New Painting: If I Find My Way, How Much Will I Find?

New Painting

If I Find My Way, How Much Will I Find?

24" x 28"

Oil and Mixed Media on Canvas

Available

This painting will hang in the Dallas Public Library System's "It's All Just a Story" art exhibition this month, a group show where participating artists interpret a selected childhood story. This painting was inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden.

Detail

“One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever and ever. One knows it sometimes when one gets up at the tender solemn dawn-time and goes out and stands out and throws one's head far back and looks up and up and watches the pale sky slowly changing and flushing and marvelous unknown things happening until the East almost makes one cry out and one's heart stands still at the strange unchanging majesty of the rising of the sun--which has been happening every morning for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. One knows it then for a moment or so. And one knows it sometimes when one stands by oneself in a wood at sunset and the mysterious deep gold stillness slanting through and under the branches seems to be saying slowly again and again something one cannot quite hear, however much one tries. Then sometimes the immense quiet of the dark blue at night with the millions of stars waiting and watching makes one sure; and sometimes a sound of far-off music makes it true; and sometimes a look in someone's eyes.” 
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

Light up the Whole Sky

Beneath an Orange Sky
30" x 40", Oil and Mixed Media on Canvas
Available

The sun never says to the earth,
‘You owe me.’
Look what happens with
a love like that.
It lights up the whole sky.
Hafiz

This painting was inspired by one of my favorite quotes. When we allow our hearts to shine with love is when we are fully alive. I hope on today, of all days, you can enjoy love in all of its forms. Wishing you a beautiful Valentine's Day that lights up the whole sky.

The paint is literally still drying on this one, but it will be on display at my show at Uptown's Dear Clark that opens this Thursday. Hope my Dallas friends can make it out.

Yoga Revelation

Connected and Detached
30" x 48"
Private Collection of the Artist
Fine Art Giclee Prints available here

Revelation: If you love yourself, practice yoga. If you don't, practice yoga so you can discover the love. If you love another person, practice yoga...you will have more to share with those you love. If you seek purpose or meaning in life, practice yoga. Practice will give insight to what you don't realize you truly seek. Yoga unites all aspects of Self so that you can emerge a powerful force to help others while here. Practice will integrate itself into every atom of your cellular being...the Light will become more visible when you least expect it.

New Painting, "Searching for Somebody I Used to Know"

20" x 24"
Oil and Mixed Media
Available

This is a new piece created as I struggle to come to terms with mental illness that has taken over a loved one.

Life throws you curve balls. I am suddenly searching for the ghost of the girl I knew. The layers in this painting represent the layers of "life" that pile on that have an impact for the better or worse - the dark colors - the darkness...I could go on.
My art is a mirror, reflecting who I am.  

                        I'm grateful to have this channel of creativity and expression 

through the both happiness and the suffering. 

This piece will be on display at Dear Clark Salon in Uptown Dallas. Show opens this Thursday. Hope my Dallas friends can make it out. 

Left Brain/Right Brain...Which One Are You?

“I am the left brain. I am a scientist. A mathematician. I love the familiar. I categorize. I am accurate. Linear. Analytical. Strategic. I am practical. Always in control. A master of words and language. Realistic. I calculate equations and play with numbers. I am order. I am logic. I know exactly who I am.”

“I am the right brain. I am creativity. A free spirit. I am passion. Yearning. Sensuality. I am the sound of roaring laughter. I am taste. The feeling of sand beneath bare feat. I am movement. Vivid colors. I am the urge to paint on an empty canvas. I am boundless imagination. Art. Poetry. I sense. I feel. I am 
everything I wanted to be.”


Came across this image today via ArtHash on FB, and was captivated by its beauty. And of the damn good advertising team that Merecedes Benz has working for them.


Which one are you?

Bartering Artists: Dallas/Fort Worth Artists Use Creativity as Cash

In a tough economy, money may be short, but talent and skills are not. The DFW Arts Community has tapped into an age-old method to legally obtain what you need, want, or never knew you had to have, without having to pay: barter.

Bartering Artists is a group allowing local artists to make exchanges with service providers in a friendly environment. Services range from chiropractic care, salon services, marketing assistance, and legal advice, to name a few. Created just five months ago using Facebook as its main platform, the group has over 725 members, with successful barters occuring daily.

photographer Sam Bortnick (photo from left to right: Ashley Jones, Patricia Rodriguez, Cori Berg)

As an artist with no car, who gets around by bicycle, Bartering Artist Founder, Patricia Rodriguez, often asked friends for rides in exchange for art. She started the group because she saw a real need for creating a supportive network of people who wanted to barter their time and skills.

“The basic idea is to provide a platform where bartering is acceptable and the value is placed on people as resources and not cash. Add into the mix that Artists found the group and the opportunities to be creative seem endless. We are here to help people network,” says Rodriguez.

