dandilion art

 We're saying goodbye to so many people. The semester is closing down and the Dirt Bags have thrown an end-of-the-year Woodkiln party. It's different this time around with Covid and social distincing. Things arent as close or momentus as they once were and it kind of makes everything happening seem a little dull and sad.  Sam and Marret are leaving soon and I want to wish them well on their journeys'. It's been really great getting to know them and hearing their opinions. I'm going to miss having them around but it's been a good time. Brian has suprised us with a Dirt Bags picnic table and I'm excited to have future lunches with the girls.  I don't have much to say. Everything is a little bitter-sweet at the momment. This group was a good one. Until we meet again

I used to ride the bus to school everyday. The mornings were always a little chilly, and I was usually awake before the rest of the city. It would take me more than an hour to get to IUS which is only a 20 minute car ride. But that was okay. I always enjoyed listening to music or reading a book in that time, or sometimes I would even make conversation with the people getting on the bus with me.  In the dark mornings, alone, in my little seat by the window, I would fall asleep and wake up just before getting to school. I would always open my eyes just before passing Picnic Island. I never payed much attention to it before they cleared out the rest of the land, but after the other trees were gone and the land around picnic island was lower, thats all I cared to pay attention to. I dreamed of having lunch there and taking my friends out for dates to enjoy the magic of picnic island, but years later after she's been bulldozed, I think it's better that she only exists in my memory ...

These photos were taken after setup in the space. setting up my piece didn't take very long but working with everyine in the class took some time. Install went great though. Everyone came out to help and it went over very smooth. I brought my son with me so, of course, he provided entertainment for us.  In this first photo you can see what I like to call sugar packets, more so resembeling sweet n' low. But others have told me that, in this context,resembles cocaine. For future installs of this piece, I'll have to make adjustments to that. In the second, you can see the inside of the coffee cup. Here I used plaster to fill the mug, and used a crylic ink and a clear two part epoxy set ontop of that. The colour on the rest of the pieces uses the same acrylic ink. The glass jug also has epoxy on it to resemble water drops.

Showing progress from our HouseGuest gallery show. Before applying paint and getting together finishing touches, this is what my detail shots looked like. The plan was to keep things at bisque temp. I just really enjoy the colour tones when this clay has been low fired. Looking back at this process, I've realized that I really miss doing sculptural work with clay. This is definitely something I want to get back into in the future.

 A conversation to myself about my struggles at the time and what I want out of life. If you can read what I have written, than be my guest, but if you're having a hardtime, than it wasn't meant for you. pic your clay Wedge 100 times write your letter wedge 100 times more put away to be used again later hopefully it turns into something more beautiful than before.

Its been 11 days since I've been out in the real world. I got trapped at the BLM farm with all the snow we had recently. It seems that even when I'm safe from outside forces and there are no white people in my vicinity, uneducated, reluctant individuals always seem to slip in and within the past few days the word nigger and its variations have been tossed around a lot. In some cases directed at me. "You're acting like niggas" "If you're comfortable you can say the "n" word" "I won't be put in a box by a bunch of niggots" "Bunch of nigger lovers" So yeah I'm tired of it. I'm tired of feeling attacked by a word so I wrote it on my forehead. Since I am one I might as well embrace it to its fullest.

Just before the decision of Breonna Taylor's case I had gone out with my partner to get footage of the chaos. everything seemed pretty calm and we had gotten some pretty nice clips but unfortunately that night I was arrested and held at gun point.  20 cops showed up to detain us and that is not an exaggeration. The entire experience was unorganized and scary to say the least. The images from this case I have stuck on an SD somewhere but in the end I'm not sure that my quest for art was worth it but sparked a very large project afterwards. I will soon be having my first solo show at Hoba House galley on the 14 of November. My arrest and time spent in jail will help fuel this show in its entirety.    These are a few images from the gathering in early summer.

While tensions were rising My friends and I were taking control and forming a small group to get together for safety during protests. Protesting was not the only form of participation though, and I quickly found myself in a position of creation and art. Our group was having meeting for the next big thing, often times including going to art builds or doing something art related independently, like making flyers or signs hung up in the city.  It wasn't all fun though. Protest were always a code Red action- meaning High risk, high stress situations. I tear gassed and hit with rubber bullets. You don't know the difference between a fake gun and real gun. When they're fired they sound the same. it hurts too. The only difference is that one has a lesser chance of killing you but that chance is never zero. Everyone left with bruises, and red watery eyes. I can't speak for anyone else but I left with heightened anxiety and PTSD. after protesting I couldn't handle 4th of Jul...

 I've been very absent from the beginning when it comes to participating in class and turning in school work. This is my sad attempt to keep up but more importantly it's a way for me to tell my story and get out there what needs to be said. I'm Bipolar I'm Bipolar and a Queer, Black, Mexican Woman living in America. I'm a Queer, Black, Mexican Woman living in America during a pandemic and it's election season.  This year Did start off amazing. I was flown out to New York by my aunt, and I was able to network and get in touch with a woman who held my pieces in her gallery. That was the first time my pieces had ever left the state. It was an exciting moment but everything went down hill from there.  Soon after the rise in covid cases spiked to a point that everything was immediately shut down and I lost my job (to which, I still do not have). Just after was the Death of Breonna Taylor in our own city of Louisville. And then after was the Death of George Floyd. Ma...

