Happy Pills - Cupcakes, Dolls and Creating

Art - The Best Therapy

I have been struggling since Saturday with the loss of my beloved Maya. I have felt helpless, alone, isolated, misunderstood and I faced the world with futility. Somehow in my life it always comes back to art. Simply making has become the best drug available. Last night, I sat in my studio for the first time since the fatal vet visit and it was the first moment of lightness, hope and peace I have felt.

Cupcake sketches by marisol diaz cupcake sketch2 a page from my moleskineAnother page from my moleskine

watercolor sketchwatercolor sketch2A Dae (not Pullip) doll sketch A sketch on primed masonite to begin an oil paintingwatecolor sketch3 watercolor sketch4
So take it from me...there are no narcotics out there that can compete with a good 'ol night in the studio...if your blue - distract yourself with creating something that makes you smile and who knows you might make someone else smile too!

Unique and Extraordinary Gifts! Crafter Alert!

My Cafepress Products have arrived and r 4 sale now!!

My Collage Art (Let Them Eat Cupcakes and Rainbirds on a Cafepress Apron, Tote bag, Jewelry box and Greeting Card Wow, in all honesty I didn't expect the quality of the cafepress products that I created to be so great!! It was my first time creating products via cafepress, so I ordered a batch to see the results. I thought maybe things would look digitized, poor quality or small in size... I was so wrong! The tote bag is large enough for a weekend trip or a full-on grocery! In addition, I think the blank canvas areas are fantastic for crafters to embellish and personalize the bag (something I would totally do!)

I absolutely love the results! So if you're looking for a unique gift look no further, I currently have four cafepress basic shops. One containing Barack Obama illustrations that I did for the Chelsea gallery show that I was a featured artist in, entitled '52'. Another two shops with Halloween Illustrations called AmarettogirlBoo and AmarettoBoo2 and this main shop with my collage designs.

There are sweatshirts, tank tops and other products at the shop. I especially love how the 'Let Them Eat Cupcakes' collage looks on the apron too - excellent gift for a baker and again allows enough room for personal embellishments for all of you crafters!! The jewelry box with the 'Rainbirds' collage is decadent with its high-gloss, polished wood and white, cushy velvet interior!

My 'Rainbirds' Collage printed on a T-shirt via Cafepress on sale now! Detail shot of Greeting Card and Jewelry box

Art Give Away - Thankful Photography

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! pickin' red rasberries by marisol diaz

So lets try a Thanksgiving Art giveaway! Leave a comment with what you're thankful for and be in the running to win an 8X10 photographic print of this Pickin Red Rasberries image! Remember be creative - we may find that we're all thankful for family - so what will set your winning comment apart? I'm thankful for vibrant LIFE in all of its forms...my truly extraordinary relationship with my husband, my three four-legged children and their bright eyes, my parents, my hands, my art, my bed, my house, my niece and nephew and every thriving member of my family...especially those that have mastered the art of laughter and joy - life is too short for sour grapes! What Are You Thankful for?

Update on Sunday, November 30, 2008 at 11:34AM by Amarettogirl

WINNER ANNOUNCED!

I received such thoughtful, introspections for the Art Giveaway - I was truly moved. It was so hard to choose that I chose a winner AND a runner up! So I will be sending two copies of this signed photographic print out to the winners (one 8x10 and the other 5x7). In first place is Ogun with his thankful comment about waking up to life. I have read Eckhart Tolle as well, and recognize the power of this kind of spiritual journey and the difficulty of dissecting the ego. The runner up is Sharon whose thankful comment recognized the generations that paved the way for our paths and gifts heralded to us in our very biological make-up that too often go unappreciated. Stainboy was in close running all along with his thankful comment, but seeing as he won the last art giveaway I chose to spread the wealth! Winners- please send me an email message (not a comment) with your mailing address in order to mail the digital prints to you and Congrats!

My Spoonflower Custom Fabric Arrived!

Wow! I am so, so, so impressed! My custom order of my collages and illustrations onto fabric via Spoonflower (my new favorite company) has arrived. Except for the first 'Let The Eat Cupcakes' print (which I ordered a larger piece of). I only ordered small 8"X8" swatches of the fabric before I make in the investment into yardage. It looks like I might have to adjust the scale to which the large one was submitted (the pattern is rather large), but overall fantastic results! Check them out!

This last one is great for making Ipod cases!

Hope you like them! Let me know what you think!

Political Art and Obama Gana!

Well my fears have been put to rest, and my dream was realized, Barack Obama won!! With that said, I have chosen to resurrect some Obama art pieces that I made for the 52 Chelsea art exhibit in the month of September.

El Valiente (the Courageous One) direct illustration on Shrinky Dink by marisol diaz September '08

I made these illustrations as part of a contemporary Loteria card game set. I will soon be posting all of the remaining Dinks up individually for sale on my Etsy Shop.

