practical and meaningful

beautiful belly

This is our beautiful friend Patty and her beautiful belly with the twins Marco and Mila - just a day before they born.  It is such an honor to photograph the moments in people's lives.

vegetable soup

When I have a plethora of vegetables, or when I need to make room in the fridge, I like to make vegetable soup.

I use whatever I have, add whatever I want, cook it as long as I have, and share it with as many people as possible. 

Everyone needs more vegetables in their life and no one turns down homemade soup.

30 things

We decided to stay home this weekend and do a little "spring" cleaning and purging. It is very hard to keep things organized when you are super busy, and even harder when the shelves are bursting, the closet is full, and there is no space in the filing cabinet to file.

So, in order to create a little more flow to our busy world, we are going room to room, closet to closet and purging at least 30 things from everywhere we can. 30 books, 30 pieces of clothing or shoes (each one of us so that makes 90), clear out 30 files, etc.

We do this from time to time, and while the process is daunting - once we get going, it is fun, fulfilling, and good for all of us.

through the trees

We are now into our sixth month of business at the art studio. Things are going really well.

The students are thriving and the work they are producing is mesmerizing. The teachers are creating amazing projects and the lessons are inspired, thought provoking, educational, and fun.

It is now time to take it to the next level.

Coming soon - ART WORKS Blog, Student ART SHOW & SALE, introduction of ART FOR SALE program, ART TRADING CARDS exchange, more 1 day camps, Holiday camps and WINTER camps, and more community outreach.

We are making a difference.

It is easy to get buried in the day to day to day responsibilites - but when I look through the trees and envision what the next six months will look like, I have the strenth and the vision to keep working harder and better.

Balloon hats - art and fun!

Addi is a balloon artist who creates one of a kind hats that are not to be believed. He is an extraordinary artist and great entertainer.

www.newballoonart.com  is where you can find Addi - and he even had a book out now!

 

Hitting the wall

This weekend, I lost my focus, got frustrated with the things happening around me - and I felt for a moment, that I cannot do it all.

A feeling of too much to do, not enough time, too much responsibility, and little inspiration.

The good thing about hitting the wall is that when you turn the corner, everything feels better, lighter, and more possible.

Today I am feeling inspired and capable and ready for the full day ahead.

life size candyland

Awhile back, thanks to my daughter's request and my husbands brilliance,  we had a lifesize candyland game running throughout the downstairs of our house. All of the rooms are connected and so we made the board out of long rolls of paper, colored in the squares with markers and wound the trail throughout the rooms. It was great fun and whoever was playing  would be the game pieces. It was certainly not practical, but very meaningful.

charcoal pumpkin

We brought in huge pumpkins from Los Olivos for this project. The students created a tonal scale with charcoal, worked on easels (for the first time at our studio) and created these amazing detailed tonal pieces.  I love they way they look hanging together and the varied colors of paper add a whole other dimension!

my daughter, the entrepreneur

Earlier this week, while driving in the car together, she asked if she could open a bake shop. We talked about how that would be hard to do with school (getting up at 3 am to bake every day would not be great for her studies) and so she thought maybe a weekend bake shop would be a good idea.

Then she told me that she would like to use some of her college fund to start the business and once she starts making money, she would pay back the college fund with the profits. We talked about investing - and how whenever you invest, you need to diversify and spread the risk around. She understood that when you invest, there is a chance that you could lose the investment money.

She told me that she would handle all the contracts and stuff and that she would probably have to hire someone - most likely an adult - to work the oven. She likes the idea of the space having multiple usages - Saturday a bake shop and Sunday - an art place. She said that she would need to buy a place where there were lots of people and that was very popular. Location location location.

I told her she would probably need to rent at first and she conceded and said - Ok I will rent at first and then buy the place once I am making lots of money.  She wants to call the bake shop - Yummy cake and the art shop Artpalooza.

She is ten years old and already an entreprenuer -thinking big, believing in herself, wanting to make money.  She is insightful, realistic, practical, powerful, smart, and I cannot wait to see all the business she creates in her lifetime. Being an entrepreneur is a state of mind, and she knows it.

hijacked by babysitters

Today I am spending the afternoon with my daughter. For the first 8 1/2 years of her life, I was able to work my work around her schedule and I was fortunate enough to spend most afternoons with her. We would do homework, go to art and karate, spend time together. This past year or so, with two businesses to run (one of which caters to after school activities), she has been spending a lot more time with babysitters. She said to me this morning that her life has been hijacked by babysitters.

She is missing her time with me, and I am missing being with her every day.

So today, I am being a Mom and taking her to karate and then we will do homework and have dinner. And after she goes to sleep I will get back to work.