Life With my Backyard Chickens

As you raise sassy organic-fed humane backyard chickens, you start to gain an appreciation for the cackling of a murder of crows, delightful cookbooks, the ultimate chicken dessert (scratch), the wing span of a hawk, moss terrariums, the color turquoise on a new earthy skirt and beautiful baskets to collect eggs in made by a friend. Enjoy these snapshots of my Saturday.

A Moss Terrarium by my Rena from the White Weathered Barn My Moss terrarium reaching up as it grows... my sweet stash as I sit watching my ladies, with a dark chocolate peanut butter cup and a mug of Chai tea Isis and the other girls during a photo-op a new SECOND-HAND skirt with turquoise stones My Easter-Eggers

Just Keep Going... a You Tube inspiration from my native NYC

Bliss Women's Co-op Grand Opening Celebration today from 5-7pm

Due to the inclement weather and new reports of impending rain and scary 10inch snow storms the Bliss Women's Co-op was forced to postpone the cocktail hour GRAND OPENING celebration from yesterday FRIDAY to today SATURDAY so lucky for you if you were hoping to go and couldn't- MAYBE now you still can?!

There will be artisan pieces on showcase from a great many talented women and some are Etsy sellers too!

detail of the completed Mi Tigre painting available for view and purchase now at Bliss Women's Co-op in Sugar Loaf New York

Come to Bliss! This Friday!

So I have had to say farewell for now to my beloved Puerto Rico and I am back on home turf getting ready to participate in the new Womens Co-op venue in Sugar Loaf New York BLISS! Regardless of coming home with a wicked flu, I'll have some new pieces in the Bliss shop along with some other phenomenal women artisans. SO COME ON OVER to Sugar Loaf New York the cutest of all arts & crafts communities on FRIDAY from 5-7pm to celebrate the GRAND OPENING of BLISS!

1371 Kings Highway Romers Alley #4b Sugar Loaf, NY 10981

So here is another sneak peek of a new piece in process for the Bliss gallery/boutique that I was working on in PUERTO RICO!

Mi Tigre in process- Ink on distressed paper - by marisol diaz

Vignettes of Puerto Rico

Once again I'm in half of my home -soul and wanting to share all the beauty of my town Jaguas, Puerto Rico with you. So I hope you enjoy- my island dreams!

New Venue & New Ink Illustrations 2

I'm excited to report that I have joined a new venue, Bliss Co-op in Sugar Loaf, New York.

About Bliss Co-op:

Bliss Co-op is a little boutique in Sugar Loaf NY that features the creative works of local & regional women artisans. It gives an opportunity for those artists who need a little exposure in an artisan village without the risk of opening their own shop. More importantly, the co-op is a network of supportive women with varying talents & business acumen to help each member flourish both as an artist & as an individual.

My work along with that of some extraordinary women/crafters/artisans/makers/designers will be featured in this alternative boutique/gallery starting April 1st AND You're Invited!

GRAND OPENING!!!! APRIL 1st
WHOOO HOOO!!!
Come visit one of the best things happening in Sugar Loaf NY this year, if you don’t mind me saying. Celebrate the women who are living their dream, fulfilling their passion & following their bliss.
Bring your friends & family..heck, grab a stranger. Get in on the excitement.
Open for business 12:00pm -5:00pm Followed by a cocktail party from 5:00pm – 7:00pm

Here is a sneak peek of another one of the new illustrations that I have been working on the Bliss space and the stages of its development.

