Art Plunge

                                Reflection Time  I've been MIA on here since mid September! Something freeing about not posting all my thoughts, whims, adventures and words on the daily. I know some friends have missed it. I think that is super sweet that they care. ❤️  Kinda going through a major life shift, not really sure what all it will entail. Life's too silly to predict. I take each day as it comes and try not to get caught up in the sticky art of "attachment" like the wise zen masters teach. Everything is impermanent.  Since my last blog much has happened and also nothing has. I've fallen many times on the skateboard and have made peace with the act of getting hurt somewhat purposely. 😳 I got some new knee pads and hand guards. I've since picked up my bass again. I've got a new piece in a new show coming up and have been trying to be as true to myself and what I want from life as I ca...

Ooh yes I did put my 44 year old body on the skateboard again 😂 Haven't hit the streets like that since I was a teenager! It feels great and f'kin scary too! Actually never thought I'd get back on one because I remember all the reasons why I stopped in the first place... falling on my back on a homemade ramp was the last straw at 16/17.  Something about this year has just made me cast off a lot of fears and ideas I've had about myself. I'm living in a state of absolute freedom while many are living in a state of absolute fear. I am playing again. I've stopped caring about climbing around the monkey bars of a social scene and the "art world" and pretty curated galleries and trying to get in where I fit in. Big middle finger to that stuffy life- I'm doing it myself. Creating my island. Creating my stage. Creating my environment. Creating my joy.  I stepped on the skateboard that wanted to throw me into the street and felt the fear of falling again, ...

Portrait of Contentment, yes I know it looks like things are flying out of my head. When are they not? Finally a weekend to myself and damn straight I'm making the most of it. I have things to do that sound ultra boring to the innocent bystander but to me sound cozy and indulgent. Like first things first...I'm making Caldo de Pollo (chicken soup). Sitting on the floor and assembling a little metal night stand and attaching a lamp shade to a lamp... boring but satisfying.  Hanging in my studio and taking inventory of what supplies I need to order and making a project list. Masks need to be designed and put into the shop. I promised myself a brief fling with my bass guitar and definitely putting lake day on the calendar.  Research on upgrading my business and maybe starting a new painting. Things are popping and shaking and I have so many ideas to unleash. This is what P PRodzillas brain is like at Saturyay at 4:30 am... And yes I'm on cup o coffee number 2 while you are snoo...

Studio View: Newest piece completed for "Texas Women" , virtual opening Oct 2 with Western Gallery Wrapped up the extra side gig project and after zero days off finally saw ONE...and couldn't flip my off switch so spent the day varnishing the new pieces and doing finishing work on the sides. Not being able to turn off and rest is a real problem sometimes. So I'm scheduling a little "Lake Day" getaway next week. Lounging, Lake, Picnic food and hiking...and no paintbrush to wield. First time I've had something nice on the calendar in a very long time. It's no beach getaway but I'll take it. I've been steady hitting goals and busting butt so a relax day is in order. It's about time for new paintings to come to life and new goals to be written down and conquered. I bought myself those pretty flowers as a little reward. I kinda love having flowers around me and it reminds me that I am worth it. I'm a very valuable employee to myself 😂  Th...

New prints will be stocked in my shop soon! I'm pretty excited to get these in my Shopify. They will be hand signed and printed on nice Rives paper. I'll get a release date posted soon if you are interested! Work, work, work is consuming me at the moment and yes...I missed a whole week of workouts. This should have been my first week of Phase 4, the last phase of Metabolic Renewal. I've done so well ... Then birthday week happened and crashed my diet and then I signed up for a side gig in Lewisville and have been hustling on car stuff. So yeah, I suck. I slipped. I'll pick it back up on Monday though and kale smoothie is the order of the day today. Sometimes life gets hectic. Forgive yourself and jump back in it. Because I'm always working for bills to be paid and a roof over my head I forgot the art of getting yourself something nice. A small reward for busting butt daily keeping life glued together. I bought myself a very affordable lamp set (two lamps for the pri...

Lists can be damn magical. If you've ever written down goals (or even just basic things that need to get done) and knocked them off your list you realize the power in lists. For me, the sheer act of writing it down and bringing it from a thought to something I can see and look at is very powerful.  It is how I quit a job I hated once upon a time and still it serves me. The list. The magic list. I've been super productive during the pandemic and steady knocking off things on my list. From simple things like "clean fridge" to big stinky tasks like register car, get legal, etc. Just knocked that one off yesterday and it feels amazing to have my freedom back. To know I can go anywhere now without having to dodge cops and tickets. To be able to drive to do fun stuff like hiking at State Parks, etc. Unless you've ever lived in an outlaw sort of way, where one ticket is your ruination because you are broke... You might not understand what a big thing this is for me. I fe...

