Art Plunge

beautiful wings I am 37 years old and I'm not one of those women who is afraid to tell you her age. I am also not afraid to tell you that I felt 80 years old and have for a long time...up until this month when I found myself in the ER TWICE in one day. I have been living with chronic pain for a long time now, if it wasn't debilitating abdominal pain from some mysterious illness it was a constant fatigue in my legs, hips, thighs and back. I attributed it to a back injury I sustained almost 4 years ago. I thought it would be something I would just have to live with- try to work out and become so sore within hours that I couldn't do anything else for the rest of the day. In fact Gym Day was solely that- GYM only because I would have to lay down and complain for the next 24 -48 hours about how I couldn't move my legs. It made working out and losing weight even harder. Stupid back injury ! Even cleaning the house for a little while would just flood my body with pain.

Twiggy Side B on view at Kettle Gallery "THAT 60's SHOW" Tonight is the opening for THAT 60's SHOW at Kettle Gallery. I have two slices of vinyl art in the show and got a sneak peek of some of the other works and they are fab! Fab! Gear! In case you aren't familiar with me I've been djing 60's retrocentric tunes in this town for about 10 years or so and throwing themed parties to boot. Founded a troupe of real GO GO girls who dance in fantastic vintage outfits (and keep them on!) and hopefully have turned people on to some fantastic (if not forgotten) tunes. Did I mention, I really adore the 60's? So I'm excited to be included and ready for tonights opening! https://m.facebook.com/events/604678802912249?__user=717543983 There will be a DJ on hand and a video projectionist with wild visuals. It's going to be fun and I have a reason to don the go go boots, yay! I am feeling 100% better and a complete 180 from last week. Wow! I even,

New week and I'm not feeling like dying right now so I'm going to make the most of it by hitting the studio hard and getting some stuff taken care of. I have some odds n end things that need to get shipped out and some commissions that I'm sorry to say are LATE because I got superzombiedeath ill. Whatever illness this is really kills my momentum and my wallet. Because I'm certain this is endo/hormone related and affects my digestive system ...it makes sense my diet is going to be what heals me. I've spent a lot of time and even bought a recipe book so I can start my endo friendly diet. I'm good at adapting to things. About 5 or 6 years ago I stopped drinking milk and switched to soy before reading it was bad and switched to almond milk- where I am perfectly fine. No big deal. After my first ER visit and diagnosis with gastritis I was able to kick coffee...not as easy (the withdrawal symptoms were bad!) but I did it. Sugar, however, is my achilles heel. So t

This is how I feel, like my body is no longer my home. It has been ransacked by intruders and a fire has been set to it. I don't feel safe in my own body anymore and even worse... I FEAR it. Every month, it is put through hellish torture and the aftermath is me trying to rebuild, my digestive system, my reproductive system, my general health and energy and my back.... Laying in bed for days puking does a number on an already injured spine. Finding time and the positivity I need to exercise and work, it's a struggle. If this is endo it also affects your immune system and food become enemies as well. So here I am, back to what I call Day 1 of  rebuilding. Cooking food I can eat, kicking out what I can't eat (sugar, wheat, gluten, dairy, red meat, anything processed, refined, etc) and trying to get some light exercise to get oxygen to my hurt back. I could complain but it's pointless, today I'm thankful I can drink water and eat a banana. Enjoy your health!

I haven't blogged in a long time. Life's been busy and strange. On the art front things seem well and this month alone has been good for art and record sales and new opportunities. I've even had some freelance work that really helped me out financially. However all that is dimmed by one thing.... My health. Or lack of it, I should say. My symptoms for my ailment get worse and worse. I have been up since 3:30 am in pain so bad I felt like I was going to throw up. I eventually did just now... Which is a very bad sign for me. That's usually a precursor for the ER. The only relief I get during the extreme abdominal pain that makes me feel like I'm being murdered by a machete to my gut... Is plunging myself in hot baths and just laying there waiting for the pain to pass. It's not uncommon for me to take 6 or more of these soakings in a day. These pains have begun to last 5-7 days where they used to last maybe 3. Pain meds don't work, none of them. My research is

