Today's Project

So my mother bought this figurine for her "focal point" in the backyard. Meet Minnie-HaHa, as she calls her. Personally, I hate the name, but it's her statue, not mine...never!

She has asked me to retouch Ms. Minnie and so this is what I'll be doing today. After much inspection, I say spray paint her and just start over, but my mother wants her focal point outside a.s.a.p. During the summer, my mother's backyard is a wild display of gorgeous plants, bushes and little ceramic critters. Many years ago my daughter took her cousin outside and stood among the ceramic menagerie and told her, "Look Marisa, someday this will all be yours!" It's been a constant joke since then. In fact I sent my niece a pic of her new piece that will be her inheritance...I'm still waiting for a comment!! LOL My mother is such a "super beaner" and yet a woman of great intelligence, class and style but sometimes you just can't get away from the ol' heritage!!! LOL

Oh it gets better. She's been hunting for a blue toilet seat for a couple of years. She hadn't found it yet and I even ventured into the wondrous sites of toilet seats on the Internet; couldn't find the blue she wanted. Upon our visit to Phoenix, my sister took us to a home goods store and she found it, the toilet seat, with scallop edges...quite elegant. Was she happy with the it's lovely simplicity???? OH NO!!!!! She wanted me to paint something in the centre but I told her the paint would wear off after a while, even if it were sprayed with a heavy duty finish, the maid would scratch it all off with her brush. So what did she come up with, decals. So off to Hobby Lobby we went in search of the little sticky pieces of artful plastic. Oiy Vey! So guess what my next project is going to be?

Well, now that I've unloaded this story about the travesty of my time, I'm off to mix and match colours and doll up little Miss Focal Point. Peace out.

It's a Boy!

Just got a text from my daughter, mother of the Penis Posse. She just got the news that she's going to be adding another little penis to her family. She's very disappointed with the news because after 3 boys, she wanted a little girl, but I told her to look at it this way, she's going to still be the Queen Bee. I know that somewhere in this world, some woman was just told she's having another little girl, so the Universe is again balanced!

The above picture was taken in Austin in January, check out the short sleeves! My hubby's oldest son and his better half joined us for lunch at Shady Groves on their way back home to Houston. My daughter is to the very pregger one to my right in the pic and of course, the infamous Penis Posse! Yikes, I look like I'm ready to drop one too!!! Nah, just fluffy! Can't do babies anymore, Thank The Lord and menopause!!!

Working on shrines for an upcoming silent auction at our local community college fundraiser for the art department. So I'm busy with that. I'm also going to be doing a steampunck doll tutorial with Chaska Peacock on her site. For those of you who aren't familiar with her work, you've got to see it... http://mai-liispeacocknotes.blogspot.com. Anyway, she offers some great classes and I recommend you to go see what she's done and what she's offering. Ok Chaska, you got a freebie here!! LOL

Need to run. Going over for lunch to a friends new house and I know it's going to be awesome! Peace out.

New Dolls

Well, here are two more creations. Meet Mr. S. Pea-Body and Lilly a.k.a., Baby Cheeks. I had such a hard time trying to come up with something snappy for Lilly, but I just didn't know what to do with her, so I asked a wonderful Internet bud to give me some ideas. Long story short, she made that adorable hippie purse for her. If you'd like to see my friend's work, you'll find her at farmgirlrocks.etsy.com. For more information about my babies, you can see them at my Etsy site, barrobabe.etsy.com. All my dolls have their own stories, so if anything, check their bios out.

Well, been busy as always and this week was no exception...was so busy I didn't know whether to wind my watch or .......ok, won't finish that one. First of all, who winds their watches anymore???? This weekend is going to be a pretty big whirlwind, my daughter is arriving sometime tonight or tomorrow morning from Austin. She will have my 3 grandsons, her boyfriend and let's not forget the fetus. Hopefully in two weeks we'll have a gender and I'll stop calling her/him, the fetus. She's planning on surprising my mother tomorrow andn Andria is a bit anxious about how she's going to take the introduction of the "boyfriend." My mother thinks my daughter is immoral for doing this, but then she has no problem with my brother "living in sin." It's the old double standard and she's a total Mexican mother!! I'm just happy that I'm going to have another grandchild...I'm so pumped...can't wait...hope it's a girl! If not, oh well, I'll love him to bits like the other 3.