El Cotorro (The Parrot) by marisol diaz Direct Illustration on Shrinky Dink Sept. '08

To see the process of how I make these Dinks check out this video:

52 Chelsea Exhibit

My most recent gallery exhibit is opening this Thursday @ 2:00pm in the 2/20 Gallery in Chelsea, NYC.

Our Opening reception will be this Saturday, Sept. 20th from 6-8 pm. We'll have sangria, finger foods and MUSICA so if you're in the area - swing by!

So what's up with 52? Well fellow artist, Nova Gutierrez was motivated to stir up a mix of artists responses to a deck of 52 cards. Therefore each of the four artist in this show respond and investigate the probability of chance, risk and design that is involved with any kind of playing cards. I for one, really upped the ante and focused on some high risk illustration. Stay tuned to learn more!

Inspiring Artist - Sylvia Levenson

While I was taking the class at The Studio @ the Corning Museum of glass I got to visit the museum collection frequently. One of my favorite pieces (and there were many) was this piece by artist Sylvia Levenson.

It's Raining Knives by Sylvia Levenson

On of our class assignments was to seek out a piece from the glass collection to respond to via our own art work. As I get adjusted to moving out of NYC and deeper into the jaws of suburbia, and as I watch the continuing politics of fear immobilize people, I was deeply drawn to this sculpture. The title card also spoke volumes about our human exchange with fear.

For me, Sylvia's sculpture invokes the innocence of youth. The colorful houses and even the astro-turf are reminiscent of cloistered safety. The fact that she makes use of glass only adds to tenuous, fragile and volatile potential of the situation.

In my own work I am very drawn to the melancholy of loss, especially innocence lost. I had been feverishly illustrating a series of young girls in my sketchbook and was considering carefully composing them in a paper-doll fashion of sheets of glass. In addition I am very interested in stained glass, and really wanted to consider cutting my sheet glass into forms before I illustrated on them with the vitreous paint (this technique is explained in past post). I was inspired by the element of repetition as well. That is how my art pieces entitled Lost Girls was born.

detail of Lost Girls by marisol diaz

Lost Girls by marisol diaz

So with little time (for class was in its last three days) I cut sheet glass, painted and fired as many girls from my sketchbook and bunnies as I could. The scale is much smaller and less colorful than Levenson's work but the inspiration is there...in my way.
Lost Girls 2 detail by marisol diaz

Glass Illustrations

Forgive Them Father For They Know Not What They Do by marisol diaz

So as one of my loyal readers noticed, I've been really busy (its called back-to-school-syndrome). So therefore I have neglected updating my blog!! I hope this new illustration buys me some time - because unfortunately this school year promises to be no easier than the rest. Who was that lame teacher 11 years ago who told me, "Oh don't worry no year is as hard as your first teaching year and every year after gets easier and easier..." yeah right. I've been waiting for the 'easy' part to kick in - its a decade too late! I wish I could be that care-fee teacher, but I'm not. And every year I get just as stressed about the first day of school as my students do. At least I still care. In addition, teaching high-school has been a great way of keeping me on my toes.

I thought this illustration was a great way to pay homage to this teaching year... especially the title. However I can't help but think more of the teachers than the students with the theme of this pic! If in this illustration the line work looks a bit anemic in areas, its because this is blasted onto sheet glass and rubbed into with pigment, than faired - so the lighter areas are where the pigment was less concentrated.

Happy back to school day.

Painted, Stacked, Fused and Sand-blasted Glass

The following art piece was also made during my time at Corning.

Soledad by marisol diaz

The following is a detail in which one can see the sand-blasted figure in the foreground more clearly.

Soledad detail by marisol diaz

Vitreous Painting on Glass

A good portion of what we did during my class at Corning was not just sand-blasting but also painting on glass with classic stained glass painting techniques. The technique we learned involved using kiln-fired pigment (generally around 1250 degrees) and can also be referred to as a type of enamel/stain, though we also used silver stains which are different than the paint. For the most part we used Reusche paints, which involve painting with a a mixture of powdered pigments, gum arabic and a liquid medium (most often water), then 'matting' and 'tracing' (both words mean something different than what you would expect those words to mean). A great example of how both blasting and these painting techniques are used masterfully can be seen in Judith Schaechter's new book enitled Extra Virgin about her stained glass art pieces and illustrations.

The following pieces are just my response to class assignments given to us by our instructor Denise Stillwagon Leone who taught a wonderful rich and stimulating class. If you are interested in learning any of these techniques I highly recommend taking a look at Corning and considering a class by Denise who is a beloved and consistently featured faculty member at Corning.
Untitled by marisol diaz 5"x7"With a second layer of glass & color paint behind

This assignment was about further exploration into mark making and brush strokes with a liner brush, or without. Depending on how well one mixed the powdered pigment, the right level of viscosity can achieve a rich smooth line. The painting is started with a 'matte' which is much like applying 'a tone or a wash' in watercolor painting. The line work is called 'tracing' even if you are not 'literally' tracing. You can notice that a final step can often include a 'scratching'

Untitled by marisol diaz 81/2"x11"