Annie Hall - part 1

My last post of the night. Kelly got the ball rolling about "Annie Hall". "Annie Hall" is one of my all-time favorite movies! Woody Allen has been my favorite director for almost my entire life. I saw "Bananas" as a kid and like much of his earliest movies, they are hilarious. My favorite scene in "Annie Hall" is the scene where Alvie goes back to his old school and gets to see a glimpse of the future and what happened to his classmates. I LOVE THIS MOVIE SO MUCH!

Carlos Santana ft. Rob Thomas - Smooth

On the subject of ELA,Carlos Santana's music epitomizes the sounds and sights of the neighborhood. Although this video looks like it takes place in New York, it could very easily be any neighborhood in East Los Angeles or Boyle Heights. Santana and Rob Thomas sizzle!

These are 2 of my favorite works. On the top right corner of the 1st piece, is a glimpse of my favorite mural. This mural is located in Estrada Courts, a housing project, in Boyle Heights. Although I didn't grow up in East Los Angeles or Boyle Heights, I feel that after almost 30 years of working in both neighborhoods, I have "lived" here longer than any other place in my life. East Los is part of my being and blood. Boyle Heights is where my father and husband were raised. My favorite part of the mural are the words, "We are Not A minority"! The words seem to be coming out of Che's hand! The mural was painted in the early 70's and 35 years later, it is still controversial. The reality of this piece: the minority has become the new majority, especially in the state of California.

My 2nd piece started out with a Cuban stamp that commemorated Che Guevara. I have no idea where I got this, but it was in a stash of cancelled Cuban stamps. Because the stamp was already a strong visual, I felt that just adding color and some lettering might be all this piece would need. I have a friend and fellow English colleague, Mike Sarabia, who is putting together a book of poetry, short stories, dialogues, etc., with a talented group of Chicano writers, including one of my favorite writers, Luis Rodriguez, of "Always Running" fame. Last summer, Mike asked me to submit some of my artwork for this project. I don't know which one of my pieces will be the cover, but I was told that all the work I submitted, is going into the book! Also, last week, my dear friend, Carol, asked me to sign a release so that my work can be published in her upcoming book! Am I excited?! Hell yes!

Here is some of my work from Lynne Perrella's workshop over the weekend: I completed 4 pages in my journal and I created a large collage piece that I turned into a book.

Speaking of the "book" I made, I spent a couple of hours drawing, painting, and adding the details to the eggs I sprinkled throughout the collage. I put a lot of details into those eggs - so much so, they almost look real.

I spent the weekend by taking Lynne Perrella's "Nesting Instinct" workshop @ my dear friend, Carol's wonderful home/studio. The class was very inspirational. Lynne is 1 of my favorite artists. In fact, I discovered Lynne's artwork about 10 years ago - when I got interested in rubber-stamping and collage. I have about 2 dozen of Lynne's stamps in my collection. They are by far, my favorite images. Since this class' theme was nesting, I started off by taking a shot of a bowl of birds' eggs that I asked someone to hold for me. Look @ those beautiful, muted colors and spots on the eggs. Next, well, I started to think about what does my 'nest' consist of . Early into the workshop, Lynne asked each of us that very question. For me, the answer is simple: it begins with my husband. I told the group of artists that we have moved over a dozen times since we got married. Our current place is for sale, so that means we will be moving again as soon as it sells. But going back to my 'nest'; my 'nest' is anywhere my husband is. He is 'home'. Anyway, the shot of us was taken about a month ago. My husband used his computer to shoot this picture of us. We took the picture about 5 minutes before I walked out the door and headed to work. The 3rd picture is a tease - it is part of what I created in Lynne's class. This is a piece of a large collage. I turned the collage into a book. I am going to use the book to journal in - these are a couple of pages from the book. I made the eggs by making an egg-shaped stencil, then sponging paint into the stencil, and lastly, adding the details such as the spots, with a very thin brush. I spent a lot of time creating these eggs! The last photo is a grouping of tags all the artists made. 1 of the women, Jill, got sick last night. She got food poisoning and couldn't finish the class today. She got so sick, that her husband had to pick up her stuff this morning. So, we each created a tag for Jill to make her feel like she was with us, even if it was in spirit only! But Jill made out - these are terrific! My tag is the 1 in the middle, with the blue ribbon. Tomorrow, I will post more of my work from Lynne's class.

Desert Rose - Sting

I really love this song! It feels like the desert is coming to life in this song.

The cover of "Mexican Pulp Art". The bottom image is my favorite in the book, Medusa! Love her red lipstick and heavy eye-liner!

I am still nursing my back from the fall I took last week. I am hoping to get started soon on some new artwork that will include a series of self-portraits. Last night, I went to Barnes and Noble and bought a really cool book titled, "Mexican Pulp Art". It is pulp art from the 60's and 70's. I scanned a few pages from this book. The book is somewhat campy, but the drawings are rich in color and the artwork is fun to look at. I am planning to take the book apart and use some of the drawings in my artwork. At $16.00, the book is a cheap guilty pleasure.