Welcome!

I want to welcome you to my little corner of Blogandia. My name is Georgina and I live in the farthest city in West Texas, El Paso, one of the safest cities in the U.S., the Pearl of the Rio Grande, gateway to Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico and a road less traveled to the grand state of New Mexico. Wow, how's that for an introduction??!!?

I'm a mixed media artist, dabbling mostly in the doll genre, but on occasion, I spend some time out of my little box and play with other stuff. I share my home with a wonderful hubby (I'm sure there are a couple of ex-wives who might disagree with me), two Chihuahua doggies, Maya or Jackalhund (her ears remind me of jackals)and Senor Cacahuate, a.k.a., Mr. Peanut. El Senor came to us by way of my stepdaughter who adopted him from the pet rescue home because he was tagged, "un-adoptable." However, with lots of patience and love, he turned quickly away from the darkside. My stepdaughter left him in our care many times due to her ever transitioning life so the last time she asked us to care for him, I told her that we were going to keep him this time around and now he's King of the household. Maya was a birthday gift from my daughter, however, her shots, heartworm meds, her little operation, etc., didn't come with my gift, just the dog!! I'm the mother of 3, boy, 34, girl, 32, boy, 25 and four grandchildren, boy, 10, boy, 8, boy, 6 and boy, 18 months...and all 4 from my ever ovum producing daughter!!

I returned to school after my 25 year old marriage began to fade away. I had decided to become a special ed. teacher since my youngest child, my son of now 25, is autistic. I figured I had plenty of experience out in the battle field, and sometimes it was, in order to get the school district's attention. However, a very dear friend of my mother talked to me early on during my education and told me she had done the same thing, returning to school and becoming a special ed. teacher since she too had plenty of experience, her youngest has Downs. She told me that she burned out very quickly...spent all day in a classroom of children with various disabilities then came home to it. That made me think...think hard. She asked me what I was passionate about, art, of course. Hence my direction switched and I majored in art. I graduated at age 53 in 2005 with my B.A. in Art, with a discipline in ceramics, and a minor in English and American Literature. So I can throw a pot on the wheel and write one heck of an essay!! LOL

Since I had some experience in working with clay, I turned to the self hardening clays, paper clay, and oven-hardening polymers. I work with both and sometimes mix the two...will make a paper clay head and add polymer elements to accessorize my doll. I would love to return to creating the crazy pottery I made in my college studio, but my house excludes any space for my kiln, so my kiln is sitting in my mother's garage and my wheel and slab roller and many boxes of New Mexico low-fire clay sit in my studio, a reminder of what will be someday. I love combining other materials with my dolls, such as creating them from tin cans, wooden or paper mache boxes, cholla branches, (a cactus plant indicative to our desert landscape), rocks and fabric, of course. If I can stick a doll head to it, it's always a possibility!

I want to thank Lisa for this opportunity to have these blogs go global even for a while and I appreciate all the work she's put into this huge project...thank you, Lisa. To get more information on this wonderful blog adventure, go to http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/2010/12/annoucning-the-fifth-and-final-one-world-one-heart-event-.html I hope many of you become one of my regular followers and enjoy reading my rants, observations and art. I will be having a couple of door prizes, as seen below. I'll have the drawing Feb. 11th since that will give me time to ship them out within the 3 day corridor of time.

I will be leaving for Las Vegas, Nevada on the 18th...don't go ooowing and wowing...I'm taking my 88 year old mother to Vegas to watch my teeny bopper niece and her cheer leading team compete in some national competition...oh yay!! (add a bit of sarcasm to that last comment.) I've never been a big fan of Las Vegas....I guess it's my parent's fault since every year as children we went to Disneyland for summer vacation, then my folks took us to their playground, Las Vegas, where my sister, brother and I swam and burned all day in the Nevada heat and kept room service jumping at night while my folks went to play in the casinos or see a show, which on occasion we attended. We saw Red Skelton, The Smother's Brother's, a very young Vicki Carr, a production of "Gypsy Rose Lee" and many other celebs I can't recall right now. I returned to Las Vegas in 2004, during Spring Break, with my honey and had a wonderful time, but I pretty much saw what was of interest to us and especially enjoyed the Caesar's Palace shopping mall...fun place. So my only request is to revisit Caesar's Palace and visit the M&M store to stock up on those little goodies for my son and my grandsons.

Here are my little door prizes for your viewing, and for a couple of lucky people, winning pleasure. You know the drill, just leave a comment and make sure it's nice!! LOL Remember, the drawing will be on Feb. 11th. Peace out.