Speaking of the "penis posse" my youngest, Zachary, announced to his mother yesterday that he wanted to live with his Meema (God help me). She asked him if he'd miss her and his brothers and soon-to-be stepdad, he told her that they could visit!! He has the face of an angel but oh wow...what can I say!! This is a kid that decided one day to freak out his uncle, who was living with them for a while (my eldest child) and drink from the toilet with a staw...shall we say that the toilet water had company!!!!!! Ok, sorry if you gagged, but that's the Zach Man. I have many other stories but that one tops them all!!

Well, I was just informed that we're expecting company at high noon and I'm still in my nighty, so it's off to the showers for me. Need to get the bedroom ready for my gang's arrival this p.m./a.m. and get this show on the road. Have a wonderful Easter and make sure you have lots and lots of chocolate or for those of you that like Peeps, ugh, hope you get every colour offered this season!! Peace out.

She's Back!

Phoenix was lots of fun! My mother behaved and didn't get after me too much about my heavy foot on the petal!! So if you were waiting to here about an 86 year old woman left at the Texas Canyon rest stop in AZ by her frazzled daughter, you waited for nothing.

Would you believe I didn't take pictures of us while we were there. The only one I took of family was the one of my adorable, wonderful almost 21 year old niece, Marisa Kate...she loooves guacamole!! We ate at this great place called Z-Tejas. Food was wonderful and the Long Island Ice Teas were very refreshing!!!!! My mother thought it was a specialized tea and took a sip...hair is still growing on her chest!

Went to Old Chandler, a burb of Phoenix, and visited this really cool gallery called the Xico Inc. Had lots of Latino art and it looked like the sort of place I could display my Muerto Art. Have all the information to contact the exec. director, but procrastination has reared it's nasty little head and the card still just lies very lonely on my big desk. Haven't been to the website, but if anyone is interested it's www.xicoinc.com .

We also went to the Desert Botanical Gardens. Ok, so I live in the desert too and why would I want to see plants that we consider weeds, but it was well worth it. There was also a Dale Chihuly exhibition. His beautiful glass sculptures were displayed in the landscape...wonderful. I have lots more pics of the exhibition, but put that one up to entice you. If any of you have been to the Belagio Hotel in Las Vegas, you'll remember the gorgeous glass flowers suspended from the ceiling in the main foyer...that's Chihuly's work.

We did visit two of my mother's friends while on our way to and back. Tucson is very unusual in that it doesn't have any interstates going through the city, so you get off I-10 then travel on surface streets to get anywhere....aahhhhhhh! Well, let's just say, we saw more of Tucson that we really had planned on seeing. We got lost looking for the first friend, but we eventually found her and it was great seeing my mother and her talk and reminisce. My parents and this couple were golfing buds and went all over the western states to golf, they both admitted that those years were the best of all, sadly, they are both widows! She's a pretty amazing lady in that she's almost completely blind, has little peripheral vision and paints these gorgeous water colour florals. Now the other friend, on our way back, was easy to find, but it took 45 mins. from the interstate to get to her house. The good thing about this one, was that after crossing all of Tucson through the surface streets, it was easy and shorter to get to I-10.

We also had ordered some tamales de elote, made with green corn, a specfialty from the Mexican state of Sonora, where my maternal peoples come from, and waited in this dirt lot right off the road before we hit I-10. People were looking very suspiciously at us and I was waiting for the police to come and arrest us once we made the purchase. Wouldn't that have been a hoot!! "No officer, this is not a drug exchange, but a tamale raid!!!"

Well, I've rambled quite a bit and so now it's time for me to get my fat buttocks into the studio and start working again. Peace out.

Out of Town and Out of Mind

I want to introduce you to my new additions to my Etsy shop. The heart is Heart Burn, the red angel is Dinita, and the pretty purple girly is Rose. Hope you like them, better yet, hope you just have to have them!! LOL I have a couple of other small paintings waiting to be completed, but I'll have to wait till next week, late next week. Remember all, these originals!