Candles for Bette Midler No one ever said freelancing was easy but I'll be damned if it hasn't been entertaining and interesting. I'm kind of amazed at the projects I've found myself on and how they all came to be. When I follow the thread back it really all came from my little Bartering Artists group...which started because I needed a haircut. Thanks hair! Let's go back in time when I was contacted by the lovely Megan - a stranger to me at the time. Apparently she was in the group Bartering Artists I had started and she asked me if I needed some part time work on a temporary project. I surely did as I was totally, totally broke. Turns out the project was for none other than Bette Midler- a fundraising party that was held annually by her required some votive candles to be blinged up with sequins and glitter. It didn't pay much but I needed every cent. Sure I could do it-and I was in. Hot glue gun burns and cramped hands and glitter all over me every day

photo by Sara Pintilie for Latino Leaders Magazine Wow, July has been something else! Neil Matthiessen and I at the Colorimetry show on view thru Aug 9 August is already here and it came in on Julys last hot dying breath. Temps in the 100's daily! This month will see me closing out my two shows that are up right now. The first one to close is COLORIMETRY at WAAS GALLERY, it closes AUGUST 9. Have you seen it yet? I'm pretty proud of the show and the lovely space it's in right now. Please go see it before it's gone!  The next show to close will be ORGANUM at Baylor Health Sciences Library, it closes August 30. You have plenty of time to go check it out :) There are still lots of pieces for sale from both exhibits Looks like I have more freelance work coming my way (which I sorely need) and am spending the next few days creating another painting for a special private party I've been invited to be the feature artist at. Latino Leaders Ma

See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil (my friends Angelica and Marstar on each side) July has been PACKED and I mean JAM PACKED with things that needed to get done, hurdles that needed to be jumped and lots of bad news. And some good stuff too. A quick synopsis of my month- opened the Colorimetry show at WAAS Gallery...that was my big Herculean task of my life. I worked so hard putting that together, creating for it up to the very last minute, sinking so much money into supplies and was relieved when it finally opened (although a lot of my friends didn't show, the ones who DID get special gold stars in my book). For the record the art show is still up- until August 9th in fact and it would be awesome and special to me if you went and checked it out. Theres nothing worse than spending almost a year of your life making something beautiful to put into the world and no one even going to see it. : /  The gallery hours are Thurs, Fri, Sat 12-4pm at WAAS GALLERY 2722 Logan S

COLORIMETRY at WAAS GALLERY opens tonight! So it's been 6 months of hard labor getting ready for this very night. It used to seem so far away....and now it's here. Unbelievable. There has been so much stress along the way, falling into bad health and horrible pain, wondering if I was going to pull this off with dwindling funds. At one point I had $7 to my name and no supplies. My cat almost died and I had to pay an outrageous amount to bring her back to life. A giant handful of trips to the hospital and doctors office (still ongoing) to help get my health back on track. Financial disaster as I am currently being evicted from my house. And that's not even scratching the surface of spending most waking hours in the studio painting, painting, painting, painting, painting. Having to give up so much just to make it happen and wondering if anyone is even going to collect something. You take that chance and risk and just HOPE it will all turn out wonderful in the end. So ma

detail of Coccinillidae on view at WAAS GALLERY Yesterday was a full day of hustle and bustle- getting the pieces up to WAAS Gallery for the install. Some of the pieces were still being framed so a late evening trip to pick them up in North Richland Hills and then back to WAAS to drop them off was how I finished my day yesterday. Monday  I can get to work hanging them. Right now I'm sitting in my studio that is now bare of rainbow-tastic colors, dripping trees, weird bugs and birds and crazy color swirls. Back to boring white walls and another blank white canvas staring at me. The canvas is for the Red Bull Show that's coming up quick- all the artists are submitting one piece to be on exhibit during the event. And I thought I was done painting! NOPE! It feels very strange to finally have all the painting work done for the show, this has been my life since the beginning of the New Year really. This has been a stressful undertaking, putting all my commission work on ho

"Fin and Feather" Just finished this piece for the COLORIMETRY show at WAAS GALLERY. I have another large canvas to complete then I'm focusing on some small affordables and that will be the last push because....it's almost time! EEK! There's been some great PR on the event so far and I'm waiting for my stress to kick in. Right now I'm in strangely calm zone....for someone who isn't done with her work and has chaos falling in all around her, this is weird. Maybe this is zen? Maybe I have discovered there's nothing I can do any faster or magically and this is what it is and am okay with that? Or maybe I'm in for a delayed freak out any day now? I guess we'll see! Today I'm ordering printed fabric and starting on the large canvas but since the secrets out on facebook I wanted to post it here too. The collaboration I have been talking about is with renowned graffiti artist SONER and we will be debuting it at the COLORIMTERY show. I

Things are starting to spark up here in the hive!  All the PR for the upcoming show at WAAS should be hitting very soon so be on the lookout. I'm mad hustling on the last pieces and will be until it's time to install. Right now a big 36" x 48" has me all tangled up in its complexities. It feels weird not being able to show you all the new pieces but I guess you'll just have to come see them in person! So much to do to prepare so I better get to work now, have an awesome day!

