"Undocumented" is a label that society has created to describe me. But in reality I am very well documented. My mother is the type of person that saves record of everything, including my first report card living in the United States and every other report card after that. I am currently working on my first color lithography. I plan on transferring this image onto the stone. The report card will be in green and the picture will include blue, brown and pink. 

I will post more pictures when I finish printing!

I had the wonderful opportunity to get creative and design a little free library. These offer books to select from to read and are placed in neighborhoods. For more information visit www.swhd.org

Growing up my parents constantly expressed the importance of education. Both my parent did not have the privilege to attend school. This was my inspiration for this piece. 

I wanted to create something that was like a children's book story. My choice to approach this was to utilize a hot tool to burn the wood. This achieved a dark brown illustration of worms feeding on the books laying near roots of a tree and going into the cycle of metamorphosis dangling on the branches. 
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I decided to create a mosaic for the roof. This would allow me to use my background with bead-work designs. It's also a plus for extra protection with outdoor use of the library.

Since protection was on my mind, my next choice was to cut out a stencil of a buttery using window tint to place on the window.  

This library along with others is up for auction. You can find more information at this link swhd.org/artist

The picture above marks a strong impression in my life. It is the last picture we took in Mexico before migrating to the United States. I have been wanting to use this image in my artwork because it is so important to me.

This semester I am enrolled in a Lithography class. For this project I did a toner acetone transfer onto the stone.

When we went on the journey we left everything behind. I wanted to portray this feeling so I chose to do folds on the paper. I like the way they ended up because to me it also feels like land. 

The hand holding the picture reminds me of my dad. When I was young I remember we would all be so happy when his letters would arrive from the United States, we missed him and needed him. I have memories of being too young to read and I would get upset because my siblings would not read his letters out loud!

And this is the print that came from this. 

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In 2017 I had the pleasure of visiting the Heard Museum to see the exhibit Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. I am a great fan of her work and I was excited to have this exhibit coming to Phoenix. 

I was able to see one of my favorite paintings, the one above, it's titled "The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Myself, Diego, and Señor Xolotl". This painting has many layers of expression, the more you look at it, the more it draws you in. There's a very spiritual driven connective quality. 

As I mentioned in the previous post, I am a member of the art collective called The Phoenix Fridas. We incorporate our inspiration from Frida Kahlo in our work. In 2017 I collaborated with a fellow member, Anita Leach. We created a "Frida Glamour Vest"! I did the bead work and Anita created the vest.  Check it out!  

I am a proud member of a local art collective called The Phoenix Fridas. When I was invited to become a member in 2011 I was thrilled!

Every year we celebrate Frida Kahlo's birthday with an artful and crafty celebration. In addition to that we participate in other events and exhibitions collectively and individually. Group membership has changed but one thing is for sure, the support of this collective has a strong foundation. I am grateful to be part of a collective of women that support one another.  

For more information on the Phoenix Fridas and upcoming events visit the link below.

This semester, Spring 2018, I am taking a Painting 1 class. The first project we did was using acrylic paint on canvas. I had painted with acrylic paint before but with instruction I gathered a better understanding. I want to continue working with acrylic paint and explore my work using this medium.

I started this painting and I have been layering paint on top of paint and sanding in between. I have been letting the paint guide me to take the next step. I don't know when it will be finished but I am having fun painting it :)

Photo credit: Judy Butzine

Towards the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018 I had the pleasure of creating a project with South Mountain High School students. The exhibition titled "The Visual Arts Unmask My Story" and the opportunity to create this project were possible by the collaboration between South Mountain High School, Cultural Arts Coalition and ASU West Campus.  The exhibition of this project, works of art by the students and professional artist is being exhibited from January 13th- February 22, 2018 at ASU West Campus Fletcher Library. 

This experience feels like a full circle moment in my life. Through art I had the opportunity to return to the classroom where the seed of art was planted inside me. In this exhibit, I have my art hanging next to my high school art teacher Janet Broyles. Whom I am thankful to continue to have her support through the years. Also in this classroom, I was introduced to Huichol Beadwork and the connection with my creativity and cultural roots sparked. Judy Butzine, curator of the exhibit and director of Cultural Arts Coalition is also the woman who came as a guest and made this introduction that had a great impact in my life. 

This was my first experience guiding a group of young artist. At the reception the expressions on their faces as they saw the finished project brought happiness to my little heart. I hope to be able to continue sharing art with the community. 

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In Fall 2017 I took a printmaking class and I was hooked! Each process used such as linocut, etching, screen printing and so on; can offer many possibilities.  I don’t know if it’s the steps in each process that I enjoy like creating the image to print, or cutting the paper, or rolling the ink, or running it through the press and lifting and pulling the image. I don’t know what exactly my favorite part is, I just know printing makes me happy.

For my final project I was free to choose whatever I wanted to do! For this I got a little help from my little hummingbird friend, I call him Hummi. I know! Not a very creative name but believe me, he’s a Hummi. He served as my inspiration for an image. In addition to printing, I also enjoy working with fibers and I wanted to silkscreen print on fabric. So, I made my own printed design on fabric and made a skirt.

Check out my final project!