My Consumption 2 start up PROCESS by m.diaz My Consumption 2 PROCESS2 by m.diaz My Consumption2 Final Draft2 by m. diaz My Consumption 2 detail by m.diaz

New Ink Illustrations

I have a new space I'll be putting some work up in Sugar Loaf, New York soon - I'll be writing all about it here and letting you know the wheres and whens, but for now I thought I'd share the results of some new illustrations with you. Stay tuned since there are more this pieces Ill be posting this week..hope you like them...

new work in progress by m.diaz My Consumtion 2 kremer ink illustration WORK IN PROGRESS by m.diaz fox detail by m.diaz fox girl 2 detail by m.diaz

The Importance of Castles in The Air

Apparently there is an idiom for daydreaming awake of what our heart envisions with disregard for our minds...for having unrealistic desires, or plans that appear so impractical that they will never work, illusory, or a futile flight of fancy, it is what we tend to call Castles in the Air/ Sky. And often it comes to us prefixed with, 'DO NOT...build castles in the air...' but can you imagine what the world would be if anyone had ever refrained from the impossible dream?

So today as a necessary component to being 'a creative' (self-defined noun) I post about the dreaming: big and small of mine...the thinking with my heart and not my head:

sandblasted glass block- Think With Your Head NOT Your Heart Fool..by m.diaz photo by VINCENT THFOIN Branching out: A spiral staircase leads to a tree house in Rambouillet Forest, France Etsy Seller Book of Art Our Secret Harbor Digital Art by Aimee Stewart featured in this months Somerset Digital Art Burning Man Festival SculptureBurning Man Festival Sculpture

Desert festival: For one week out of the year a portion of the desert is transformed into a thriving diverse city known as Black Rock City for the spectacular Burning Man festival in northern Nevada

Cirque De Soleil O Poseidon Under Sea Resort An unlikely surrogate mom... True Love Among the Mundane Rubbish by Kumi Yamashita and Tim Noble + Sue Webster Trashy Shadow Art

Nominated Best Animated Shorts - My favorite part of the Academy Awards

Although I was rooting for some supporting actors in the Academy Awards tonight (yes Bale!!) as an artist, I am always smitten with the oscar nominated ANIMATED SHORTS section and so the Winner is...
The Lost Thing... Shaun Tan (one of my Absolute favorite illustrators and writers) & Andrew Ruhemann.
One day I will see my own animation dreams through but for now, I am fortunate enough to relish and be inspired by others who have awakened art through this genre.

Thanks to Youtube I have taken all the nominees and collected their trailers here for you all in one place! ENJOY!!

The Gift of Prints n Student Creativity

Students, both former and current are one of the greatest forms of creativity sparks and inspiration we can have as teachers and quite honestly as human beings.

From founder of Karma Seed Chris Lo, to current Brown University student Isabella Giancarlo (who recently sent me an envelope filled with valentines day handmade wares including a silk-screened pillowcase) and Colin Alexander current art student to my alma mater Maryland Institute College of Art whose art graces my walls- students feed my daily life.

Current students do it on an hourly basis - whether it is with a cool new nail polish design, an altered book art piece they made, their illustrations, or math class doodles or simply their solutions to the parameters of my assignments, like AK's solution to my good ol' brown paper bag">BROWN PAPER BAG HEAD PIECE PROJECT you see here: made entirely of brown paper brown paper bag">lunch bags to read about this assignment click brown paper bag">here.

Wearable Art made of brown paper bags by my current student AK Hence todays post- A former student came bearing beautiful gifts recently - Lena Jorde (who I taught for only one year during her freshman year of high school before she transferred out of my school). The one year we shared was a full one, Lena participated in my Herstory project and we got very close. And we remained close- at times she wrote me letters and even brought me as a speaker to the Putney school to present the Herstory project. I have always been impressed by Lena, her maturity and her artistic inclinations among an array of other passions and talents..always choosing the path of greatest resistance and integrity in order to develop her whole self. Lets put it this way - she chose to milk the cows at dawn while in high school - as opposed to a cush office task...now that is what I'm talking about. Lena is now a graduate of the Putney School and is attending Columbia University. Without realizing it she made an inadvertent portrait of both my hub and I :
He uses a coffee infuser and I of course am all about tea.

tea by lena jorde

coffee print by lena jorde