La Llorona Arts: December 2011

Howdy y'all from the great state of Texas and I don't take any credit for Rick Perry either, so don't judge me!!! LOL Just wanted to come by and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I really should be in my kitchen making Chocolate pies and Lemon Pound cake, but I just had to come by and say hello.

Last week I made the last of my Christmas ornies for 2011. Here's a sample:

Made these little guys for daughters of one of Ian's buddies...Monty. He's a sports trainer at one of the local high schools and has invested time and friendship with my son. He's one of those really nice guys, so thought I'd make his little girls, 5 and 3, some cutie ornies.

These little Santas I made for a friend of mine. I make her a homemade ornie every year. The other is going to a really sweet kid that runs this adorable shop...very girlie place. She rents my dad's old office space and she's always been a sweetheart, so giving her one of these and an Chocolate Pie!

This little plaque is for my hairdresser, or is it stylist now??? She's loves all that is Latino and Southwestern, so here's a little something for her kitchen wall.

I finally completed these little darlings. It was quite nostalgic to go through so many of my old designs from years ago...it was a time of great joy and sadness. But the one thing I can say is that due to my "art training" in college, I was able to tweak them a bit. Recall my blog about "prostitution," well, these are the results. LOL

And last but not least, is a little "dark" Christmas ornie I made for an exchange. I can't a be hundred percent"cutsie" all the time, ya know.

Well, my friends, it's time for me to hit the showers, then the kitchen and start that baking again. I've already made dozens upon, dozens of Mexican Wedding cookies or "Liar" cookies as they are known to my grandsons. One year they helped me make them and I told them that in Italy, they're called Liar cookies. When they inquired why that name, I told them to have a cookie, which they enthusiastically obliged. Then I told them that if they had snicked a cookie and "lied" about eating them, I'd know....the proof was on their shirts...they went to look in the mirror and saw the powdered sugar! I've also made many biscochos, the little Mexican cinnamon cookies, Rosettes, those little lovely fried pieces of heaven. My husband calls it a labor of love, I call it a pain in the arse...frying is not my thing, but oh well, it's once a year! Then the chocolate chip cookies, everyone's favorite...not mine, but every one else! For years I never liked the way they turned out, so my daughter took up the task when she was in high school and they turned out perfect. So I just passed that baton on to her. Well, when she moved to Austin, there was no else who'd make them, so I took it up again last year, reluctantly. Lo and behold, I discovered the high altitude directions and finally, after all these years, they turned out perfect. Of course, my daughter told me they had always been on the package, but sometimes I can be so linear, that I don't notice the obvious!

So it's good-bye for the rest of 2011 and to you all for now. I shall return, like General MacArthur, with hopefully some more ornies, dollies and paintings. Have a wonderful Christmas and don't forget to establish a designated driver for the New Year!! Peace out.

Ok, now that I have your attention, let me explain. Back when I was in school, the second time around...was called "a returning student," which means old fart. Anyway, many of my art professors advised us as to how make our art and make it our own, carefully making a rep for ourselves and being "recognized" for that work. Most of my profs followed their own advise, teaching what they knew best, except my ceramic prof...he got into all kinds of weird materials...no clay involves at all. I wonder if he was affected by one of his patrons who hung up one of his "donuts" in her black and white bathroom...the poor guy was really embarrassed during the tour of this pretentious bitty's house. However, his openness to other materials, made it easier for some of his students to work on other mediums, such as moi. He hated mixed media....don't know why, but didn't really care because I incorporated all kinds of stuff into my ceramic pieces.

Years ago, in my previous life, I was a folk artist. I learned how to do folk painting when I lived in Germany. I took a Baum Maleri course from one of Southern Germany's masters, or that's what he told us. Anyway, I learned all kinds of folksy painting techniques and made all kinds of cutsie stuff. When I returned in 1979, there seemed to be a wave of this kind of painting found in many art shows. Well, I decided it was time for this gal to jump on the band wagon. So I made all kinds of wooden paintings, first straight Baum Maleri, then I branched out to other subjects. About 24 years ago, the local museum on campus at UTEP, the Centennial, had a great exhibition on retablos and ex-votos, religious paintings. I was hooked. This began my journey into iconic art, not the Russian or Greek, but my own.

When the Spaniards were exploring around these parts, they brought a lot of their talents with them, painters, silversmiths, etc. The silversmiths taught the indigenous folks how to make jewelry and other functional work and when the churches were going up, they painted these religious figures on wooden tablets, ya know, kind of like St. Francis of Assisi did...most people in the proto-Renaissance didn't read so he figured out a way for the village people to learn their Bible studies, by painting frescoes on the interior walls of churches. Anyway, the retablos have a very specific style...Google them and you can see what I mean and take a look at what the present day New Mexican artists are doing...many have maintained the old style, even making their own pigments out of the local flora and fauna and minerals. However, I love what the contemporary religious artists are doing and therefore, I set my course and veered into that direction.