Small painting of La Virgen de Guadalupe in a hand-painted metal frame.



















My little Hungarian Paprika Box Doll.

Reminder

Just a gentle reminder that tomorrow starts OWOH. I'm very excited since it's my first, yes, I'm a OWOH virgen!! LOL Anyway, come on over sometime tomorrow and view my blog and my little door prizes. I'm planning on a couple of them, so be the first on your block to sign up. I'm hoping on getting something up by tomorrow morning, well, for sure by tomorrow afternoon! Here's for a great time and meeting new friends and hearing from old ones...imagine me lifting up a glass of the bubbly and toasting this!! Ok, at least a brewsky then!!! Peace out.

The Holy Grail

Good Morning, my Bloggy Pals. Today is going to be a short one...no rants!! Now I think that's a first, but I might be wrong. Anyway, today I'll be spending it in the studio working on some new dolls and a piece of art donation for Xico, Inc., the gallery in AZ. They're having their annual big wig dinner and asked their artists to donate a painted guitar for their auction. I emailed them and requested a guitar which I received on Tues. Yesterday, while watching re-runs of "Ally McBeal," I was inspired. It will be a mixed media piece, having a "Dia De Los Muertos" theme, (no, Calista Flockhart wasn't the inspiration...give that girl a sandwich!). However, more on that and my dolls later.

Today in the newspaper, I read in the entertainment section that the production of ,"Spamalot" will be playing at the Plaza Theatre next Tues. Now being a HU-EG Monty Python fan, I really would have loved to see it, but, money being what it is or not, I sadly realized that the ticket prices were a little out of my price range, unless I wanted to sit up in the nose bleed section and see tiny figures on a tiny stage, so I decided I preferred the front row! So this evening, I plan on having a "snack night" for dinner, sweet habanero and cream cheese spread and crackers, queso fundido and my own hot wings (have my own recipe...anyone interested, let me know), and insert my DVD of "Monty Python and The Holy Grail," into the player and enjoy. Lots cheaper and besides, don't have to worry about some bofo carrying on a conversation on his cell phone, I can always put the movie on pause if that happens!! LOL So my friends, have a lovey weekend, even though some of you are under a winter storm warning (in the 60's here today), keep warm and have fun. This evening, I shall be keeping company with "deadly rabbits ("what's he going to do, nibble me bum?"), obnoxious French guards, knights who say, "Ni," zealous body collectors, and politically argumentative peasants." Peace out.

Artist Statement....Oey Vey!

Hi all and welcome to another installment of my rants, raves and delish dishes!! Above is a large steaming pot of one my favorite things to eat, Calabasitas. It's a pot of shear love!! It's Italian zucchini, corn (canned or frozen), canned tomatoes (with jalapenos or plain), and cheese, lots and lots of cheese...extra sharp cheddar, munster, jack, asadero or all the above!!! It's just cheesielicious!! I also add some spices, garlic and onion power, a bit of Cajun seasoning (if you have Anne's recipe, I urge you to use it!!), and Mexican oregano (regular oregano is fine too, but Mexican has a richer flavour). You can make it as a side or a meal...I've used it for both. Just steam the zucchini then once it's semi-soft, (not mushy), add all the above ingredients and allow cheese to melt. That's it, that simple and so good.

Alright, now that I've exorcised the spirit of "Julia" (I wonder if she ever made Mexican food??), it's time for my rant. I've been asked to create an artist statement and bio for a gallery. The bio is no prob, but the artist's statement, Oey Vey!! If you were to ask any of my studiomates about Georgina and artist statements back when I was in school, you'd get the eye rolling action followed by a huge guffaw!! You see, as an art student I attended many shows, both professional and student shows, and read my fair share of artist's statements. Oh Lord, most of them were a verbal pile of doo-doo!! I thought, do these people really think this way when they're creating? So I'm really stumped for what I need to put down on paper or in this case, an email with an attached document...sigh!

I texted a good friend of mine, who graduated with me and moved on to get her masters in sculpture, making her now an assoc. prof at the university's art department. She called me back and said she couldn't text because she was laughing too hard to punch in her reply. She recalls all those comments I made when reading out those statements. I would take the brochure provided by the artist, back to the studio where work resumed into the late evenings. So for a comedic break, I would read out the statements to my fellow studio dudes and dudettes in the same fashion of a Shakespearean soliloquy!! I was an English and American Lit. minor, so I had lots of practice!! LOL Many of these statements made for a good laugh and began dialogs among us about art and our purpose in that world. Yea, whatever!!