I make things hard on myself...beginning stage detail of work in progress, each shape gets painted in by brush, blow dried and repainted to get a sharp opaque look. Time consuming much? Stepping out of your comfort zone and trying new things could be an amazing learning experience. Yesterday (after about a year of painting in the way I've been painting) I discovered a mind blowing technique that makes my paint glide a whole lot smoother than it used to over spray paint. I'm a ding dong. Some spray paints- theres no problem whatsoever and your brush will zip along it just fine. Other spray paints are a little more difficult, causing a fine powdery film to coat the canvas and turn it kinda rough like sandpaper. Well I've been dealing with that powdery stuff and trying to paint smooth strokes on that was hard going, took multiple passes and was super frustrating. I was even taking a water hose and blasting the hell out of the canvases after they had been sprayed to re

My Dad  I was a lucky girl to have such a wonderful Dad who was always there when I needed him and always there when I thought I didn't. Truth of the matter is- you ALWAYS DO. There aren't proper words to describe how awesome my Dad was. How he excelled at everything he did. How he could fix a car, fix a house, cook an amazing meal, serenade you with his guitar and even make you a macrame plant holder out of a plastic jump rope. Seriously- he was full of tricks and skills I had no idea about. He worked with his hands, loved with the whole of his heart, helped every way he could, laughed and lived fully and was himself to everyone 100% of the time. A real man. A real wonderful father. "Disfruta la Vida" he wrote to me. "Enjoy the life". Some people think when  their fathers pass that they are gone....but that isn't true. They are always there because you always need them and they never go away. Happy Fathers Day to my sweet Papi, Juan Anton

"Path of Nurturing" has just been SOLD AND COLLECTED Wonderful and smart people are taking me up on my sweet offer to do PAYMENT PLANS so you can collect art. Just sold this large canvas to a collector who will have three of my pieces now and her home is beautiful, this painting will love it's new home! : ) This blog was almost entitled YEAR OF THE SNAKE SSSSSSSUCKSSSSSSS but it sounded really negative and I have nothing against little snakes. They can't help it if my world is being turned upside down and inside out in every which way possible. Some of the stuff I can't go into as it's a delicate matter but let's just say where I am is about to physically change soon and I can elaborate more when things settle however they get settled. I will say it is an absolute shock and kick to the balls if I had any. That being said I've had time to reflect on the weird disappointing actions of another and decided....that's life and that's humans

The title wall at the Baylor Health Sciences Library for my show "ORGANUM" Hey neat, I've never had my name in vinyl before! Yesterday was all about hanging the show at Baylor, the walls looked bigger than I remembered and I wondered if I had enough work but it all came together nicely. Some of the students and faculty in the library were already complimenting the work while I was still putting it up. YAY! The room needed some color and I was happy to help with my artwork. If anyone is interested in purchasing the artwork- here's how it works: You can ask me the night of the show and we'll arrange payment or you can ask the front desk for a price on the piece you like. There isn't any prices on display but I guarantee everything is very affordable. Buying on the spot secures the piece for you but the piece must hang for the duration of the show until August 31st. This is a great time to collect because the pieces don't have the additional percenta

The latest issue of PATRON ART MAGAZINE I have to take a little moment to remember something, my past. And this ad in the Patron Art Magazine has a lot to do with this memory and why it's important to me right now. Rewind about 4 or 5 years ago when I was working in a dim basement putting price tags on books and museum knick knacks and hauling ginormous carts of boxes and merchandise around for a living. That was my world, my reality.....and I was usually way too drained after work to even think about painting. Nevertheless I worked in a museum and I was around art constantly. My heart hurt. My soul hurt. I physically ached and mourned a loss of SOMETHING in my life. I had a large hole in my being and I wasn't sure how to fix it. On my lunchbreaks I would escape the basement and sit in the sunshine outside, I would read books about how to quit your job and pursue your dreams. I would look at art magazines and books and try to cultivate inspiration. I would look longing

"The Path of Diligence" Just a quickie blog before I dash off to the madness that is preparing for two back to back shows. I wanted to write a quick post about focus. I see a lot of scatter shot focus around me, I am guilty of this sometimes as well. It works against big goal setting and accomplishing important things in the big successful ways we hope.  When you're busy trying to please a big group of different people you are spreading yourself in a multitude of directions. You end up wearing yourself out and throwing your creative focus in many different directions- yet not 100% in any direction, so in essence -it's wasted energy. You are more than likely neglecting people, yourself and projects that if you gave 100% to-could actually flourish into something magnificent and big. I had to shut down half my business while I prepare for my art shows. My singular focus is getting ready for these two art shows and having to wave my No No finger to any other commis

