Happy weekend everyone!

“Rather than entering any situation wondering how it will serve you, let your entire motivation be to serve the greater good. Ask yourself constantly, how do I serve here, rather than how does this serve me and you put yourself in the great flow, which paradoxically causes life to serve you far better.”

Enjoy!

Finding of the week:

“We always need to remember that behind almost every great moment in history, there are heroic people doing really boring and frustrating things for a prolonged period of time.”

From New York Times, My Favorite August by Gail Collins.

If you want to get a real view of what an artist’s life is all about, check out Julian Dashper (1960-2009): It Is Life at MINUS SPACE. On view from August 7 until September 4, 2010. A must see, read, experience, feel.

In 2007, I wrote the post, Your Heart Makes Me Feel, after I read a wonderful tribute to artist Elizabeth Murray (1940-2007) in The Brooklyn Rail. Since then my feelings about the connection between art & life have only deepened more…

As Robert Gober wrote: “…art comes out of life, and that you had better pay attention.”

Image:
Julian Dashper (1960-2009): It Is Life, MINUS SPACE

Hope you’re all having a great summer. Here are some of my summer thoughts after having a wonderful time with family and at my favorite place: the beach.

It pleases me immensely to see how my boy loves the ocean. He was born in NYC, but his blood is Caribbean…and I truly love that!

Fruit and vegetable stands, surf shops and Rex Cream’s Ice Cream are my kind of places.

<3 running barefoot on the beach. I know I’ll be fine in a couple of days, but it was hard to run this morning and wear running shoes.

A bikini never goes out of fashion.

My nieces and nephews are awesome! When I grow up, I want to be just like them.

Photo:
7am swim with mama.

Swimming in the Caribbean. Surrounded by family and nature. I’m counting the days…

Where is yours?

Where is My Mind
By The Pixies

Oh
With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
But there’s nothing in it
And you’ll ask yourself

Where is my mind

Way out in the water
See it swimmin’

I was swimmin’ in the Caribbean
Animals were hiding behind the rocks
Except the little fish
But they told me, he swears
Tryin’ to talk to me, coy koi.

Where is my mind

Way out in the water
See it swimmin’ ?

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
If there’s nothing in it
And you’ll ask yourself

Where is my mind

Oh
With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Oh
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Oh
Oh

“The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.”

-Oscar Wilde

“Yoga is about the union and integration of breath, movement and body, both on and off the mat. Our practice on the mat should hopefully guide us towards actions in the outside world: if we observe our actions on the mat, perhaps we can all try to apply them to the outside world, and together, in a united way, we can make a difference.”

Green Goa: Green Yoga, Karma Yoga and the Art of Transforming Practice to Life by Inna Costantini. UK Yoga Magazine, July 2010.

Happy summer!

Here I am, thinking of tomorrow’s NYRR New York Mini 10K. My first “big” race after baby. Feeling excited. I ran this race in 2008 and the experience was awesome. This is a women only race and it is truly amazing to see a sea of women running in Central Park.

My main goal tomorrow is to apply what I’ve learned from my active 15-month old boy and that we as adults forget to do often — run, run, run and just have fun!

A friend sent me this quote a couple of weeks ago — and it is so true:

“You should study not only that you become a mother when your child is born, but also that you become a child.”

-Dogen Zenji (1200 – 1253)

My first experiment with triangle pose was a couple of years ago. I created an installation with colored rubber bands entitled, Space Between. I didn’t set many rules while installing, I just knew I wanted to create a connection between triangles and colors. I began the installation — on what first felt as a huge wall space — slowly and carefully making triangles. But as I continued making triangles, the installation felt as a yoga practice — it began to flow naturally.

These days I continue to explore triangle pose — both — on my mat and in my home/studio. I’ll be posting images of this new set of triangles soon. I’m excited.

Oh, and how much I love google… While researching triangle pose, I found these great articles: Angle of Repose by Julie Gudmestad and Triangle Pose by Teri Leigh.

Enjoy!

Image:
Rossana Martinez
Space Between, 2007
Rubber bands

I’m happy to write that the site-specific installation, Crash into Me will be on view this summer at el Museo de Arte de Caguas (MUAC), Puerto Rico.

There is lots to see in Caguas. The city is called the heart of Puerto Rico. The community is so friendly — including my amazing sisters who live there. It’s truly an honor.

I thank artist and curator Elsa Melendez for inviting me to participate in the exhibition. And as always, it’s a pleasure to be in the company of great artists.

Gracias Elsa!

Image:
Rossana Martinez
Crash into Me, 2007-2010
Site-specific installation
Fluorescent orange and hot pink ribbons

Part of group exhibition, No fue un mal entendido, on view at MUAC from June 4-September 30, 2010.

Artists: Claudio Chea, Ricardo Hernández, Rossana Martínez, Néstor Millán, Omar Obdulio Peña, Brian Rivera, Miguel Angel Torres, Cristina Tufiño, Rafael Vargas Bernard y el grupo de teatro, Papel Machete.

I dedicate my miles to the memory of a wonderful person — a great friend, brother, father, husband, son, and so much more. My dear brother-in-law, Victor González Nieves (1963-2010). We miss you so much!!

Finding of the week:

“A arte é a minha forma de conhecimento do mundo”

“Art is my way of understanding the world”

-Lygia Pape

Image:

Lygia Pape
Magnetized Spaces, 1968-2002
Spaces of the city

Finding of the week:

The 5 Warrior Warm-Up by Margaret Burns Vap

What a pleasant surprise I received yesterday when Erin Loechner from Design for Mankind wrote about my new performance drawings. I feel honored to be part of this great community.

As many of you know and for those who don’t, Design for Mankind is an award-winning blog dedicated to showcasing the talents of the emerging art and design community. They receive over 11,000 visits per day (wow!) which makes them great hosts. I encourage all to take some time to look, read, subscribe and certainly to enjoy this awesome resource for art and design.

Muchas gracias Erin and everyone at Design for Mankind!

running with
my favorite music
creative thoughts
and a happy heart

returned home
found two beautiful smiles
and a cup of good coffee

simple things taste so good!

The last couple of weeks have been full of creativity. I found some time to draw, run outside and explore for titles. I like titles especially for abstract work. To me, titles are the little things that tell our story. They help us share ideas with others, and begin a dialogue…

Finding of the week:

“What is often overlooked in this modern world is that everything and everybody has value, that each atom in the universe does indeed have a place…”

-Aadil Palkhivala

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 list of things I would like to enjoy during these warm months is way too long. Sure I can do some of these things during the cold months, but the energy that the sun brings in the summer is unique.

I don’t know how it happened, maybe it was having beautiful Central Park as a background. I’m so excited that I’m running three miles again. Three miles isn’t a lot, but for me it feels like a marathon.

I also found a new yoga class that took me back to my very first experience with yoga. Everything felt so new and every muscle hurt the day after! I love when moments like this happen — when suddenly the things that we thought we knew how to do feel fresh and everything shines again.

Eating to Fuel Exercise, Runners Tell Their Stories both by Tara Parker-Pope, and The Reservoir in Central Park, an audio guide by the Central Park Conservancy are perfect to keep us moving and inspired.

I hope you’re all enjoying the summer and doing some of the things that you love to do!