Many of these statements have words like, "conceptual, organic, metamorphosis," and my personal favorite, "genesis!" I have a "genesis" every day, it's called waking up!! So I'm just stumped for words as to how to sound "artsy" and yet maintain my identity. I asked myself, "Myself, what do you think while in the throws of creativity?" I observed this yesterday while measuring where to drill holes into my wooden boxes (later on that project) and then taking the drill for said holes, however, I sounded more like Yosemite Sam after I pierced myself with a drill bit!! Oh well, so much for that experiment!!

While listening to my CD's, the voice of Paul Simon began to waft through my studio (do voices waft or is that scents??). It hit me, like Paul, I'm "still crazy after all these years"....and proud of it!! It was as if my decision to play that Paul Simon CD was more divine intervention than personal intent. I'm working on my statement now, with the "crazy" thing being my main theme. I don't know what direction it will take, if any. I might be like one of my favorite ceramists, Michael Corney, a professor of ceramics at UNM (University of New Mexico in Albuquerque) where his statement is a big question mark, except I'll use the exclamation point instead!

ARTIST STATEMENT BY GEORGINA CECILIA DIAZ:

!

These are pics of my latest projects since before Christmas. Two of them are little metal frames made in Mexico. I grew up seeing them on the walls of old missions and homes and loved the colours and designs. I ordered a few little ornaments last year and decided to start doing something with them. I'm a doll artist, that's never going to change, but I do enjoy going outside of my perimeter now and then and here are the results of my wandering.



Metal frame with a small painting of "Virgen de Guadalupe," enclosed in a small glass frame.
















Metal heart with a satin ribbon and gold milagro in the centre.



















Dollar store metal frame with a small painted canvas of "Virgen de Guadalupe."
















These are available for sale if anyone is interested, just email me at barrobabe54@yahoo.com.

Well, I'm off to begin my day in the studio. With all these football play-offs, I doubt if my hubby or son will come up for air today until I take my boy back home to his father this evening. So my bloggy buds, have a great week and keep creating and don't forget to try my warm-up-the-soul Calabasita recipe, especially those of you who are chin deep in snow...yea, it's going to be in the mid-60's here today!! Peace out.

Wizard of Oz Celebration

Hey all, just a short one today, but my buddy, Linda, is having a Wizard of Oz celebration and knowing Linda, it's going to be lots of fun. Just go over to the top of my side bar and click for details. For those of you who don't know Linda, her blog is a must...just love the lady! We met a few years back when we were both members of a Yahoo group and for what, at this point I don't recall. All I know is that Linda and I found each other there and began communicating since neither of us were part of the "groovy people" crowd! We both agreed to "get out of Dodge," and move on to blogging instead, and here we are.

Hope you all had a great weekend and are doing something wonderfully creative this week. I'm working on some new projects and will post pics as soon as I complete them. Have a great week and please, drop by Linda's blog and sign up for her part-ee!! Also, I can assure you, you'll fall in love with her writings, thoughts, ramblings (she does a lot of that, but then that's one of the reasons I love her) and join her blog. Seems I've been hawking blogs lately!! LOL Peace out.

New Blog & Toda La Familia

Well, here we are going into our first week of the new year and already I have something to rant about!! Oh yea, as if that's a big surprise to you!! However, before I begin my "observations," I want to recommend a blog for your reading enjoyment. My daughter has begun a weight-loss journey and decided to write about it. Now my girl is very much like her "mummy," she's fluffy and funny, although, I think she's funnier than I and writes a heck of a lot better. So if you want a good laugh and a sneak peak into the life, trials and tribulations of a 32 (there Andria, I corrected it) year old mother of 4 adorable little boys (my addition to that, not hers), a music teacher, wife and fighter of the fluff, go on over: http://fattyandi.blogspot.com/ She also has a fan page on her Facebook, so if you like this blog, join her fan page...oh wait, I haven't yet, but then I'm her biggest fan...I don't need to sign up for no stinkin' fan page!! LOL

Right now I'm listening to one of my many stations I've developed on Pandora. I love Laura Nyro, who died much too young. If you haven't heard of her, Google her and see all the wonderful music she sang and wrote, made famous by other singers and groups, such as , Barbara Streisand, Three Dog Night, The Band, The Fifth Dimension and many others and if some of you do not recognize some of the above artists, then Google them!!! LOL

