There I was, walking down the stairs of the San Diego Arts Institute followed by my echoing steps. There were only five people in the room, one of them was Ginger Shulick Porcella (director and curator at SDAI),  and she was the one giving the workshop. It was no surprise that we were so few, after all writing Artists Statements is one of the most dreaded and feared subjects for most artists, and we were about to spend two hours doing just that.

To my surprise, the two hours went fast thanks to Ginger’s ability to keep the subject simple, engaging and interactive. I didn’t leave with my statement done, but now I have a better path to follow.

So here are some basics to get things flowing.

Before writing your artist statement consider this:

KEEP IT SHORT, 250 words or less will do.

KEEP IT SIMPLE, use everyday language.

STICK TO ONE PRONOUN, first or third person are both good to use, but stick to one.

You might want to rant and rave and give a lecture about your work because you poured your heart and soul into it, but, long and complex might end up not being read at all.

Questions to be answered in your statement:

• What do you do? Try to be as concrete as you can here.
• What is you work made of? Do you have any particular technique?
• What does your work signify or represent?
• Why do you make it? What does it mean to you?

Try to avoid:

• Don’t include personal information unless your work is self referenced. An Artist Statement is not a bio.
• Don’t compare yourself with another artist. The “It is kind of like so and so” is a big turn off and makes the reader think about somebody else’s work instead of yours.
• Don’t talk about past work. Focus on what you are currently doing.
• Don’t tell people what to think. You want to encourage interpretation of your work.
• Don’t try to be funny, it can be seen as amateurish.
• Don’t get to personal. I’m sure you’ll want to credit your mom or significant other for being the light in your life but please don’t.
• Don’t be too wordy.

I’m sure you are already bored out of your mind just thinking about finally finishing that artist statement. But wait, here’s the best part and my favorite take on the workshop:

HAVE SOMEBODY ELSE WRITE IT FOR YOU

Yes, that was the main piece of advice Ginger gave. Relieving right?

Now, call that friend that’s so good with words, buy her/him a coffee and tell them all about your work.

Hope this helped!

Mucho Amor,

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I might have too many passions. One of them is cooking and eating. I count them as one because you can not have one without the other. Perhaps, I should actually say eating and cooking because my eating passion comes first.

I love recipes that taste delicious and are also healthy. No sugar added chocolate power bars have been my favorite snack of the past few weeks. They are the perfect treat to go with the afternoon or morning tea and also to take as a snack on hikes and outdoors activities. Chocolaty, sweet and nutty, what else can you ask for? 

Here is what you’ll need:

– 1 cup of sunflower seeds

– 1 cup of whole nuts

– 1 cup of tender dates

-1/2 cup of tender raisins

– 1/2 cup of coco powder (straight coco, no sugar pleazzeee)

– A food processor

…And that’s it!

Make sure to mix separately. The dry  with the dry and the wet with the wet. This means: process the nuts together and separately process the dried fruit together. I would also recommend mixing the dry first. After that, mix dry and wet ingredients in a bowl. I wouldn’t recommend mixing all of the ingredients at the same time in the processor because it tends to get stuck. Finally, put the mix together in a pan and flatten it. Cut them up into rectangles and you are done!

One little trick: if your dried fruits are too dry, soak them in water so that they loosen up. But be aware, don’t soak too much because you will end up having a sticky mess when you put it all together. This is also a good option if you want to use less dry fruit.

Feel free to mix and match with different dried fruits and nuts. Experiment with the proportions to see what best fits your fancy and taste. They taste super good without the cocoa powder too.

Raw, vegan, gluten free, no sugar added, guilt free and new age certified.

Taking the pictures of these bars and making them look good was quite a challenge. So please don’t judge them for the way they look after you do them.

Have fun cooking!

Mucho Amor, 

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After seven and a half hours of driving in the dark, we arrived. We were still dressed like Southern Californians when we stepped out into the night air. The cold quickly reminded us what winter really feels like.

Stephanie had a big smile on her face when she saw Alex and I, despite the fact it was  3am Arizona time. After catching up, we fell asleep with big plans for the days to come. Knowing that visiting the Grand Canyon was part of the plan I was expectant about the pictures I wanted to take while there.

Well, we all know how great expectations can go…

Freezing weather, some sleet, some rain and storm clouds blocking the visibility was what we got. It was so miserable we ended up spending more time drinking tea to warm up than walking outside. By putting a plastic bag over the camera I managed to get some shots of the canyon.

And a selfie too.

At 2pm we decided to go back to Flagstaff , we were done being cold and wet. Just outside of the Grand Canyon national park the weather got better and beautiful fluffy clouds took over the sky.

Back in the city we strolled downtown until the sun went down. Camera in hand I snapped away at every corner. With no expectations my luck changed and I was able to enjoy the picturesque little town, finding picture perfect moments with ease.

That same night I saw snow falling for the first time. The flakes seemed to cover everything in a silent thin white layer. I woke up the next morning to 6 inches of snow covering the ground.

This is Stephanie with Coco. Coco is a strange dog. She absolutely hates the cold so she was the only one not digging the snow at all.

After some more tea and snow wars we left, driving slowly and very cautiously to avoid sliding off the roads. The clouds were magical the whole way home, and we stopped as often as we could to take pictures.

As much as I was happy to go back to warmer days, It’s refreshing knowing that there is winter somewhere else and water coming from the sky.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Mucho Amor

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