Party in the Barrio

Oh it's that time of year, people want to go out and baile! And what does la gente do when the weekend rolls around, they go to the local dancehall or bar to get their party on! This painting is so fun and could be considered mature, but it's still all about fun in the land of enchantment where people from small towns don't have much to do!

Here are my newest polyclay beads, not much but it's a start. I'm trying to incorporate some girly colors into some new pieces, you know try to summer things up a little! They are waiting to be sanded and made purty. I love being able to make different designs and colors!

¡Venga mire lo que es nuevo!

¡Venga mire lo que es nuevo! Come look at what is new!

Rob has already sold two of the big paintings he just finished, I managed to talk him into letting me put the other three in the Etsy shop! We have had a good response to them, starting with all of our wonderful and encouraging friends who visit our blog here and our friends from the gallery. They are what we call primitive folk art paintings and he is having alot of fun creating them. They all capture the essence of life in New Mexico or any latino community for that matter. I get excited to see what will go on each painting and often go out to see the work progress, the colors are bold and the stories they tell, perfecto!

I created two new necklaces over the weekend, Wild Rosa in creams and browns and Santa Fe Sunrise in orange and aqua. I have just finished making and baking a bunch of polymer clay beads and hope to incorporate those into some new bracelets this week. I really feel some pinks and purples coming on...

Fun Time!

I've been tagged by Sandra of Marbella Designs, I'm not the best at these so here it goes...

What is your current obsession?

My current obsession is making polyart clay beads, cuff bracelets, and taking enameling classes.

What is your weirdest obsession?

Making sure all the doors are locked each time we leave the house, even when I know they are locked.

What are you wearing today?

Jean shorts and a sage green tank top, my usual Sunday outfit.

What is for dinner?

Red chili with brown rice, we're trying to cut back on carbs and staying away from fried foods. (Do you know how hard this is for a latina?!)

What would you eat for your last meal?

A ribeye steak topped with bleu cheese, mashed potatoes, and asparagus.

What was the last thing you bought?

Rob bought me a new table lamp for my work studio.

What are you listening to right now?

Nothing but nature and the sound of kids playing a few houses down.

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

Peanut butter cookie dough.

What do you think of the person who tagged you?

I love how beautiful Sandra's fine silver pieces are, the detail on them has to take lots of patience. Her blog is fun too!

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?

Spain, of course! It's such a beautiful place.

What is your favorite color?

Purple

What language would you like to learn?

I would have to say German, I took it in high school and really liked it.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?

Don't really have any favorites, I like them all.

What is your favorite TV show?

I don't watch much TV, when I do I'm usually watching CSI or the Cleaner.

If you had $100 right now what would you spend it on?

Tickets to the Earth, Wind, and Fire/Chicago concert!

Favorite Artist(s)?

Daniel Luna, Stevon Lucero, Theresa Duran, my husband Rob, Frida

What is your favorite season?

Hands down summer! I love the freedom of being outside.

Describe your personal style?

During the work week it is business casual-On weekends it's very comfortable and laid back style.

What are you going to do after this?

Get our clothes ready for the week, sand my beads, watch a bit of the news.

What are your favorite movies?

The Godfather, Slingblade, Selena, Heaven and Earth, Lonesome Dove

What's your favorite fruit?

Cherries

What inspires you?

God, nature, familia, color

What music do you like this week?

Old school rhythm and blues

What is your dream job?

I was once going to be a doctor.

What's stopping you?

Money and I wanted to raise my children, not be away from them.

If you could change something in the world to make it a better place what would it be?

That we as human beings would take care of our homeless, it's not up to the government to do this for them, so I suppose I would like people to have compassion, mercy, love, and kindness.

What do you have planned for tomorrow?

Work my day job and come home and do some art work.

What is your favorite city?

Chicago was a blast, the food and entertainment were the best!

What art technique would you like to learn next?

I want to take a drawing/painting class.

Well there you have it, a little about me. Not sure who to pick for this, I know not everyone likes to be tagged, but here is my list:
Prairie Emporium
LiveWire Jewelry
Summers Studio
Adobe Sol

The rules:
1. Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own.
2. Tag eight other people or however many you would like.

Goodnight all ;)

Such a Colorful Summer Giveaway!

Allen Designs is having a wonderful Goody Giveaway that includes 3 favorite designs as prizes ! To find out how to be entered in this giveaway visit Michelle's blog here, the contest ends July 3rd and she is offering up some great pieces that I know you will love!
If you have never checked out Michelle's Etsy shop, head over there now, her art is fun, colorful, and makes me happy! The art blox are my favorites :)

Finally!

