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Happy Anniversary!

picture of me at Cedars West Arts Festival manning the paint station for Magic Garden Program
photo by Gabriela Elguea and Heather Shoulders

Sometimes it's good to just pause from the busy life and TO DO LISTS and the stuff rolling around in your brain and take inventory of all that is good in our life. I am doing that right now. It dawned on me today as I turned in my blog for  I Am Bilingue  that the last cover I gave them was for a Fathers Day edition and the very first assignment they gave me was for...a Fathers Day edition. I remember very clearly meeting with Fabian Campos, my contact at the paper/website, and how it just seemed a perfect laidback fit and I hoped against hope they would like my work enough to keep me on.
my first cover for Mercado Bilingue, I've been teaching myself Photoshop and Illustrator


 Here I am a year later and I have 13 covers under my belt and countless blogs. A lot of the features have been memoirs of my life with my Dad (I lost to Diabetes two years ago) and I've also got to interview and report about the art and culture in Dallas/Oak Cliff. It's been a rewarding endeavor, keeping me connected to my "hood", roots and hopefully shedding a little light on some artists and venues that need it. I have loved retelling stories about my Dad- and I will admit- I do cry every time I have to write one but it's a good cry and I'm happy to FEEL the deep love I have for my Dad. Ugh....crying now. Pause.
my latest cover for Mercado Bilingue, out on the streets now

Ok, so YAY HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to me! It's been a long year freelancing, almost two years (come August) since I quit a dead end job and recovered from a back injury and lost my sweet Pops. I have so many supportive awesome people in my life and although the money is scant sometimes I wouldn't give up this path I've chosen for anything. I am learning about myself, the struggles I can endure,becoming stronger and appreciative of all the little things in life. I feel blessed to share my triumphs and defeats with you. If you believe in yourself you can go so far. I hope my words empower you today. Take a minute for gratitude.

If you don't get Mercado Bilingue where you are...I blog my feature here at I AM BILINGUE
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