  (detail from "Hide and Seek") Birthday month started off beautifully with lots of friends and family wishing me happy birthday and some even making time to do some social distance stuff. So appreciated and needed. Now I'm good on people for awhile 😂 and need to cocoon in hermitude and work, work, work! Finished another painting for the Texas Women's show at Western Gallery (show is virtual and opens online Oct 2) I'll be posting more about it as we get nearer. Birthday cakes were plentiful this year...I usually have to buy myself a slice from somewhere and no one ever just gives me a cake. This year there were TWO 🤤   My sweet thoughtful friend and co-worker brought me some flowers ♥️🥰 Feeling so loved! My mom had cake and ice cream waiting for me and we had a nice visit. So many people cannot see their family right now so believe me this was the real treat this year and yes I feel so lucky I was able to. This is 44. I'm feeling healthy, strong and ready ...

 Just a short blog today. I'm hoping to spend most of my day here- wrapping up this painting once and for all. Today marks the 10 year anniversary of my Dad's passing (pictured in my studio) and it will be nice to complete another piece of art on this day. Another contribution to the world remembering I am an extension of him still. "We" are finishing the painting, together. In years past I would spend the day crying, purposely wallowing through the memories, songs and photos. It has never been a good day for me. But over the years time changes you and the grief becomes like another part of you. Always there, a new facet of who you are. Accepted. I quickly went through my Facebook memories today and was glad I had deleted a lot of mourning posts to never revisit. I really didn't need reminders of the pain. It's with me every day after all. Here I am ten years later, feeling like it was just yesterday and also a lifetime ago. Life is funny like that. I'll d...

  It took me ordering mini tacos from Jack in the Box and realizing the blueberries I set out for my morning shake never made it into my shake...to connect the dots that staying on Facebook for a week had been a mistake. Call it an accidental experiment.  One bad habit slowly snowballs into others. The 8 weeks of workouts, good eating with plenty of salads every day, the focus and priority....it was easy to just not care. To not do the walks that day and the next day, to not cook, to not food prep. I had no focus, I lingered long on Facebook and wasted time. When off of it little bits of conversation lingered in my head like annoying sound bytes, agitation was there every day waiting for me. It's a mental thing. I had let one bad habit crawl back in... couldn't the others come back too? Nope. I deactivated and pulled my focus back to where it needs to be. Back on me, my health, my productivity, my finances, my house, my work, my art, my friends and family, my cats, my goals. N...

  Just a shortie blog to update... This piece is almost complete! I'm nearing the end of it and need to shoot it, go get it scanned and ready for prints and send photos to gallery for inventory. But first I need to finish it 😂  Today it's back to worky work. I had to do a freelance job yesterday and wasn't able to paint much and now back to work and won't be able to paint much. There's never enough time. I've missed one workout and am having to redo my schedule this week to slide it in but I'm back to it today. My body needed me to rest and chill as it took care of some things and I needed less Cortisol in my body so I let it rest, sleep, skip a workout and took two days off walking. Now it's back to salads and the grind. Respect Rest, it's actually more beneficial than the workout sometimes.  Super busy in the beehive with work and art and minding my life. Facebook took my Notes feature away so all my blogging will be here. Yes, I even tried to get...

 Another busy week in the books and another zen achievement made. Maybe it's that 2020 has been so full of punches nothing phases me anymore or maybe a whole lifetime of lessons of getting kicked in the teeth have been my master but when Unemployment cut my funds down to a mere $34 (not sure where they came up with that figure) I actually didn't spiral into any kind of feelings but acceptance and resolve. It is what it is.   As a part time worker whose main income is as a self employed artist who hasn't fully recovered the usual income to sustain me- I relied on the relief I was getting to survive the pandemic chaos. I am super grateful to have my part time gig right now and some projects to help float me... And hasn't it always been this way? I was proud of myself for not letting myself get tossed into despair, depression and stress. I'm weathering the punches just fine. Zen achievement unlocked. I'll look into a different relief source and keep doing what I do...

 I finally started a new painting! This is epic for me because aside from finishing up my Monarch butterfly piece and a small abstract....I haven't done any art through this whole pandemic. 😬  I have been posting some time lapse videos and photos on my Instagram page @galleryrodriguez and @djtigerbee so you can see this little devil come to life. While I was in the hospital I was visited by a few muses and this albino crocodile was one. Not sure why and still sifting through its symbology but had to release him onto canvas- as you do with Muses.  I'm working on getting my lighting set up in my studio, installing a video editing app on my phone and doing some PROPER little time lapse videos. It's all upgrade life over here of late. So there you have it...a REAL ART POST ON MY ART BLOG! Amazing right? This is me finally tying up that last bit of business I've been neglecting...my ART. Been working on home and organization, got the car cleaned up and tuned up and now need...