 I've recently submitted an application for a grant through Kentucky Foundation for Women. I'm working on trying to make a new app that would help women across the world and I'm very excited to be launching the GoFundMe for that project shortly. I will also be featuring in a show coming up on September 12th, as the model for my partner's collection. The show will be hosted at Trouble Bar from 7-12. Tickets are available @  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ a-toast-to-revolution-tickets- 118830897413 I was recently notified that a grant I was nominated for passed on my submissions and went with two other wonderful artist. I'm upset by this news but I will continue moving forward and applying for other opportunities in the area. As of my projects in school, I have started working on my banquet scene and building the frame of my pig center piece. There isn't much to look at as of right now so I won't be adding pictures of it quiet yet, but there will be progress ma...

 It's a new semester and if we thought it was weird before it's definitely weirder now. Going back to class is hard and has been quite the adjustment. I love being in a space to create again and having a new studio but not being able to sit a talk with my friends has taken some adjusting, and it's an ongoing one. I wish things were different but with everything going on in the world I can feel a change in the air.  I'm proud to be a woman of colour in this time, and working towards a new future with my art. I'm going to start working on a very large project based on my experiences this summer with protesting and the rising strength of the BLM movement. I will also be featuring in a show with my partner on this very topic coming up on september 12th and I welcome everyone to come. I will be adding more information on here as we get closer to the date. here's just a few pics of my new studio. I think I've finally have everything situated. It's great to be ...

The only new thing in my life now is Gaze of Our Lives video lessons. (this is going to turn out to be a sponsored add) Are you doing horrible in the glazing studio? Have you ever taken a glaze calc class but still feel like you don't know anything about glaze? Have you ever thought to yourself "I wonder if it's a good idea to ingest this lead?" (It's not).  If this sounds like you than do I have a product for yoooooooooooouuuuuuu~! Come on down and sign up for Glaze of Our lives: Understanding Glazes for the Beginner A new fun and informative way to learn about glazes, and if you've missed something you can always go back and re-watch it.  All jokes aside though, as the one good thing to come out of the COVID-19 out break, I have the opportunity to watch and learn from Matt Katz as he goes through the basics of understanding glaze.  If you ever have the opportunity to take these courses you 100% should.  

I'm getting bored and might be going crazy. Glaze of our lives has been a great workshop though, keeping me busy for at least one day of the week. Otherwise my life has become dull. luckily today I was able to chat with my ceramics group. It was good to catch up with them, but it's not the same as seeing them in person. I'm ready to get back to school and make something. At this point it could be the most technically challenging thing and I would still prefer it over spending everyday inside the house. But it'll be fine, as long as everyone stays safe and takes care of themselves we can get through this...right? My images from my zoom chat today won't upload, so here's a dog.

I don't do well with blogs, but this is a new world that we're living in and it deserves some attention. COVID-19 has completely changed my world. The last time I was at school I had my the opening reception to my Spacelab show and hardly anyone came, the hallways were empty and the few that did show were all pretty somber. we were preparing for a temporary shut down so that the school may go through sterilization, but the time apart is now lasting much longer and classes have been out online for the rest of the semester. The quarantine has put me in a state of confusion, anxiety, and stress. I miss my friends and being at school. I miss being able to wake up and work with my hands in a proper studio. I miss being too busy to think because lately I've had too much time to overthink. I wanted to take this opportunity to sit down and have time alone to my thoughts, but at times it seems overwhelming. I'm hoping to have a break through before the end of this, or maybe this...

I am currently trying to work on new ideas for vessels and what surface to apply on top of them. While exploring ideas of sexuality and femininity, and the roles they play in both my life, and society. I've been working on underglaze drawings, and hopefully soon I will be adding gold luster into the mix. These vessels have drawings of my own body, fruits, vegetation, and other symbols pointing to overt sexuality. At the same time I'm working on getting pieces together for an instillation. I want to recognize my home country of Mexico, and the impact it has had on me. Part of the process is getting together ceramic silhouettes of clothing articles, and other materials that will help bring the space together.  I will be slip casting clothing and burning them out to make these object. I just recently learned that casting slip should be mixed longer than I previously have been doing. Now I'm taking an hour at a time to mix and make sure all the tiny particles are properly se...

This week I started working on making mugs for our first project. I haven't thrown in a while so it took a bit to get into the swing of things but I felt accomplished after I got all of the vessels done. I also talked to our new postbac, Sam, about different red clay bodies and what temperatures they could fire to. We ended up landing on taking a white clay body and mixing in dry materials to achieve what I had in mind.  I'm only in the beginning stages, with one test tile complete. I decided to go for it anyway, and threw a couple vessels out of my new clay. Hopefully it works out and the pieces hold together well in the kiln. There was a few gallery showings for our spacelab in the last few weeks. Our resident artist Sydney, and my peer Merlin had great turnouts for their spacelab showings. There work was amazing to look at, and exciting to watch as they gathered and put together the finishing touches.