what i’ve been up to…

Posted on November 19, 2014 by susie carranza studio

it’s been a while since i’ve blogged…

every time i tell myself i’m going to blog consistently – life happens.

the end of october brought with it the first anniversary of losing my sister patty

then, on november 2nd, my mother unexpectedly lost her sister, josefina (my Tia Chepa). once again, we were faced with the loss of a loved one right before the holiday season.

i won’t go into emotions right now…i’m just dealing with making sure my mom’s okay and that she not get ill, as she did when we lost my sister. she’s still recuperating from that…

i’m just getting back to work again. on a personal level, i am not thinking of celebrating holidays right now. from a business level – life goes on…shops remain open…

this past week or so i’ve been working on Christmas ornaments. i just listed some to our website – i’d love for you to check them out!

wood ornaments by Susie Carranza for www.ArtedeNuestroCorazon.com

wood ornaments by Susie Carranza for http://www.ArtedeNuestroCorazon.com

ornament: pot of marigolds with mini serape & heart milagro…

ornament: Frida with El Venado Loteria card…

ornament: large orange rose with miniature clay pottery…

ornament: Frida with wing milagros & flowers…

for these and lots of other handmade art pieces, please go to http://www.ArtedeNuestroCorazon.com

i’ll also be adding new items to my Etsy art shop and Etsy supply shop in the next few weeks. please support the handmade community and original artists this holiday season! ❤️

(i bought the raw handmade wood ornaments i used here from Terramaya on Etsy – make sure to check out her shop!)

’til next time…

Olvera Street’s Muerto Artwalk…

Posted on October 22, 2014 by susie carranza studio

This past Saturday, Lawrence and I went to Olvera Street’s first ever Muerto Artwalk. We took the Gold Line, which gave me the opportunity to see beautiful Union Station in downtown Los Angeles again…

my first Tap card! isn’t it pretty?

I love Union Station…

it was a beautiful day for an artwalk…

artist Jazzy Jazz at Olvera Street’s Muerto Artwalk (LOVE her artwork!)…

we had lunch at La Luz del Dia…

we had lunch on the beautiful patio, surrounded by bougainvilleas and little birds…

see the little birdie? it was eyeing my chicken tacos…

loved watching the dancers…

my lovely friend, Theresa Armas, of Skulls and Stitches…

my friend Lizzy Hernandez of Inspira, displaying her jewelry at Hecho con Carino on Olvera Street…

Lizzy and me…

my husband Lawrence with our friend & artist Annette Armas…

setting was perfect for all the great artists they had present…

the Armas family of CJ’s Angels (beautiful people & awesome friends!)…

heading back to Union Station to go home…

Union Station…

shopped! Items from Jazzy Jazz, Inspira, and Arte de mi Familia…

items from CJ's Angels, Terra Maya, Lupe Flores, and Hecho con Carino...

items from CJ’s Angels, Terra Maya, Lupe Flores; shirts from Hecho con Carino…

(You can find all these artists on Instagram!)

We had a really good time! Got to see our artist friends, met artists I only knew through social media, and did quite a bit of shopping. I had been contacted about participating as a vendor, but we decided we couldn’t commit to any shows with my mother-in-law in and out of the hospital at the time. I’m hoping next year we’ll get the chance again!

’til next time…

art therapy is real…

Posted on October 5, 2014 by susie carranza studio

the term “art therapy” and “art saves” is used quite often, or at least it is in the blogs and Facebook pages I follow. I think after certain words or phrases are used toooo often they lose their original meaning. but I can tell you that there really is such a thing as art therapy – and I don’t need a licensed ” therapist” to experience it!

today my plans suddenly changed, and I found my Sunday being free. I was initially disappointed, upset, and felt very much alone…

so what did I do? I art-ed (is that a word?!) of course!

pulled out the largest canvases I currently own (only 11″ X 14″; they’ll have to do), got my most thrashed paintbrush and got to painting…

…and you know what? it was just what I needed. I can’t control what happens around me, but there’s something about dragging paint around a canvas, ripping up book pages and gluing them down with no plan in mind, spilling drops of paint and creating pools of color – it just feels good.