Summer is here, and I am so darn happy that I'm having a summer sale on all the jewelry in our Etsy shop!
All bracelets are $25
Necklaces are $55
We have another show coming up too, so I'll be getting ready for that and have to do a necklace and bracelet set for a silent auction at St. Dominics here in Denver. I'll also be posting Rob's new primitive folk art paintings soon.
Have a good day everyone.

Pops...

...the rock of our family! He is a father to two boys that were mine but are now his. He is an artist of devotional art. He is a football coach to high school boys, teaching them about playing hard, not quitting, winning, losing and how it's all going to apply to your life in the future.

He is Rob and this Father's Day we want him to know how happy we are that God brought him into our lives to love, guide, and take care of us.

With love from your familia,

Devin, Randy, and Tammy

Daddy

A little Happy Father's Day for my Daddy!

His name is Lewis but everybody calls him Sonny.

He was blessed with 3 beautiful daughters, me, Elizabeth, and Sarah.

He spoiled all 3 of us.

Elizabeth and I have given him 5 grandchildren, 4 boys, 1 girl.

Daddy is a workaholic but has always made sure we know he loves us.

Although I have two beautiful younger sisters, for many years it was just me and Daddy (my parents ended their marriage when I was very young). I couldn't wait for the weekend to come and we liked to travel and those little expeditions are forever etched in my heart, even when he lost me at Magic Mountain when I was 6 or ice fishing at the Flaming Gorge in Wyoming, it was all fun!

Years later he moved to Albuquerque and shortly thereafter met and fell in love with and married Loretta, now being the stubborn, spoiled little girl I was, it took a little time for me to get use to sharing my Daddy with another girl(woman). In my heart I knew that Albuquerque and Loretta were probably the best things that could happen to him and he always made sure I knew how much he loved me and for this I am thankful. I went through my little phases of not wanting to go vist him as a teenager, but it was during my own struggles as a newly single young mother that Daddy took me in and helped me through it all.

My Daddy is still in Albuquerque and Rob and I try to visit often throughout the year, spending time with familia in Albuquerque and in San Juan.

What I'd like him to know this Father's day is that I love him mucho and I appreciate him and love him with all my heart!!!

Puerta Turquesa

I thought I would talk a little more about my Abuelito (grandfather) today in honor of Father's day this weekend, and why I'm always inspired by him. His name was Flavio Montoya and he was an only child, he would talk about how lonely it was without brothers and sisters as he was growing up. Then he met Grandma, and made up for that lonliness by having 10 children, my father being the oldest, I being the oldest grandchild. He didn't speak very good english but was still able to get a good job with the railroad. He moved his family to Denver when the five oldest were still young and stayed here until his death in 1994. Abuelito was a kind old soul, once he was retired he would take the bus all over Denver, always on the go, always meeting complete strangers who became friends, in fact at his funeral here in Denver there were so many people who came to pay their respects and we didn't have a clue who they were! He maintained his land in San Juan, NM, and many childhood summers were spent with my father and grandfather there. He was a fantastic fisherman and there wasn't a fish he couldn't get out of the Pecos River. He took in his father and aunt until their deaths and always told us "¡Tome de su familia, no los puso en un hogar de ancianos para malgastar lejos! Take care of your family, don't put them in a nursing home to waste away!

My grandfather worked hard for his family, leaving us a beautiful piece of earth called San Juan and all the memories that come with it, did he know he was leaving us a place to go for solitude and refocusing? I think so, I think he loved us that much!

This necklace was made just like so many of my pieces are - because of stories that Abuelito told me or some other memory of years gone by.

Mora County

Here is the first of Rob's paintings! This first one is titled Mora County which is in northern New Mexico. Look at all the story telling going on in this piece, I love it! The second piece is also done and this one is titled Chili Time, this piece is also going to be shown at the Chili Harvest Festival that CHAC gallery is having in August, oh what fun! Well Rob hopes that this invokes some memories to those of you that are from or have visited New Mexico, if you have never been to New Mexico, well, just let the paintings tell you a story! Not the best pics I know, they are just so big and I'm not the best photographer, got figure out how to take some real good ones before listing in the shop.

New Mexican Folk Art Paintings

Thought I would give you all a sneak peek at what Rob has been creating lately. Because it's almost summer, he thought it would be nice to do a few New Mexican folk art paintings that tell stories. He has one done, it is titled Mora County and I can't wait til you all see it, I will takes pics tomorrow morning. Tonight I went outside to his workshop, snuck behind him and took a pic of the one he is currently working on, not yet titled. Check out the color and how fun it just is!