I also began making cutsie Christmas ornaments out of wood, little brightly coloured angels, Santas, snowmen...you get my trend. I was invited to huge show in San Angelo, TX...it's right smack in the middle of TX and out in the middle of nowhere. I recall having to get of the Interstate and taking all these little back roads, passing one little pathetic town after another; they were once prosperous during the oil boom, but now just skeletal remains of mules and riggs dot the landscape. So we drive up into this little gem of a town, bustling with lots of action. We drove to Fort Concho, an old army post turned into a tourist spot, and I was very fortunate enough to be housed in one of the lovely little row houses that had once been occupied by the officers and their families. We set up, by we, I mean the ex and me, and were ready for the next few days of sells. The doors opened at high noon that Friday of Dec. 1, 1994 and I was overwhelmed by the attention my work received. I had people coming up to me telling me they "collected" my work...collected????? I was being collected?????!!! I had been discovered while selling my art at this little shop in Cloudcroft, NM, about 2 hours up the road and that's how I got the juried invite. So the whole experience was not only quite profitable, but very humbling. I made approximately $3K that weekend and was ready for the following year, which never happened. By 1995, my marriage was in the toilet, and I was being blamed for spending far too much time on my art work...suppose someone has to be blamed for others indiscretions, so I stopped doing art all together...he had stolen my joy. Of course after a few years of therapy, I realized I let him steal my joy!

So back to what I was explaining...I'm a prostitute, an art prostitute!!! While in school, I loved making all these really fun, whimsical things...wasn't going to waste my time or money on making ugly yard art, that's what I called it and told my profs I was to damn old for angst, so they left me alone!! LOL My ceramic prof kept telling me I was a folk artist...I told him politely he was full of it...was never going back there again...just too painful, and besides, I was being professionally trained....WHATEVER!! So what can I say, my prof was right and I've finally gotten over myself and have resumed making "cutsie" art. One reason being is that is sells, hence the prostitute aspect of all of this, and two, I actually have been enjoying it.

One reason for this sudden epiphany, is that I've got someone representing my work in a shop up in Ruidoso, NM. When I explained some of the work I do, she was interested in the folk art stuff, which I really hadn't made in a while, but I told her I used to do that. So she asked me to send her photos of some of my work, I did, and she fell in love with the red, chile ristra, of course she did!! Ruidoso and Cloudcroft are more geared towards, what I call, white bread art...they haven't gotten the word that there's lots more to NM than ristras, howling coyotes and Kokopeli...oy! Actually, they're quite passee, but they still love selling them to people from other parts of the country and foreigners who feel these symbols are representative of NM...dear lovely Linda, you know what I'm talking about???!!!??!?!????!!!

So I've been making ristras out of polymer clay and setting them on folk art inspired painted pieces of wood. Also made some little angels and Virgen de Guadalupe for another little shop. I know most of you know me for my dolls and Dia de los Muertos artwork, but it's time to expand, even if it's familiar. However, I do have some training under the belt now and the stuff I used to make all those years ago are different...same templates, but different chapter. So below are samples of what I've been making:

My little paintings, almost complete...have a bit more to do with them then add the wire hangers. (NO WIRE HANGERS!)

More little chiles ready for the oven....

And here are the wooden boards...still have to paint them before adding the ristra.

Also, my niece strongly advised me not to post her lovely face on FB, so instead, I'm posting it here. Actually, I want to show you an example of a chili infused abode, my brother, Fred's house...he lives in Las Cruces, NM and he loves all that is "chile", looks great too!! Also, my brother, Fred, both photos taken at Thanksgiving.

Also, can you guess what this is???

Talking about artwork....look what God left me this morning on the back window of my car...had to hurry up and take this pic since the sun was coming up.

Well, folks, it's time to take it to the couch, as the late, great Dean Martin used to say at the end of his show. Have lots to do and already scheduling my month...the Diaz Bake-o-Rama begins in two weeks...looking forward to making my bischochitos and Mexican Wedding cookies or as my grandson call them, liar cookies. Two years ago, Ian and I spent Christmas in Austin with my daughter. I made the Mexican Wedding cookies, but told my boys that in Italy they're called Liar Cookies...when asked why, I told them to eat one, then if anyone asked if they had eaten any and they denied it, the proof was on their shirts...told them to go to the bathroom and look in the mirror at their shirts...powdered sugar...they thought that was hilarious and they've called them by that name since. Have a great weekend, don't stress so much about the coming season, just enjoy....my motto, "If it don't get don't, it don't get done!" Peace out.