You might remember the pink Christmas tree below. The bottom shot is from this past New Year's Eve. Well, the pink tree has now gotten a second life as the Valentine Day's tree. The little pink tree is all dressed up and ready for February 14! In the background, is a painting I bought from Karen Michel several years ago. I just can't get enough of hearts and love!

The following are pages from a swatch book I made for Kelly as part of her Christmas gift. The top photo is a look at the covers of the book.

These pages are the first 2 interior pages of the book. You might remember that Kelly made me my own swatch book last year for my birthday. Well, many of the images I used for her book
were images she used for my book. I just gave the imagess a little of Roseann's 'touch'!

Kelly and I share a love for hands and hearts! I have been trying to get into the Valentine's Day mood since a couple of days after Christmas. This next Valentine's Day is a HUGE milestone.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day here in Southern California! It was 82 degrees! This is why everyone back East hates us SO much! It was great to be able to drive around town with the windows rolled down and me in shorts - hard to believe this is January and not July! Okay, back to the artwork... these 2 pages are from 1 of the journals I am currently working in, my Frida book. During my Christmas break, I was able to make art almost every day. Consequently, I finished 2 small books of collages for 2 very, very special friends. I will be posting pages from both of those "swatches" books in the next couple of weeks. But for now, I really should go to bed!

My Christmas vacation/break is winding down to today and tomorrow. Today, I spent the afternoon @ the Gene Autry Museum taking in the David Siquieros exhibit. Of the 3 Mexican muralists, Orozco, Rivera, and Siquieros, "Los Tres Grandes" (the Big Three as they are known), Siquieros is my favorite. The exhibit is terrific and it includes not only Siqueros' art, but also pieces by prominent Chicano and Mexican artists and photographers. The exhibit runs until Sunday, January 9th. For more information, go to my "Favorite Artist Sites" on my blog and clink on Gene Autry Museum.

Another great movie! Last night, we watched "Buena Vista Social Club", which was a documentary about several forgotten Cuban musicians. Shockingly, some of the artists were in their 90's when they performed these songs! This documentary was released in 2000 and was nominated for an Academy Award for "Best Documentary". Ry Cooder, who is such an amazing guitarist and was named #8 on the "100 Best Guitarists of All-Time" list by Rolling Stone Magazine, went to Cuban in the late 90's to record an album of Cuban music. The recording led to the movie being made. Many of the artists who are in the documentary had performed at one-time, at the legendary "Buena Vista Social Club". The movie is mostly in Spanish, but it doesn't matter when you see Ry Cooder (the guitarist with glasses who is dressed in black) and his son, Joachim, on the drums and congas, perform with these Cuban artists - it is amazing what they do, song-after-song. Art will always transcend any language since art has its own language.

Last post of the day - because I am an artist, of course, I must post photos of my latest artwork! I am currently working on a new journal that is my "Frida" journal. These are 2 pages from my journal.

This afternoon, since it seems everyone and their brother is in Pasadena, in particular, our neighborhood, I decided to venture out to the mall and hit a couple of stores for after-Christmas sales. I have been in love with this jacket since the fall! Every time I would go into the GAP, I was on the look-out for it. Unfortunately, the GAP I frequent didn't have it in stock and after Christmas, they sold-out of it on the website. Today, not even looking for it, I found the jacket, the only 1 in stock, @ the GAP I seem to live in. Not only was it the only 1 in the store, it was in my size, a medium, and it was on sale! Originally, the jacket was $128. Today, it was $99, but after a 40% discount, I walked out of the store with the jacket in my size, and I paid $65, including tax! Over the years, I have become very, very particular as to what I buy in terms of clothing. I love classics and am I willing to pay more money for something that will last me a lifetime.

Happy 2011 to everyone! My first posting of 2011 - we had a nice New Year's Eve last night. My sister, 1 of my brothers, and niece spent the evening with us. We had dinner, I made cranberry pies, and we drank champagne to say goodbye to the old year and ring in the new. This is a shot of me by 1 of the 2 trees I put up. This is near the pink (!) tree. I have been on vacation for the last 2 weeks and by being on break, it has given me a much needed opportunity to catch-up on my life, as well as spend more time with my family and friends. I do not believe in resolutions - for me, they are too difficult to keep. But, I am a firm believer in setting goals. My goals for this upcoming year are: 1) to work smarter, 2) breathe, 3) reflect, and 4) make more time for me. I don't want to run myself into the ground for any person or job. And of these goals are doable.