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I was too worn out each evening of the convention of the International Association of Pastel Societies to write a blog post about my impressions and the many things I learned, but I do want to share them with you. Since it would be too long to include everything into one post, I will break it up into smaller more easily digestible bits.

 First of all, I'd like to make a comment about the juror of awards for the 22nd Juried Exhibition Fred Somers (Terri Ford juried the Master Circle Show). This genuinely nice man and incredibly talented artist was the best juror I have ever seen! The awards ceremony took quite a bit of time because he made personal comments about each and every winning painting. And not just a few words, either. He explained why he chose to give an award to a piece, teaching all of us something in the process, and even told personal stories behind his decisions. The winning artists were beaming and rightly so. Every artist I know would have loved to hear the juror rave about their work the way Fred did! And he did it in person, live at the event. What a gentleman and inspiration.

The second day artist Duane Wakeham conducted a tour through both exhibits pointing out even more things to look for in great art and what artists should strive for in ceating it. Here are a few pointers I learned from Duane:

• Definition of a landscape: an arrangement of colors and shapes that represent a scene in a landscape (so always keep design and composition in mind).
• Make every square inch of the painting interesting by variations of color and strokes but without distracting from the focal area.
• Color has to keep its place in space. Pay attention to where you place a color. Does it make sense to be intense if it's in the background? Should it be warm or cool?
• The painting has to make sense to the viewer who may not be familiar with the scene or sees your reference photo. The piece has to have its own reality. Just because something was in the scene when you saw it, leave it out if it does not make sense to a viewer who has never been there.
• Don't just paint a picture, CREATE A PAINTING, make it YOUR interpretation, change things around, don't just copy nature.

With those points in mind Duane pointed out a few of his favorite pieces in the shows, sometimes contrasting two paintings of similar scenes but handled completely differently. For instance, comparing Marsha Savage's "Water Oak" (left) with Jane McGraw-Teubner's "The Mystical Tree" (right): they are both essentially paintings of a tree with a green/red color dominance, yet were interpreted completely differently by each artist.

Duane especially loved paintings with strong color (like Jennifer Evenhus' "Summer Pasture"):

and a confident hand, meaning paintings where the strokes were laid down and left alone, not overworked, where the artist added spots of color in just the right places.

He pointed out strong composition and emotional content, like Diane Rappisi's award-winning self-portrait "Time" (to which I related on a very personal level because Diane tackled the subject of making major life changes as we age and our children leave the nest):

Duane's talk lasted over an hour so there is no way I can show all of the wonderful art he selected for special attention here, so please forgive me for not doing so.

I will also not list all of the award winners here because you can look them up yourself on the IAPS website as soon as it is updated.

However, I would like to share one more thing I learned from the Gold Medal Winner Christine Swann. Her painting "Cold" of her son blew me away the first time I ever saw it on Facebook and was even better viewed in person (as mentioned in my previous post).

I could not figure out how she got such intensely bright highlights in his hair and shoulders, let alone those backlit red orange ears! On the second day I had the chance to chat with her and  Christine was kind enough to share her tip with me and others: she underpaints with concentrated watercolor dyes! My efforts at producing such intense brights always fell a little short using regular watercolor or even leaving the white of the paper and laying pastel on top hoping it would glow. I didn't know anything about such dyes and immediately went out and bought some when I got home. I cannot wait to try them out!

All in all, those two exhibitions at the convention left me humbled but oh, so inspired to get back to my studio and keep practicing my craft, because practice is what artists actually do, because we always consider ourselves to still be students, eager to learn more, to stretch beyond what we already know, to reach new heights and keep improving our skills. Conventions like the IAPS 2013 inspire us to do just that.

In my next post, I'll share with you what I learned in Margaret Dyer's demo about painting the figure in a much looser way than I'm used to.