  Well it's official. I am addicted. Luckily to nothing horrible. It was bound to happen. I'm addicted to the morning walk...the endorphins...the serotonin...the "me" time....the solitude....the music pumping in my ears...the nature I see and feeling like I control my day.  I'm usually up before the sun and getting as much mileage as my body allows. Sometimes it's more than others but it's always good. I'm going to add in more sprints here and there as "burst" exercises are better for me than long running sessions.  Yes, even on the weekends I'm out doing it. There is no sleeping in and admittedly I woke up at 2:30am and started having my morning coffee in preparation... Even though I will wait till much later to go out. That's how I know it's an addiction.  Currently on Week 6 and haven't missed a workout or even postponed it. I showed up for myself and made myself a priority every morning. I am proud of that and so much LESS...

I thought this week would be mellow in the work department but there's actually a LOT to do and I'm being asked if I can do this or that... Initial reaction "aaaghh, how am I supposed to do all this and get two paintings done for my virtual show?" Then I remembered this quote and everything seems a little better.  Initial reaction is always a little stressed and I have to sit with it. I stopped responding to questions immediately and take some time to turn them over, to ask all the right questions and not short change myself. I will not overburden myself. I'm also super thankful for the work because in a time like now so many people need work and I'm a "lucky" one.  I pushed through and did my workout yesterday! Super proud of that! Because my coworker brought pizza and cupcakes and I committed both sins 😳😂 Dammit, I am not a saint. But resolved today... Going to get my walk in this morning and keep my eye on salads today. Pretty much my life at wo...

No walk today! I actually woke up sleepy, tired and out of it. Thank you Texas allergies! So I'm listening to my body... Slept a little later than usual and am still planning on doing my Metabolic Renewal workout for the day. I haven't missed one yet! It's also work work day at the jobby so I'm not going to beat myself up-its kinda miraculous I do all this stuff before work. I'll be out walking again tomorrow. It's super important to listen to your body when it's talking to you. This is my morning breakfast every day except one day on the weekend (usually Sunday) I will have eggs and whatever else. A proper breakfast. But I really do love my breakfast shakes and getting my greens in without really tasting them- win win! I've been slowly on track taking care of business and I called the hospital yesterday after seeing an email I owed $20,000 +  What the?! The guy on the other end of the phone said that all my cases were closed with them. My recent Covid s...

My level of disengagement with stupid stuff is strong this year. I've even gotten super relaxed on the hashtag bullshido on Instagram. Don't care about building my followers, don't care about "engagement" and new content creation and all the other marketing bullshit that is forced upon you as an artist trying to survive online. Sorry I just don't care right now- I'm living my best life. Not seeking out galleries or putting others on a pedestal as if they are more important, hard working or special than me. Not social climbing or trying to make connections and network. Not trying to get interviewed, spotlighted or gain votes. Not pressured to entertain my "followers" like a fake star or be "on" for "my public" . Wow we let a lot of bullshit take up our time and bully our lives around. I can think of no more boring thing than spending time "curating" my Instagram to all have the color white as a prominent background an...

What started as me deciding to spend 30 minutes picking out clothes to donate from my closet .. Turned into about 2 hours of folding t shirts, jeans and deciding winter was far enough away that all sweaters and coats could be packed away. My closet was a walk-in diaster. My cat had lived in it all winter, knocked stuff down, slept on it, fuzzed up clothes and built forts. No lie.  I had been living in the same two pairs of jeans and 5 shirts off my bedroom floor (closet #2 😂). First things first, all the T shirts from OLD JOBS were the first to get put in donation pile. I don't need memories of "that place" and they were all too small, waaay too large or tan/beige/grey ..all the wrong unhappy colors that just say JOB when you look at them. Bye! So that happened yesterday. Major project that still needs work but for now it is peaceful enough to my brain to leave it alone. I have two large loads of laundry to do because my clothes look like...well like a cat has been sleep...