I'll be leaving town this Thurs. ..going on a road trip...my mother and I!!! Two women, one 57 and menopausal and the other 86 and holding. Should be interesting. We're going up to visit my sis who purchased a new house last year. My mother wanted to go to see it, but with my Pop's condition, there was no way. After Pop went to the Great Links in Heaven, I asked her if she still wanted to take a road trip to Phoenix. Long story short, we leave early Thurs. and leave early on the 31st. Looking forward to the Diaz girls spending time together. I know my mother will have a great time....she deserves it.

Well, will tell all upon my return next week. Have a good one and God bless. Peace out.

Well, here I am with my babies, my youngest son, Ian and my 3 wonderful grandsons. The grands were here visiting their father for Spring Break and I had an opportunity to spend a few hours with them. This pic was taken at my mother's house in the backyard. We had to visit the "Baba." They miss their Pop-Pop a lot and mentioned it after we left my mother's that it was strange without him there.

I took them to an exhibition at a downtown museum, The Lynx, which had this wonderful interactive robot show. The kids got to play with all kinds of great projects and they had replicas of 2 of my favorite robots, Klatu from "The Day the Earth Stood Still," and Robbie the Robot from many motion pictures but more famous for him yelling "Danger, danger, Will Robinson!" My youngest little man loved Klatu, so I think I'm going to make him a Klatu puppet!

It was sad to say goodbye to them, but I know they were looking forward to returning home to Austin to their mommy, my baby girl, and their soon to be step dad. They'll be back in the summer so I'll have them a little longer then. Their father has always been very nice about my seeing them and spending time with them.

Yesterday we had a birthday party for my other little man, Aiden. He turned 1 year last week, but his fraternal grandparents came in for the weekend so we waited. He was so exhausted later on, I gave him a warm bath, a baby lotion massage and held him while he drifted off to sleep. The most wonderful feeling is holding a sleeping baby....great for the high blood pressure!!

I'm going to be very busy this next week. Am taking my mother on a road trip to Phoenix, AZ. My sister and niece live there and we're going for a visit. We're planning on stopping in Tucson to have lunch with one of my mother's dear friends, picking up some tamales de elotes (tamales made with white corn...a specialty in that part of AZ from that northern area of Mexico where my maternal family is from) then head up to Phoenix. We'll be staying at my sister's new house, then leave early, the 31st, and head back down to Tucson to have breakfast with another friend of my mom's and pick up the rest of the tamales.

Am working on some new things, my little paintings. I'm just about done with 3 of them and two more on the way. Hopefully, I can finish everything by Tuesday so I can post them Wed. Well, I hear my blue eyed little man in the living room....guess he came back to return the blanket I had him in last night before they left. Peace out.

New Direction

This is Cosmo, my wannabe steam punk character. I had this asparagus can on my work table for several months. It had been geesoed already, apparently I had another idea for it some time back and I don't recall for what now...that's when menopause works for you!!! Anyway, I had the head ready to go, but hadn't figured out what body I was going to create for it. Well, Cosmo then gave me a gentle suggestion and I looked over at the can...WHAM!!! The idea went off and the rest is history. He's now listed in my Etsy shop ready for someone to give him a loving home.

I've been doing some research on what's selling and discovered through Etsy, magazines and such and found that little paintings seem to be very popular. A lot of them resemble one of my favorite artist, L.S. Meserol who creates these wonderful, whimsical and very funky little paintings and mixed media work. Well, I decided I'm going to try my hand at making mini-paintings for my Etsy shop.

I'm not abandoning my doll making, no way, but I'm going to just step out of my little zone and see what happens. It's funny, but I used to do this sort of thing in my previous life (before the divorce) and I was pretty successful....was getting there anyway. That's why I really have struggled with this idea since it's part of my past which I left behind long ago. Also, I'm thinking I went to college, majored in art just to fall back on what I knew before school!!!??? Seems a little bit silly, but I have taken much of what I've learned and it's reflected onto my work, so school was every bit worth it, plus, I got a B.A. out of it.

So I'm off to the old/new Georgina Land and see what develops. Peace out.