I'm reading another book for book club, but this time, it's a children's book. The sponsor of this months literary evening, is an elementary school librarian. After our first meeting of book club ladies, Carolyn brought me home since I was on her way. We discussed our love for children's literature and how I've been collecting it for years, even though my daughter took the bulk of my collection when she began her family, but I have continued since. She decided to pick a very sweet story about a rabbit, "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane." I called my 10 year old grandson and asked him if he had ever read it and he had, in 3rd grade!! He told me it was about a "plastic" bunny. Actually, it's about a "porcelain" bunny, but who's noticing. So I took my mother to her doc's appointment on Monday and having the past experience of waiting so long in that office, my clothes go out of style, I took the book to begin my reading! This reminds me of a story my daughter told me about my ex-mother-in-law, who I still adore...her son, not so much! She told Andria that she has dropped some of her docs due the long wait she has to endure in the waiting room. One of these physicians complained to her that her blood pressure was too high, but she rebutted that if he didn't make her wait so long in the outer office, she wouldn't have high blood pressure!! Makes total sense to me...amazing how I haven't stroked out yet!

We entered the office and to my absolute surprise, it was wall-to-wall people. Actually, it's always full, but we're talking full house! I entered and blurted out "Holy Sh-t, it's standing room only!" Some of the patrons laughed but not Church Lady, who we ended up sitting next to...she didn't think I was "special" at all (remember Dana Carvey's "Church Lady" on Saturday Night Live back when it was still funny)! I don't know if you're familiar with certain little quirks we beaners have, well, not all of us, but around here, it's the norm. Doctor's visits are obviously a family affair..."toda la familia!" A lady who was new in our fair city, asked me once why there are signs in some offices that specify only a certain amount of people can wait in the outer office...I almost fell over from laughing!! I explained the "toda la familia" syndrome that afflicts many of the population here in ol' El Paso.

Well, back to the doctor's office experience the other day, Church Lady and her mother were led back to the patient's waiting room, when a "toda la familia" came into the office, 4 friggin' generations of them!! There was the great-grandmother, grandmother, mother and 2 small children, one of them being about 12-14 months. Now I love kids just like the next person (lies, Georgina, you hate all children including your own), ok, well, maybe not all children, hey, I like mine, sometimes, and my grandsons all the time!! LOL They called in the great-granny, the actual patient and the grandmother, daughter I assume, escorted the little old woman into the back, leaving the mother and the two little ones. All I could think was this woman doesn't get out much because she struck up a conversation with the women sitting next her and the entire time, never came up for air!! The toddler was growing impatient, as toddlers tightly strapped into strollers do, and the mother was oblivious to her complaints, unfortunately, everyone else was quite aware! The problem was that they were sitting next to me. The child cried, wailed at times, threw her bottle and then proceeded to throw it at me...oh no, you didn't!!??!?!? I tapped the mother on her arm and proceeded to explain to her that her child was becoming irritated and was attempting to get her attention...she then told me she doesn't speak English, so I translated my comment to her. Her reply was that the kid does it all the time, and returned to her yammering to the poor souls next to her. The little darling returned to her "usual" behavior and again, launched the bottle my direction. I politely picked it up and set it on the table next to my seat, without any comment or glances and returned to my bunny story. The mother turned around and I assume was ready to give me a piece of her mind, but before she could get a word out, she was met with many tongue lashings from the other people who watched and had to endure her child's shenanigans.

This again, reminds me of another story. We had this cat, Purcy, who was constantly victimized by this neighborhood bully cat. I guess Purcy had enough one afternoon, so he lead this cat in a chase through the metal gate into our backyard, bully kitty right behind him. There standing at the entrance of the gate, were our two doggies, our Belgium Shepard, Charro, and our little Benjie type terrier, Edgar. Well, fur flew and I watched Purcy on the wall watching the show and bathing himself while being entertained by his canine buddies. Needless to say, that cat never bothered our Purcy ever again. Except for me sitting on a wall and lapping myself, that's about how it went in that out office...verbal fur was flying and the irate mother took her two little sweeties outside...bu-by!!

Now for something completely different (Monty Python fans may recognize that one), but the other night I was watching television and this commercial came on. It was an advertisement for a Time-Life music library selection, a set of classical music CD's. As I listened to some of the samples of music, all that came to mind was, "Kill the wabbit, kill wabbit, kill the wabbit!!" Thank you Warner Bros. for introducing me to opera and classical music at such a young age...it left it's mark! Oey vey!!! Well, that's about all, my friends. I plan on going into my newly organized and clean studio, backache and all, and begin creating again. Have a great week and peace out.