It's the beginning of August and the beginning of another weekend. I took this photo to remind me that a month ago I was hiding in pants and sleeves. Then I decided to accept my body, embrace it as my work in progress and love it at every stage of it's journey. Tank tops and shorts in the summer... Feels so much nicer to love yourself. This weekend calls for productivity projects around the house and more work to do. A digital design project awaits, a friends lanterns need to be painted and a blank canvas awaits in my studio. But first things first, a leisurely cup of coffee (my second) and then morning mileage.  I feel my body slimming slowly every day and feel my muscles toning up. It's a great feeling to FEEL progress internally. I look forward to the miles, the shakes, the workouts... There's no dread and I do allow myself treats. Just having my body working normally and not hindered by endometriosis is miraculous.  I woke up full of energy for life and even a pull ...

  Last day of July and it's Friyay! Today is a work-work day at the lamp shoppe getting bases sanded, primed, painted and glossed. It's also Metabolic Renewal workout day- how will the workout kill me today I wonder? Please don't be another leg day 😜 Pretty proud that these 4 miler's are becoming a regular occurrence instead of a once in a blue moon event. This shows so much progress. I can now work on my time and adding in some short sprints. I'm being very careful to not injure anything... It seems whenever I start making progress with walking or running something stupid happens... plantar fasciitis, pulled muscle, etc. Not this time! Uber careful! One of my favorite things to do while exercising...shoot some Nature photos and share it with my online friends and family. So exercising outside is very motivational because of that. Since I've been keeping a record of my health stuff online pretty well, and because I think mainly chicks read my blog 😂 I'll p...

This morning I woke up at a reasonable time (4am... Which beats 2 am) and I was in such a restful, deep breathing state I didn't want to get up. Didn't have to get up... got up. I finally feel like I got some restorative sleep, it was sooo nice. Need to get up to do my miles at 6 am and that requires caffeine. It's the end of the month and I'll be tallying up all my mileage for the month and turning that in to my sister. We ladies of the family all do our own personal mileage and add it up together to reach a common goal for the year... That being 2020 miles in 2020. My mom always gets the most miles... It's astonishing and makes me feel puny 😂 I wonder when I'll be lucky enough to see another toad on my morning walk? Spotted him yesterday in the dark. Looking back on this month, it was a very productive one. Got a lot of projects accomplished at work, at home and within myself. Steady working to make life better and get stress off my plate. Taking care of busi...

I need a Nature getaway but for now I take the little moments where I get them. This months focus seems to be on"rebuilding" or building. I haven't even touched a paintbrush and my mind is on home projects and knocking them out. Little by little things are getting done around here and it's super satisfying...like replacing the belt on the vacuum and doing a nice vacuuming session on the house. Taking a toothbrush and bleach and getting those weird things off my sink faucet 😳 taking the car for tune up and oil change now has me wanting to do a deep clean on the car (much needed, it looks like it came from a swamp). Next will be getting the toilet fixed (it stopped flushing like 3 months ago) and the garbage disposal fixed. I'm not sure exactly why my brain needs to do all these things right now but it does.  I think a lot of it has to do with taking care of things you actually have control of... In a time where it feels like you have no control. It feels like chao...

Blogger changed its interface so I just wanted to write a quick blog to kind of check things out and see where everything is and what's new. Yesterday started off with Phase 2 of Metabolic Renewal workout and it was a butt kicking just like I had prophesied. We did this evil thing called Sumo squats that came right after some other leg exercises that followed other leg exercises...ohhhh LEG DAY oof! I was actually wanting pushups... Crunches... Anything to break up more squats! My legs were jello afterward and walking more than 2 miles just wasnt going to happen. I ended up not doing ANYTHING for the rest of the day except getting my car tune up, oil changed and a coil replaced.  I'm slowly starting the adulting phase of trying to get my car ready for inspection. It's got issues and everything costs money. I'm also starting the adulting phase of building my credit. I actually started this last year and got my credit from Poor to Fair with my first credit card. Now I...

Yesterday's watermelon party with my Mom was much needed. Got to chat with my brothers a bit and indulged in some CHEAT FOOD 🤤 ...one real ballpark hotdog in a real bun....with Sour Cream and Onion Lays potato chips....a real Coca Cola....serving of tri colored sherbet...and WATERMELON 🤤 Oh me oh my it was glorious. Got caught up on family stuff and then did a social distance meetup with a friend for a snocone outside. I'm all socialed out and ready to hole up again now... And jump back on the clean eating wagon. Saw this beauty on one of my walks and had to snap it! Didn't start a painting this weekend because it seemed imperative that I scrub my fridge down and kind of make some sense and room for everything. Part of healthy eating is prep work in advance so you always have stuff ready to go... Otherwise it's not convenient and junk food is. Make healthy food convenient. Wash and chop that salad stuff, always have it ready. So it felt majorly fantastic t...