See you tomorrow

These really take my breath away...

...and I'm positive they will take yours too!

I am always looking for different kinds of beads, you know lampwork, polymer, wood, metal. I often just do a google search and on this one particular day back in the fall I found a link to MruMruglass on Flickr, oh WOW was I amazed at her work! Her beads are colorful and magical and I was smitten. Well as I have said before, this past winter was kind of tough for me, I think my muse went on vacation to some beautiful beach in Mexico and left me behind, so I would go and admire those Flickr pics from time to time, and even checked her Etsy store, but it was empty and then I started creating with polymer clay and that occupied me a few times a week.

So then one day I'm reading Lorelei's great blog and I see that she had a giveaway of beads made by a Magda, oh that name sounded familiar, but I still didn't put it all together. You see I knew her by Mag of http://www.mrumru.com/ and http://www.magdalenaruiz.etsy.com/, so I eventually went back to her Flickr site and finally contacted Mag about doing a custom order for me. You see I have a customer who wanted a wedding necklace done in purple and turquoise and Mag had the most beautiful beads she calls Purple Rain, that's it, those were the ones I had to have and here they are, Mag made a set similar to the ones she had posted!!! I am hoping to keep a couple to make a bracelet with, we'll see what is left after the necklace is created. So thanks Lorelei for jogging my memory and thanks Mag for creating these gorgeous beads!

Mag does have some beads in her Etsy shop now and she is such a sweet lady to work with, I know I will continue to go to her when I want something unique ;)

Why we do what we Do...

We've been getting some questions about why we do what we do, so here is the condensed version...

Starting with a chunk of wood and turning it into something sacred and symbolic is what Santero art is all about. Creating something iconic into religious imagery is what drives Rob to keep carving! From retablos to bultos to crosses and paintings this is why he does it, to produce art work in a non-dualistic mindset and allow the creator to infect those that are searching for their identity and purpose, even when they appear to have no soul. Rob is originally from Memphis, TN and moved here to Denver and immediately fell in love with the rich Hispanic culture that surrounded him at work and in friendships.

For me it's almost always about a memory...I spent so much time outdoors always looking or maybe hunting for little things, big things (they don't call me the mud pie queen or bug aficionado for nothing) colorful things, but the place I have the happiest memories is of our little town in New Mexico called San Juan. My grandpa was an only child and would take me (his oldest grandchild) walking to our ranch and along the Pecos River telling me the stories of his youth. And these storytelling walks I have treasured in my heart. So the story behind the bracelet is always the inspiration to create it, pretty simple I know, but lots of meaning to me and hopefully to the person that falls in love with a piece.

So now here we are a married couple of artists working in two different mediums, working on the goal of moving to New Mexico soon to open our own bed & breakfast/gallery. Our work is very popular there as this is where Santero work started! We are members of the Northern New Mexico Fine Arts & Crafts guild, and Rob has pieces in the Santuario de Chimayo gallery. I have customers who love big chunky jewelry and I continue to make it for them. We have our little shops on Etsy and 1000Markets but it it is just a small collection as most of our pieces are in galleries. Hope this answers alot of the why do you do what you do questions.

Summer Fiestas!!!

Oh how I love a good summer fiesta, when I lived in New Mexico it seemed like there was one every weekend and I miss that, or maybe I just miss my youth! Anyhow, memories of those weekend summer fiestas inspired me to grab a Treasury in Treasury West and here it is, enjoy! Wish I would have posted it sooner, but just now learned how to do this!

San Pascual, St. Francis and San Martin de Porres

I am just fascinated with all these new pieces Rob has created. Two of them are bultos and one a bultablo, hee hee, 1/2 retablo and 1/2 bulto. I will be listing these in the Etsy and 1000Markets shops tonight, but thought I'd show them off here too! The bultablo is of San Pascual, patron saint of cooks and kitchens, you can find him in just about every kitchen in New Mexico! The bultos are of St. Francis, patron saint of animals and ecology. One of the questions we get often is "Why is he holding a skull?", well the skull represents life hereafter and many Spanish colonial art pieces will have a skull somewhere on the piece, we are not trying to be morbid, lol. Last up is San Martin de Porres, patron saint of mixed races, innkeepers and public health. His heart was always with the poor, showing endless mercy and compassion. He was a Dominican brother who was born to a
Spanish nobleman and a young black former slave. San Martin was the first biracial man canonized into sainthood. Enjoy...and Rob would love to hear any comments you all might have :)