Welcome to my new website/blog. There are so many positive things happening this year, I hope to find more time to write. As you probably know, 2009 was an amazing year for me because I had an incredible baby boy. But as many artists who are also parents know, it is extremely challenging to balance a family, a job, to stay healthy and making art. I’m breathless!

I am grateful to have the opportunity to live and enjoy this whole experience. There are not words to really describe it…but my heart has grown so much since I became a mama. And I am thankful to have such wonderful community: my family, friends, neighbors and readers.

As I mentioned on my last post, this web project is a work in progress…My goal is to create a place where we connect, share and have a dialogue. I want it to have the quality of a studio visit, a great run or a yoga class.

Lastly, I want to thank and highly recommend Brad Stephenson who helped me with the new website. Brad is an actor, amazing father, technology developer, and huge Steelers fan — Go Steelers! — maybe next year. Brad was fantastic to work with and so patient with my slow pace. His website is www.bradpstephenson.com. Muchas gracias Brad!

The beginning of a new year is one of my most favorite times. It’s the time when everything feels energized and full of possibilities. The air in our apartment already smells sweet. 2009 is the year that will open my heart and arms to a new experience: starting a family. I can’t wait!

I’m also looking forward to going back to running. I know it’s going to take me some time, but the thought of me moving a bit faster than now makes me smile.

I ran until I was about four or five months pregnant and it honestly hurt when I stopped. But I stopped for such a worthy reason. I continue to be active doing yoga and cross training, but I miss the balance that running and yoga bring to my everyday.

As always my main goal for this new and fresh year is to keep everything as simple as possible, and most importantly, to never forget to enjoy the path while trying to reach the goal.

Image:
Leonardo da Vinci
Studies of Embryos, circa 1510-1513
Pen over red chalk
Royal Library, Windsor Castle

I wish you are already having a great holiday season and that the new year brings health, peace, and purpose to everyone!

This year, Art Movement is participating in a Virtual Food Drive for the Food Bank’s annual campaign. I understand it’s hard to give when we don’t have much, but any amount — small or large — will help Food Bank provide free meals to New Yorkers in need. $1 provides 5 meals, a $20 donation can feed 100 people. Food Bank’s mission is “to end food poverty and increase access to affordable, nutritious food for low-income New Yorkers throughout the five boroughs”.

I didn’t want to set a specific goal amount. Art Movement’s goal is simply to give and help others.

If you would like to make a donation, please visit Art Movement’s Virtual Food Drive.

THANK YOU and Happy Holidays to all!

Thank you all so much for your nice emails and updates. I’m happy to learn some of you began to run (awesome!), that bambinos will fill your homes this year (double awesome!), and news about your projects and exhibitions. Congratulations! What a great way to start the new year.

One of my new year’s resolutions is to immerse myself in all things healthy and creative. Here are my first two creative curiosities. Enjoy!

New Perspectives in Latin American Art, 1930–2006: Selections from a Decade of Acquisitions.
On view at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) thru February 25, 2008.

This exhibition is a must-see. The artists on view are some of my favorites, like Felix González-Torres, Ana Mendieta, Gabriel Orozco, Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Clark, Lygia Pape, Gego, and Mira Schendel. The works that spoke to me most were Mira Schendel’s works on paper. The works – monotypes on rice paper – felt free and powerful. Schendel used modest traces of lines and words to investigate the visualization of language. My favorite work was a delicate circle with the words Si al mundo (yes to the world) inside.

I’m also currently reading the book Like the Flowing River by the Brazilian author Paulo Coehlo. I found The Story of the Pencil beautiful, poetic, and just brilliant. Perfect for artists.

The Story of the Pencil

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point, he asked: are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me? His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson: I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special.

But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!

That depends on how you look at things. The pencil has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on to them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.

First quality: You are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps.

Second quality: Now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, it’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.

Third quality: The pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.

Fourth quality: What really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.

Fifth quality: The pencil always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.

The holiday season is the time when I enjoy my family and reconnect with nature at home in Puerto Rico. I can’t describe the feeling of seeing an intense blue ocean while running to the beach in the morning. Running home uphill is SERIOUSLY breathtaking!

While we were at the beach a couple of afternoons ago, we saw two kids playing and rolling in the sand. They were both having so much fun and one of them described the sand as beautifully warm.

Beautifully warm is truly how my heart feels after spending the holidays surrounded by the love of family and nature. And I want to keep this warm feeling inside of me as long as I can.

The year ahead already looks challenging. And I hope you all find ways to keep your hearts beautifully warm.

Photo: Iguana staying beautifully warm in the morning sun, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico