My New Postcard

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

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 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

Miami International Art Fair IV- Glass Mosaics, Cardboard, Soap and Cocoa Leaves...

No that's not a recipe for anything, unless you want to call it a recipe of creative sparks being showcased at the Mia...

We're in February and I'm still reporting on all those creative flair ups that I saw in Miami back in January at that oh so sweet Art fair and though I have many more worthy artists in my picture file- I'm ready to wrap it up. But before I do, here are some of the last inspiring pieces I thought you would enjoy...

Remember- click on the pink links to learn/see more about the artists or their representing galleries!

Cuban Girl by Salvador Andrea rep. by Berengo Studio photo by m.diaz Supermarket Beauty by Salvador Andrea rep. Berengo Studio photo by m.diaz Till That Morning by Taro Hattori rep. by The Black Square Galleryphoto by m.diaz Detail of Till That Morning by Taro Hattori rep. by The Black Square Gallery photo by m.diaz Detail of Untitled (carved soap) by Felicity Warbrick rep. Waterhouse & Dodd detail of Untitled (carved soap) by Felicity Warbrick rep. by Waterhouse & Dodd by Gaston Ugalde rep. by Salar Galeria de Arte by Gaston Ugalde rep. Salar Galeria de Arte by Gaston Ugalde rep. by Salar Galeria de Arte

Miami International Art Fair III- The Mundane Gets Its Iconic Due

This is the third installment of Miami Art Fair contemporary art and I still have more to share. I'm anxious to show you all some more of what I've been doing lately too, so hopefully you keep coming back for more!

Nick Gentry, Antenna, Mixed Media on Computer Disks on Wood rep. Art Modern Gallery photo by m.diaz

Artist Nick Gentry's work represented by the Art Modern Gallery has gone viral on the blogosphere lately, my students love his work on old floppy disks. Above is one of his pieces entitled Antenna that I saw at the Miami Art Fair.

The next piece that I'm featuring here is this piece entitled Compound 3 by Colombian born artist Juan Raul Hoyos, represented by the Alejandra Von Hartz gallery, made entirely of paper bags. Anyone who is a regular blog follower of mine might recall my post entitled The Potential of a Brown Paper Bag that you can see here which resonates with the same idea of how much complexity you can build with such simple things. In the case of artist Juan, he has built what appears to be a whole congested city developed out of printed bags simply opened and left to evoke a war-torn time and place. For me what was quite powerful was the congested feeling still seemed overcome with abandon and emptiness...like an evacuated space. Too bad it seems Juan does not have his own site and or the Alejandra Von Hartz Contemporary Art Gallery site should have links to more of their artists work so that you could see more.

Detail shot of Compound 3, by Juan Raul Hoyos, white paper bags, Rep. Alejandra Von Hartz Contep. Art Gallery photo by m.diaz Compound 3, by Juan Raul Hoyos, white paper bags, Rep. Alejandra Von Hartz Contep. Art Gallery photo by m.diaz

This next artist is another one of my favorite three dimensional artists from the MIA. Her name is Shantamani living in Bangalore, India represented by the Galerie Helene Lamarque. Her series of work is entitled Carbon myths and she uses charcoal which for me infers earthy fire, combustion and residue to construct her pieces. Mother Goddess,by Shanthamani rep. Galerie Helene Lemarque Detail of Mother Goddess, by Shanthamani rep. by the Galerie Helene Lamarque photo by m.diaz MINT by Shanthamani, Charcoal, rep. by Galerie Helene Lamarque photo by m.diaz DETAIL shot of Mint, Shanthamani, Charcoal, rep. by Galerie Helene Lamarque photo by m.diaz

Ok so get ready! Here is another moment when my students came to mind...turning around in the Galerie Helene LeMarque booth at MIA and seeing all of these stacked yellow phonebooks carved into these portrait busts! A graduate of School of Visual Arts, artist Long-Bin Chen from Taiwan gave a serious sculptural treat...once again showing us the power of the pedestrian object being risen to iconic stature.

India Buddha Boston by Long-Bin Chen back of India Buddha Boston by Long-Bin Chen a photo by the Museum of Arts & Design Webcam tech blog of Long-Bin Chen at work in their studios


detail shot of Long-Bin Chen's work by m.diaz detail shot of Long-Bin Chen's work by m.diaz here another sculpture by Long-Bin Chen at Mia photo by m.diaz back view of sculpture by Long-Bin Chen at Mia photo by m.diaz another sculpture by Long-Bin Chen at Mia photo by m.diaz

If you have 7 minutes I found an additional treat for you all, this fun you tube video doc of Long-Bin Chen and his work- I think you;ll really enjoy it!

I hope you enjoyed this installment of my MIA art fair experience! I have one biggy left to report on before I start to move on and share some other creativity and art related news- so stay tuned and LET me know what you think! Anybody here who blew you away and why? or was this all just too on the 'what-ever-happened-to-fine-art-supplies?' for you?

-Ciao Amarettogirl

Miami International Art Fair II

All photos in this post by m.diaz @ the MIA Art fair

Christina Pettersson

In grad school I was told I was a better draftsperson than painter and that I should focus my energy on just drawing... regardless... at graduation I received a certificate of distinction at the Hoffberger school of Painting. I'm glad I didn't outline limitations around myself or be swayed by the big names that guided my path, but when I saw this artist, Christina Pettersson's work @ Mia it reminded how powerful an unadulterated graphite drawing can be. Her work comes across as pure as a piece of 18th century literature and iconic and romantic enough to make William Morris smile in his grave. The large scale of the drawings can be better appreciated in the video I found for you. I am also quite impressed with the artists featured by the Spinello gallery who had more than one of the artists I am featuring and reviewing here my blog.

Zora Neale Hurston's Grave, 2009, Graphite on Paper by Christina Pettersson rep. by Spinello Gallery</span> Eudora Welty's Grave, 2009, Graphite on Paper by Christina Pettersson rep. by Spinello Gallery

Euginio Cuttica

One of the artists I really enjoyed discovering at the Miami International Art Fair was Euginio Cuttica, who I believe was there represented by the Adriana Budich Arte Contemporàneo Gallery. Eugenio Cuttica is a contemporary artist born in Buenos Aires in the mid 50’s. The opening slideshow on his website is a treat enough to discover so I highly recommend clicking on his name anywhere in this post to go to it and peruse yourself.

Luna #19 mixed media on cardboard by Euginio Cuttica DETAIL Luna #19 mixed media on cardboard by Euginio Cuttica Luna #17 mixed media on cardboard by Euginio Cuttica DETAIL Luna #17 mixed media on cardboard by Euginio Cuttica

Sang-Sik Hong

Another very intriguing artist was South Korean Artist Sang-Sik Hong who was represented at MIA by the Patrajdas Gallery.

Sang-Sik uses a very pedestrian (everyday) object such as the plastic drinking straw and delivers a fun, yet deliberate and evocative punch of relief imagery!

He makes contemporary, symbolic sculptures & installations. A real special treat is to visit the Patrajdas site by clicking on it here and seeing SangSik Hong's Installation Works which are EXTRAordinary and fantastic feats of genius!

Representations of Power, Sex & Desire executed in a "weak" and basic, yet iconic material.

Mouth - Red (ed. 3/5)Straws by Sang-Sik Hong rep. by Patrajdas Contemporary Art Obstruct (ed. 1/5)Straws by Sang-Sik Hong rep. by Patrajdas Contemporary Art DETAIL Obstruct (ed. 1/5)Straws by Sang-Sik Hong rep. by Patrajdas Contemporary Art DETAIL Obstruct (ed. 1/5)Straws by Sang-Sik Hong rep. by Patrajdas Contemporary Art

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I hope you enjoyed this second installment and trust me there is still so much more to come! So stay tuned! -

Ciao Amarettogirl

The Miami International Art Fair HIGHLIGHTS Report I

My MIA Press Pass

I am back in the cold Northeast from a visit to Miami International Art Fair this past weekend where the weather was warm, and some of the art was hot.

Fortunately, I met a fellow blogger/artist F.L. Campello from the Mayer Fine Art Gallery whose work I was struck by and who quickly hooked me up with a press kit. The fact that bloggers have gained some respect was new to me, but makes perfect sense since we have the ability to start accessible information chains that can go viral rather quickly. So I am now considered viable press in these situations which is so very cool!

I returned with over 300 photos in tow of contemporary art that I can now break down and parcel out to you in digestible bits and pieces.
Overall the fair seem to have an overabundance of Latino artists represented. I'll begin this feast for your eyes and intellect with a few appetizers, click on pink links to see, read or learn more.

artist - Cornelis Zitman rep. Ascaso Gallery, Caraca Venezuela photo by m.diaz @ MIA

NOTE: a quick reminder (especially if you're new to following my blog), I don't prescribe to antiquated definitions of fine art vs. craft or that one is a higher art form over another- I can be free to do that since I am not confined to markets, or to inciting market value.

Regardless of being involved in education and the value of certain pieces to the art to the student, I am not driven by academic high-art-speak babble, which can unfortunately just be a guise for a lack of conviction and a way to bs around the human need for personal expression. So some of my top picks may be due to a variety of different reasons which can vary from the gallery's attitude, content, a specific appreciation for a technique or skill that is manifested in a particular element of art, or simply my personal taste.

My top picks may not be your cup of tea and will range from blue chip to University of Miami students, but hopefully you'll see some value in what I chose to highlight here since I certainly won't be posting all 300 photos.

Salustiano (B. 1969), Spain, Isabelle, Natural Pigments, Acrylic Resin on Canvas, from Kavachnina Contemporary gallery Miami,FL Photo by m.diaz @ MIA Salustiano (B. 1969), Spain, SMILE, Natural Pigments, Acrylic Resin on Canvas, from Kavachnina Contemporary gallery Miami,FL Photo by m.diaz @ MIA Valeria Rocchiccioli, Agua, Plastic photo by m.diaz @ MIA Valeria Rocchiccioli, Agua DETAIL1, Plastic photo by m.diaz @ MIA Valeria Rocchiccioli, Agua DETAIL2, Plastic photo by m.diaz @ MIA Spinello Gallery Enrique Gomez de Molina photo by m.diaz @ MIA Spinello Gallery Enrique Gomez de Molina photo by m.diaz @ MIA F.L. Campello, Lilith,Mayer Fine Art Gallery Nazar Bilyk, Rain, Black Square Gallery, Polyester resins, Glass, fiberglass toned as a Bronze, photo by m.diaz

This visit was incredibly educational for me not only in what is happening with some of 'the up and coming' and inspiring creative thinkers out there, but also in regards to some of the behind the art scene of gallery etiquette, conventions, loyalty, and their time, energy and economic investments, so once in a while I'll post a nugget of info in that regard as well.

- Ciao and enjoy!- Amarettogirl