Art saves lives- not only that of the artist themselves but on occasion those who benefit from the sale of the art. In this case the beautiful- inside & out!, Rebecca Brooks (click here to see photos of some of the shrines) asked a group of artists to make shrines that will be auctioned off to benefit the street children of Oaxaca, Mexico. Education is not free in Mexico as it is in the United States, so the poorest must choose between eating or getting an education. Did any of you see the movie “Slumdog Millionaire”? well, this is a chance to help children like that in Oaxaca and receive a beautiful art piece. Please check out the auction!! There is more information about my shrine & Oaxaca below.Auction starts March 1st.

I got together with a group of artist friends, hosted by the talented Ms. Jill Berry at her studio to make a Day of the Dead Shrine from a cigar box, using found objects, beautiful hand made papers, paint, and glitter- of course. The boxes will be auctioned off by Rebecca Brooks (see the invitation at the bottom of her blog) to benefit the street kids of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Last year during the Day of the Dead, I was lucky enough to be in Oaxaca, Mexico for that magical experience. After dinner one night Joe & I happened upon a reenactment of people dressed up in costumes from all walks of life (a priest, a prostitute, a ballerina, a doctor, a drunk etc.) They rose up out of their graves on the lawn of the Santo Domingo Church with their huge & spooky shadows cast on the old stone walls. It finished- as we all will- with a visit by the grim reaper- all set to classical music with beautiful dancing and crazy fireworks. The Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and relatives who have died. The celebration occurs on the 1st and 2nd of November, in connection with the Catholic holy days of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day which take place on those days. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.

My Cigar Box shrine says: “In order to have a good death, you must exercise every day.”

Remember when I bought the “Lucky Lottery” candle in Madrid, New Mexico? (see my blog of 11-25-2008) I finished the assemblage that I used it in. “Please God Make Me the Winner!” is influenced by Mexican ex-voto paintings and shrines.(notice the painting on black velvet on the bottom of the shrine of the Virgen de Guadalupe) The ironic thing is that I left the “Jackpot” scratch card unscratched and on the glass of the “lucky lottery” candle it says the winning numbers are buried in the wax- so who knows?…maybe this is a million plus dollar shrine! I plan to post my assemblage’s on my website in the very near future- but here are some photos of this one:

I just got back from a quick zip down to Arroyo Seco- a small New Mexican village located right below Taos mountain and 7 miles from the town of Taos, New Mexico. It is located just north of Taos- you take scenic Highway 150- which meanders through beautiful open sage and past cottonwoods toward the mountains, rounding a corner the village- filled with old adobe art galleries, unique shops and cozy restaurants- pops into view. I really do think it is one of the most charming art towns I have EVER seen- small, historical with really cool shops!!! The Taos Ski Area is just up the road.

I went there because 2 friends of mine, Jill & Tom Shank, just bought the old Fidgets Gallery and are turning it into their gallery called Firenza after the beautiful glass beads that Jill makes. They invited me to hang some of my paintings there & a couple assemblages. What a beautiful, colorful gallery and I am honored to be in there!! Their website is not up and running yet but I will let you know when that happens. I had a lot of fun hanging my work with the help of Terri. If you are ever in the area check it out!

It’s a beautiful drive down from Denver- I cut over at Walsenburg after stopping for a meal at Corinna’s Mexican food restaurant and then head south at Fort Garland- the scenery cannot be beat and though I may be letting the cat out of the bag, there’s a lot of good junk yards and antique stops along the way for you found object artists.

Hi I just finished my “Proverb Painting” called “Water Under the Bridge”. I interpret that saying to mean it is all in the past and I have let go of the angst caused by the situation in both my heart and my head.As usual when I work on a painting I am working through an experience in my life- remember “She Made Her Bed, Now She is Lying On it”? Well…this is the final processing of the situation that inspired that proverb painting.

When I was painting the snake I felt it needed a little more”punch” so I decided to add texture- there are always those “do or die ” moments while creating- if I hated the texture there was a good chance that I would just throw the painting out. (it’s true- not all of my art work makes it to the website or blog)- a loss of time, effort & $- but I feel that in the act of creation I want to grow, take chances and try new things- so, I got out the stencil paste & slathered it on- I created the snake skin texture with a compartmentalized piece of plastic I had laying around for my assemblages. I love it!! I think it makes the painting more interesting.

By the way, do you have any favorite proverb sayings that you use?

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the High Museum of Art in Atlanta Georgia with my good friends Moira and Ronan. It had several wonderful visiting shows- paintings & drawings on loan from the Louvre, some terracotta soldiers from China and a nice Folk Art/Outsider Art show. We ate lunch in the restaurant there where I had an outstanding creamy, rich pistachio creme brulee with a perfect crispy crunchy caramelized sugar crust!

We also caught a show put on by the Savannah College of Art & Design which Ronan was considering attending. I have included some of the synopsis of the show here because I question the relationship of language to art in terms of defining concepts of an art experience. Do words restrict, expand or influence the art viewer’s experience? ( I guess once again it boils down to meaning shapes seeing! but it depends upon who it is that is seeing and their choice of words to create meaning ) The synopsis says:”…the nine-part “Untitled” reveals his (Antonakos) interest in the activation of space, expressed here through multicolored hatchings of pencil on vellum….Each neon is a discrete work that functions within a matrix of interrelationships…These works become part of the viewer’s larger, experiential interaction which is not only visual but also physical, intellectual, emotional, temporal and even transformative…” These thoughts then lead to Conceptual Art and the use of language as part of the art- but that’s a whole other “can of worms!”

By the way…I loved the red neon piece- I did feel like I could step into it and be transported to a different dimension -and the unplanned empty chairs in the room and with their backs to the piece did lend a certain quality of isolation and sense of intrigue to the piece. Transformative?, Your thoughts?