Oil Spill = Life Changes

It has now been 71 days since the explosion and accident (negligence) on the Gulf. As a Floridian, I have always loved the ocean and the animal life that enjoys it with me. One of my favorite things to paint are seascapes and pelicans. To see this horrible spill killing the animal life and spoiling our beautiful beaches makes me sick. There are days when I just can't watch the news because I can't deal with it. This past weekend, we had a hands across the sand protest and, although I am very much in favor of protesting, I believe this spill should make us do more.

• Check the size of your car: do you haul things or pull a boat? If not, then you don't need to drive a big car/truck and demand more gas which requires more drilling.
• Water bottles: reduce the need for plastic, get a container that can be refilled and put filtered water, which is probably better water than what is in the bottles.
• Recycle and re-use: Eliminate some of the wasteful things in your life that only put a strain and adds trash to the planet.
• I am sure the list of what we can do to eliminate our need for drilling and wastefulness can be endless, but these are just three simple things to start a new life and learn from this horrible accident.

Here are a few sites that you can use to become informed and get involved!

http://www.nwf.org/Oil-Spill.aspx
http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/
http://www.volunteerflorida.org/

I'm On Board!

I was introduced to these little aqua boards two years ago when I attended the Florida Watercolor Society Conference. I saw a demonstration on how to paint on these boards and decided to buy a pack of small ones to try them out. I got home and put them away. Two years later and an upcoming visit from my son prompt me to organize my studio/his room and I found them again. These boards can be painted with watercolors or acrylics. I decided to try both mediums. Here are a few samples using acrylics and watercolors!

www.artistamundo.com/rosiesart

Divine Debris & Glorious Trash Exhibit

I wrote a while back about becoming loose........in the art sense. Now, I must tell you that I am just plain "trashy". How can an artist be trashy? By entering the "Divine Debris & Glorious Trash Art Exhibit" by Arts at St Johns and ArtShare LLC at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. I had plenty of ideas last year, but not enough time to complete my piece. It was a fun show where all art pieces had to be made from recycled or trash objects. I decided this year, I would be prepared.

I gathered lots of garden trash while visiting Dahlonega, Georgia and brought it down carefully. I had my trash and trashy thoughts in mind. As I was planning my piece, I received the call to artists. My idea would not work this year. The art pieces had to be related to Miami Beach for those of us that do not live or work there. I drove down Ocean Drive for inspiration. I decided that Miami Beach is so recognized for its beaches and art deco architecture and I needed to incorporate that in my piece. I then had to look around my Miami back yard for the palm pieces I would use. Before painting my pieces I had to make sure that I would be able to display them properly as a wall piece. Once that worked, I decided to paint colorful hotels locateddirectly across the street from the beach.

The result is what you see above. If you want to see my piece, and those of lots of other creative artists, here's the exhibit information:

Miami Beach Botanical Garden
2000 Convention Center Drive
Miami Beach, FL 33139

Opening Reception: Tuesday, June 15th, 7:00 pm

Exhibit Dates: June 14, Monday - June 17, Thursday, 2010

www.artistamundo.com/rosiesart

Deering Estates Exhibit

GroveHouse Artists Gallery Juried Exhibit
Affair En Plein Air Winners

Deering Estates
16701 SW 72 Ave.
Miami FL 33157

Date: Thursday, June10th, 2010
Reception 7-9 p
Meet the Artist at 6.30 p.m.

Exhibit runs through August

www.artistamundo.com/rosiesart

Thank You Mr. Peacock

Many of you may already know that I am one of the artists ready to paint a peacock for the Coconut Grove Peacock Tour . Unfortunately, I have not found a sponsor.....yet. Every time I visited the other artists painting their peacocks, I became more and more anxious to get one. I took it upon myself to contact over a dozen possible sponsors. One of the organizations I contacted was Great Florida Bank. The bank was unable to sponsor the peacock, but, thanks to Jorge Montero and Barbara Mersel, they offered me the opportunity to exhibit in their lobby in Miami Beach. What a coincidence of an opportunity to exhibit in the place I was raised after arriving from Cuba. To make it even better, the bank branch is located on the same street where I used to live and ride my bike. I would have never guessed in a million years that one day I would be back in the neighborhood, which is now hip and trendy, exhibiting art that I used to only sketch and dream about back then. I may not have gotten a sponsor, but Mr. Peacock pushed me out into the community and it has resulted in additional exhibitions.

Thank you Mr. Peacock!

(Pictured above: Javier Hernandez, Great Florida Bank)
www.artistamundo.com/rosiesart

Painting Inspiration Photos Revealed

For those of you that read my previous post and saw the abstract paintings, here are the inspiring photos. The abstract on the left (grayish tones) below came as a result of a photo I took, while hiking, in Dahlonega, Georgia. It is a close up of a tree trunk.

The painting on the right below (orange tones) came from the shapes on a cavern picture that I saw in a travel magazine. Did anyone guess correctly?