now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some canvases waiting for me…

’til next time…

30 paintings in 30 days – day 1…

Posted on September 9, 2014 by susie carranza studio

It’s been a month since I’ve blogged…I know, I’m ashamed to even call myself a blogger. but I swear I have the BEST intentions: I will blog regularly, I will create/paint/draw/etc. regularly…then stuff (life!) happens.

right now, Lawrence and I are in the process of fixing up his childhood home, (renovating, updating, cleaning) in preparation for the two of us to move in and care for his mom. once we hired contractors for a complete reno of the kitchen (last month), things started moving forward really fast!

so – besides painting rooms in his childhood home, I’ve been feeling sorely lacking in the field of ‘artist’, until I was faced with a painting challenge…

on Facebook, I’m a member of an artist group, HeARTspace, overseen by artist Jeanne Bessette. I must admit, up ’til now, I haven’t been very active in the group. I do check in daily and read others’ posts, but other than sharing my work twice in pop-up galleries, I’ve been pretty quiet. when Jeanne posted over the weekend that she wanted to challenge anyone interested in a 30 day, 30 paintings challenge, I thought “how cool!” then came up with lots of reasons why I couldn’t do it.

the success other artists spoke about already having was intimidating

i can’t create 1 painting a day – I’ve got tooooo much going on!

my work won’t be good enough

etc. etc. etc.

well, I did some soul searching Sunday night – about lots of stuff in my life right now. a conversation with a good friend last week got me thinking about where my life was headed. (you know one of those friends you’ve had FOREVER, you fall in and out of touch, but when you talk again you realize how much he really knows you? yeah, one of those friends…) he questioned if I was okay with all the changes happening in my life right now. he left me with “it’s never too late. never.”

never too late to make changes. to speak up. to move forward in the direction I want to end up.

I sometimes feel like parts of my life are out of my control, especially now. and I’m not sure what to do about it. but I realized that the one thing I can control is my art.

if I create. when I create. how I create. what I create.

so – I can continue blaming what’s happening in other parts of my life for what’s happening in my art life, or I get off my creative ass, step up, and just CREATE.

i can move towards my art.

monday when I saw the post asking for the first painting of the 30 day challenge, I ignored my inner critic and stepped up. and I painted. and drew. and I shared my first painting in the challenge, thus signing up for the 30 days.

and felt happy and in control. yes…

“Sunflower in the Rain” by Susie Carranza

my first painting: “Sunflowers in the Rain”. I used an 8′ by 10′ canvas, with a gelli printed background. I also challenged myself NOT to use my beloved Sharpies or PITT artist pens, instead using my new white uni- ball Signo pens. (which, by the way, I LOVED! all my blacks pens and markers have some serious competition now!)

this challenge will also help my blogging, since I plan to share my 30 paintings here.

stay tuned…

not much painting going on…

Posted on August 3, 2014 by susie carranza studio

the past several days have been very busy around here. unfortunately, no new artwork has been created in that time!

this past week, my mother-in-law ended up in the emergency room. she ended up undergoing another angioplasty to open up a blocked artery. so Lawrence and I have been spending our days at her house, keeping a watchful eye…

on a more positive note, renovations are finally under way at my in-laws’ house. a little backstory on that: when my father-in-law was diagnosed with cancer in January 2013, Lawrence made the decision that he wanted us to move in with his parents for the time they had left with us. unfortunately, there were other individuals in the house who stood in the way of us doing that in time to live with my father-in-law (we lost him within a month; he passed away February 2013). I won’t get into the details, but I will say that we are FINALLY able to get necessary repairs done to the house, getting us closer to moving into Lawrence’s childhood home so we can live and care for his mom. so we’re also dealing with contractors and renovations! I’m enjoying seeing the work being done – I really wanted to join in and tear down some walls…

so, as you can imagine, I’m not getting much artwork done. today’s the first day I’ve been home for awhile, and it was spent printing out invoices and letting customers know orders were shipped out. I do have some photos to share, at least!

’til next time…