Viva México!

The sky is the limit...

This morning the sky seems to have an army of tiny clouds all lined up ready to move in some direction. Where will they go...

Respect and Trust...

A good friend took me horseback riding this morning. For me a total "horse rookie" there was a real lesson on respect and trust to be learned. "Galleta (Cookie)" was my assigned horse, and after grooming and saddling her we took off for a ride on the beach. At the very beginning she tested me and nearly walked me into a small shack full of hay. But after some correction remarks from my teacher friend I started to gain control. There is a need to establish respect for such a sizeable animal and a need for trust. One for the rider who must establish the lead and needs to trust him/herself in this position. And for both, the animal and the rider to start forming an intuitive bond of trust in each other. It was a wonderful learning experience.

El Torote...

Scientific Name: Bursera microphylla
English Name: elephant tree
Spanish Name: torote blanco, copal, palo colorado, torote rojo, torote colorado, cuajiote blanco, torote

A few weeks ago clearing out an area of brush around our house we came upon a small "Torote tree", I couldn't believe it. I always loved them, but they are an endangered species and should not be pulled out of their desert home, in other words it's not something you find at the local nursery. They are a classic desert tree with a flaking bark and open arms full of green leaves when they bloom. But because of the lack of water they remain dormant, grey but sturdy. I was so delighted to find it, we cleared around it and started to give it water. Fifteen days later it surprised me with a tiny leaf out of each of it's tiny branches. It is in full bloom today. Once again nature is king.

9.11.2010...

As Leonard Cohen sings in one of his songs "...since the day someone hurt New York", 9.11.2001 was a day that changed many people's lives. It was a very painful day. Today has been an out of sorts day waiting several hours for a caterpillar to help us move some very big rocks. Can't help but think the many pieces of concrete that had to be moved in the World Trade Center nine years ago.

Roots...

We stand strong over the earth and try to feel rooted. And although our roots are real they are invisible to our eye, not like the ones of this beautiful fig tree. They visibly run deep into the ground and up above. They even grew over a rock. The tree extends itself many feet up above us and it is starting to bear fruit this time of the year. Small green figs are attached to its hundreds of branches.

Object of beauty...

Right at the base of part of the Sierra de la Laguna mountain range lies a small house with an outstanding potter named "Marcos". He and his sister Margarita collect red clay dirt from the base of the mountain, they work it, clean it, run it through a sieve to get the stones out, and add water to make it into the perfect consistency of clay. Then he hand builds all his functional pieces with extreme proficiency and love. The forms are rounded, minimal and clean. Simple and elegant. His pieces have integrity and purity. Less is more. Each piece is an object of beauty.

The Art of Racing in the Rain...

This is a novel written by Garth Stein. I read it in one day. It filled my heart with joy, my eyes with tears, and my heart with compassion. It is a beautiful book for us all, not just dog lovers, not just "gear heads", it is about life and death. Good read.
Thanks Doug. (this photograph was taken by Dennis Bradbury, a good friend, a professional photographer and the owner of the 22 Haviland Street Gallery in Norwalk, CT).

Que onda buey?

Que onda buey? is a very common phrase used by the young people in Mexico. It basically means "What's up, dude?" but the direct translation really means "What's up bull?". However it has become a colloquialism used everywhere. Today as I drove into town and encountered a herd of bulls in the huerta, I had an opportunity to use this colloquialism directly with the source. Still waiting for an answer, however...

The core...

Often in yoga we concentrate on our core strength, and the feeling of being centered. There are also so many things that are built around a center point. From the laws of rotation of the Earth around its axis to the simple core of an apple, or the center point of our belly button. But amongst one of the most interesting architectures is that of a sunflower. Have you ever studied the beautiful organization of each seed pod in its center. The way they fit into each other, the pattern they form and the strength they bring to the soft yellow petals that hang from its edge.

Rain in the desert...

We woke up to a lovely soft rain at 5am this morning... I find it fascinating to live in the desert and realize how nature adjusts to it's lack of water. It's all about conservation. The cardones, choyas, torotes and all the other native plants turn brown, almost lifeless. However in the summer, when we get our few days of rain everything changes, the desert turns green, beautifully green. Each of those plants then, holds it water for many months in order to survive. There is no waste.

The air is thick...

You wake up in the morning, you open the door and go outside. The air is thick, so thick that you feel a certain shortness of breath. Nothing moves, there is no breeze, everything is still. It almost feels like there is a layer between you and the rest of the world. You try to focus but it is like looking through a foggy lens.

Sometimes we walk together and sometimes we walk apart...

August came and went, and somehow I was unable to get too close to the computer. This month brought forth a wedding anniversary of 37 years. I was thinking how many trails, paths and highways we have driven, how many creeks, lakes and oceans we have paddled and how many walks we have taken together. Como dice Simone de Beauvoir en su libro "La Mujer Rota", solíamos mirar lejos y actuar sobre lo mirado. Hoy vivímos al día, y muchas veces caminamos solos, o a diferente paso. It's Ok to walk together and sometimes to walk apart.

My studio gets a roof....

After three years of working au plain air I decided to go indoors. Although it brought a certain amount of excitement to my work sessions there were other conditions that far outweighed the pros. The constant wind, while trying to position thin japanese or handmade papers was to say the least challenging. The constant bug patrol buzzing around my head and my wax container distracting, and having to set up every morning and put everything away at nights exhausting. So I am thankfully delighted and very excited to think I will soon be having an enclosed beautiful space to work in, and still have plenty of light and the ocean in my viewfinder.

I have been pondering on one of Virginia Woolf's lines "You cannot find peace by avoiding life".

Plenitud y Armonía...

Acabo de leer otro libro de Sandor Marai, este llamado La Amante de Bolzano. Y ésta frase me ha hecho pensar... "la vida es cuando un hombre y una mujer están hechos el uno para el otro, porque tienen que ver el uno con el otro, como la lluvia que cae sobre el mar y vuelve a renacer con el, creándose y recreándose mutuamente y siendo el uno condición del otro.. y esa plenitud crea algo, crea la armonía y esa armonía es la vida.

Que pasa cuando el espíritu se pierde...

Durante nuestra visita a Cuba, pasaron muchas cosas por mi mente y por mi corazón. Primeramente ví en la Habana, una ciudad bella sin reparo. Sin embargo habitada por un pueblo caribeño que se distinguió siempre por su gran espíritu libre, su alegría, su amor a la música y a la vida. Más ahora me queda claro que la historia a llevado su cause y ha robado el espîritu libre de su pueblo. La estructura está ahí, la gente está ahí, así como sus edificios aunque faltos de un poco de pintura, pero ahí están todavía siendo testigos a los estragos del tiempo. Todo esto me produjo un extraño vacío.