Detail of a larger piece Just a quick update- still alive, still painting. All my works are in secret mode now until the shows so if you want to really see the new works.....you'll have to come see them in person!  I'm thinking to start a diptych today....maybe, haven't fully decided. I'm also thinking it's time to move this giant shelf of cd's OUT of my studio so I can work against the wall on a large and stupendous monster.  There's other secret things I can't talk about yet that promise to be awesome but one thing at a time and right now that one thing is....pancake cravings. Tomorrow is Mothers Day and I'm running a sale over at my Etsy shop- I have 3 different prints up for grabs that you can get for NO SHIPPING until Tuesday 3/14 if you use the coupon code MAMASITA when you check out. Go grab em while they're cheap- I only printed 15 of each style! https://www.etsy.com/shop/tigerbee Happy Mothers Day and have a great weekend!

"Entanglement" I'm up early getting ready for another doctors appointment. Thought I'd drop a quickie blog and catch up with everything. My sickie time came but luckily it didn't get so bad this time. I was all packed to go to the hospital but so far everything is staying down in my stomach where I put it. I have been having to take hydrocodone to keep the pain in check though- this sucks to me, it's hard to work and be productive when you feel kinda dizzy and out of it. Nonetheless I did manage to finish THAT painting up there before I got ill. Started a new painting yesterday and will just keep moving forward. Time is ticking- soon it will be time for my art opening at Baylor Health Sciences Library on May 31! Yesterday I got more injections for a job I'm going to be doing at Dallas Childrens Medical Center. I'm working on a mural with a friend and it will all have to be done at night so I'll have to switch my whole sleeping schedule a

shot of new work in progress New week and a new painting- I'm pretty sure this ones getting born today. A look at the calendar shows I got about 4 days before my body goes into it's pain freakout mode. In some ways I am absolutely terrified of going through this experience again and in another way I hope it does exactly that so I can show my new doctor what exactly happens when this comes around. THEN we can do surgery right? Right?! I HOPE! So until then I have four days to bust tail on artwork, go get pedialyte, clean a little (when I get sick I gain super smelling powers and can smell every little thing) and generally get prepared for the little war I'm about to wage. Should probably pack my hospital bag and make sure all my paperwork is in there. Fun?! No. But today is what I'm focusing on and today I am gonna bring a new painting into the world. Must stay optimistic! Have a great week everyone!

Really looking forward to getting my prints back today! I'll have 15 prints each of the bat, the crane and the birds- each signed, numbered and ready for you to collect! I'll also have some mini's (as shown on the bottom)  These prints will be $22 before shipping and I'm looking into frame sizes so I can offer them framed as well. These will be just in time for the annual Oak Cliff Earth Day festival, my friend Julia from Ressurection Art will have some of these at her booth so hunt her down if you're in the area! Just finished a new painting "Evaporate" acrylic/krylon/latex on canvas  12" x 18" As you can see I'm mad hustling to get everything done, keeping a careful eye on the calendar and knowing my bad week is getting closer and closer. So much to do and stress is not in the cards! Super busy day today, signing papers, meeting customer for art pickup, turning in articles, priming a canvas and dropping work at Kett

"Alight"  acrylic/krylon/latex on canvas  12" x 16" "Coccinelidae" acrylic/krylon/latex on canvas 20" x 30" This week I made it a point to PAINT LIKE CRAZY while I felt good and also pushed away the little table I set beside my bed when I'm ill. There's something freeing about doing that. Clearing away the pill bottles, putting the crackers back in the kitchen and removing all traces of being an invalid. It's a mental thing, it helps a lot. Granted in about 12 days that table will be back- for now I can act like a normal girl. I even made myself get out of the house, put on nice clothes and makeup and go see some art shows. I have to fully enjoy these GOOD days as best as I can. Saw lots of friends this weekend and that was great and much needed. Today it's back to the grindstone, another day of feeling well means another day of work, work, work. I am going to be in Kettles Jubilee show on April 18 . Djing Texas The

Hokusai There will always be waves, I need to remember that.  I'm feeling much better this week and am trying to get back in the game and push the health fears aside so I can work and let the paints flow nicely. Just wrapped up a commission for a customer, a dear friend who will be giving this to his young son for his birthday. His son was Beatle-ized! We all live in a yellow submarine, yellow submarine! It was weird returning to my studio after being away because of my ailment. Everything was right where I left it and waiting for me. It made me think about my work and finishing things and how you never know what will be the last thing you work on. I kinda knew my episode would be starting that week so I made sure to push really hard on finishing the commission, thankfully I didn't fall ill until it was done. Now I'm working on a new painting and trying to put my head in the game SERIOUSLY. I have 2 upcoming commitments to art shows and it's ALL ME righ