Yesterday, Rich and I arrived in Albuquerque for the International Association of Pastel Societies bi-annual convention. I had neglected to reserve a room at the Hotel Albuquerque where the exhibits and convention are actually held so we ended up in a little casita which I found through airbnb.com. I can highly recommend Laura White's place to anyone! It's larger than we expected and very close to Old Town and the convention. I regretted not being around the other artists 24/7 but I also enjoy getting away from the crowds to a very quiet and quaint place. As an introvert (yes, I hide it well!) I get exhausted after hours of mingling and talking. Add to that the overwhelming visual stimulation by so many great pastel paintings all in one place...I need time and space to process!

There are two exhibits on display: one is the 22nd Juried Exhibition and the other one is the Master Circle Juried Exhibition. They had asked all the artists with Master Circle status to enter the latter one only. I was thrilled to have my piece "Choices" accepted. Once I saw all the other entries I knew I was not going to receive an award that night! That's not knocking my own work, but the other work was just amazing and made me realize just how much I have yet to learn! I was not the only artist to feel this way as I overheard several others voice the same sentiment. They said they just can't wait to run home and practice, practice, practice!

When I see work like Andrew McDermott's that is loaded with intense color where most people would never think to put it, or Deborah Stewart's popping abstracts (I wish I had signed up for her workshop!) or many of the other painters who have  a much more daring approach to their work I itch to go back to the studio and experiment with bolder strokes and color. I'm also itching to take more workshops with a select group of artists. I will make a list of my favorites and whittle away at it over the next few years.

There are simply too many artists and their paintings that I truly loved to list here, but I do want to show you the one piece that left me in awe, my jaw on the floor, the one piece I could study for days on end and still discover new things about it. I'm referring to Christine Swann's painting "Cold", which you see at the top of this post, but be sure to check it out on her website, too, for a better image. I had seen it online and loved it then, but there is nothing like seeing this masterpiece in person! The colors in the shadows, the greens and reds bouncing off each other, the INTENSE lights....all I can say is WOW! She won an award for both of the peices she has in the show and "Cold" won the Gold Medal Award! 

William Schneider won the Prix de Pastel, the top honors, for "Queen of Hearts" and I'm thrilled that I get to see his demo on Saturday!

Ok, back to the convention now!

The winner of my recent contest to win a set of 6 greeting cards featuring images of my artwork of THEIR choice is...drum roll, please...

Carolyn Hancock!

A couple of weeks ago I had asked people to sign up for my newsletter, blog or to "like" my studio page on FB in order to be entered into the random drawing, and Carolyn had done all so she was entered mutliple times and it paid off for her. I appreciate all of the new fans and thank you for taking the time to participate. I hope you enjoy reading my posts and newsletter anyway and if there is anything you find useful in it, please share it with others. As always I welcome comments, questions and feedback any time!

I'm off to the International Association of Pastel Societies bi-annual convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico, tomorrow. It's my first time and I'm so excited! I have two paintings on display, will receive my Master Circle status, am signed up for demos by Margaret Dyer and William Schneider and am looking forward to meeting up with old friends and so many of the pastel artists I have admired from afar. Not to mention the candy shop that is the expo...Rich may have to hide the credit cards:)

So, again, Carolyn, congratulations and I'll be in touch to get your preference for the images you'd like on your set of cards!

Thank you, All!

Ah, what great intentions I had for a whole weekend of painting en plein air during the paint out/retreat at the Mission San Antonio de Padua in Monterey County, CA! This event was hosted by the California Art Club, a very prestigious art organization whose very accomplished members include the top plein air painters in the U.S. I have always wanted to go on a painting retreat where everything is provided from the bed to the meals along with gorgeous scenery. Being surrounded by other artists all doing their creative thing is inspiring yet intimidating to me. I like to think of all of us in a giant creative bubble, our blissful zones stretching across the fields to bump up against each other, to nudge each other along. Like the stream of consciousness which I believe runs through everything and everyone around us and helps carry everyone along on their journey. Then why, oh why, is it so scary to paint on location with lots of other people around?