The first “Meet and Greet”, one of several planned live bartering events, was held on Sept 4^th, at Exposition Park’s Fallout Lounge. The venue quickly filled with artists, photographers, hair stylists, masseuses, yogis, DJs, cake makers and jacks-of-all-trades who came ready to mingle with barters in hand. The art up for exchange was as diverse as the people and over 100 exchanges were made that evening alone.

Rodriguez is excited for what the future holds.

photographer Deborah Frances (photo of artist Christian Millet)

“People are collecting art and supporting each other’s businesses. Galleries are offering their spaces to show our art.  There’s a real, palpable sense of community. I hope to eventually get much needed health and dental services integrated into the group. There is so much that is needed that people go without because they can't afford it.”

Follow Bartering Artists on Facebook.

My article , above, appeared in the Jan/Feb issue of Origin Magazine. I am thrilled to be a part of the Origin Magazine family as their Texas Art Director. Origin Magazine is a national arts + culture publication with an emphasis on conscious living.

30 Ways to Boost Creativity

Came across this image on Pinterest, and I  just love it.

Although intended for photographers, I drew so much from this, and I think we all can. Everyone can benefit from a little added creativty. Don't be afraid to think differently or in new ways. Let go of old habits and invite something new into your life!

The Transformative Space of Yoga Teacher Training

Transformation
Fine Art giclee Prints available here

"Do you really want to be a yoga teacher?" 

"When are you going to find the time to teach yoga...aren't you busy enough already?" 

"Why did you sign up for this teacher training?"

Just a few of the questions that have been asked by others and by myself as I complete my first month of Authentic Yoga Teacher Training at Exhale with Julie Boyd and Cheryl Oliver. All have been heavily considered.


I am really enjoying the book, Yoga and the Quest for the New Self, by Stephen Cope, and wanted to share a passage that resonated with me and reminds me of my Yoga Teacher Training.  It is not about the outcome of this journey that drew me to it...it is the process. A process in which I have wholeheartedly immersed myself, willing to let go of expectations and open to receive. 

"When any of us gets ready to "hatch out"into the next developmental expression of self, we begin looking for cocoons that will help us through the rebirth process. I like to call these cocoons transformational spaces--environments made up of webs of special kinds of relationships, safety, freedom and challenge. We intuitively search for these spaces at those times in life when we're attempting to align with an internal developments thrust. At these times of growth we seek out "training environments"--schools, college, the army, a mentor, a spiritual community.The transformational spaces we choose have certain qualities that are essential to the work of development. Without them, we cannot truly find ourselves.

Effective transformational spaces create the conditions for our growth and make our growth all but inevitable. Once we find them and commit to them, transformations pretty much a 'done deal' ."

I realized that I have chosen, in yoga and in my teacher training, a tradition that had in abundance of the qualities of a mature transformative space: powerful teachers and mentors, the constancy of thousands of years of teachings, effective practices and techniques, inspirational scriptures and texts, and the comfort and companionship of a community of practitioners. Powerful stuff.

Rhythm of Love

Rhythm of Love

11" x 14"

Fine Art Canvas Giclee Prints of various sizes are available here.

‎"Rhythm of Love" will be going to a client in Australia this week, my second piece to go to the Land Down Under. 


Many thanks to The Art Menu for facilitating this sale!

The Art Menu is a Dallas-based company who handles the sale of canvas giclee prints from my original paintings.  They represent an elite group of roughly 20 Dallas-area Artists, and I am grateful to be one of them.  

 It's not an everyday occurrence when someone can purchase a giclee and actually say they got to know the Artist behind it. This company recognizes local talent and takes time to share the Artists' visions and the unique stories behind each piece with their audience. And isn't that why everyone buys art...to connect with something meaningful? To be a part of a story, share an experience and create a memory?  Kudos to these guys for making this privilege more accessible to people who may not be in the market to purchase original artwork, but still want to own a meaningful piece.

To top it off, they are some genuinely nice guys and I really enjoy working with them!  

Check out my artwork page with them here. We will be adding some new images this month, so stay tuned!

Also, here's a peek at a few listed as giclee prints:

The City of Blinding Lights

Our True Nature

And You Will Rise Up Like the Sea

The company launched just this year and I have been with them since the beginning.  As a working Artist, it's wonderful to have the hassle of producing my own giclées out of my hands, and put the paint brush back where it belongs so to speak.  Their giclee prints are produced in Dallas' Design District in a meticulous process that ensures the utmost qulaity. I have seen several of them in person and it is really quite difficult to tell if they are prints or originals.


Check them out on Facebook here to stay on top of news and upcoming shows. The Art Menu is planning several launch events in 2012 that are not to be missed!