Here's a recap of the weekend:

My friend and fellow Studio Channel Islands Artist-in-Residence Anette Power and I headed out mid morning on a Friday for the 4-5 hour drive north. We stopped in Avila Beach, a picturesque little beach town with brightly colored shops, for a delicious lunch. Next, we stopped in Paso Robles so I could introduce Anette to Anne Laddon, founder of Studios on the Park, an art center similar to ours. I knew the two would hit it off and they did! Anette was invited to participate in an upcoming plein air "Quick Draw" event in Paso Robles.

That made it worth us getting to the mission pretty late in the day, with just enough time to check in to our rooms and meet the other 40something artists in the dining room. Some of the artists had been at the mission all day painting and had already produced some nice work. I felt my usual guilt at not having been more productive that first day. It's something I wrestle with all the time, never quite allowing myself to enjoy some down time. I was determined to get at least 3-4 paintings done on Saturday!

After dinner Joan, our wonderful mission guide, gave us a tour of the grounds. She is quite the storyteller and we loved the tales about Rosario, the Holy Cat of the mission and how he came to his name, the history of the Salinan Indians of the area and Padre Serra who founded the mission in 1771, and the little girl Gigi who is the only person buried inside the mission. This mission is the only one in California not to be in a town or surrounded by farm fields. The location is remote and pretty much the way it was when it was founded except for the large Army base all around.

If you'd like to learn more about the mission and even plan a trip there (whether to paint or just relax), check out their link here. The mission was ordered by the State of California to be retrofit for earthquake safety and needs to raise $15 million to avoid being shut down. They love visitors, either groups, families or individuals for day trips or lodging. If you are a painter they also have 65 artists' work for sale in their gift shop, so you might want to consider joining those ranks or even donating a piece to their fundraisers. The rooms are sparse with just two beds and a sink, the showers and toilets are communal, but I loved that simplicity. Since there was no TV and no internet we went to bed early every night and were ready for a full day of painting after breakfast at eight. 

Knowing that I would be able to concentrate better on that first scary painting of the day if I was not surrounded by a lot of people, I headed out into the field close to the Grist Mill. I worried a bit about the rattle snakes which were already coming awake in the warm spring air (and Joan had filled our heads with lots of tales about them coming out of the rafters of the mill, living in the adobe walls all over the grounds, etc.), but I liked the simple design created by the shape of the building, the low wall of the auqa duct connected to it and the field around it enough to put those thoughts aside. But to be honest, it was mostly the fear of having someone look over my shouder that was greater than the fear of snakes! Why, after all this time, is it still so hard to tune out other people and their opinions?

That first painting did nothing to easy my trepidations. Simply put, I hated it. It looked amateurish and sloppy instead of fresh and lively. I didn't like the surface I used even though it was not a new one. I wrestled with my demons of insecurity and used all of the positive affirmations I could think of to not beat myself up and pack it all in! One person did stop by and wanted to see what I had done, but fortunately I had already packed it in my backpack. (Back in the studio, I have rinsed the painting off and will try again but this time with more oomph!)

It was time for lunch and I was slogging my way to the dining room, shoulders drooping from the heavy backpack and somber thoughts. As I passed a few rusted old tools and wagons scattered throughout the many acres of the mission I took out my camera to shoot close ups, composing closely cropped abstracts in my viewfinder and getting more and more excited. Dropping all my gear to the ground I spent the next 30 minutes in a flurry of excitement shooting more than a hundred images of rust and dust, wood and crevices. I was late for lunch but had made a decision: I would paint what really excited me, not what was expected of me or what everyone else was painting! I had felt that I was SUPPOSED to paint the mission, its buildings and surrounding landscape, but WHO exactly was telling me to do that? I felt an obligation to even you, my dear two or three readers (and a few more on Facebook), to show the finished paintings that I thought you expected to see. And you may well be expecting to see familiar images of missions and may be disappointed but I am learning to listen more to my own voice and quieting those outside voices of others. Although I loved the mission, I just did not feel excited to actually paint it in the traditional way and did not feel like I had anything new to say about it. Once I tuned in more about what really gets my mojo going (and for me that seems to be more abstract design and closely cropped, zoomed in images) I was on a roll!

I spent the afternoon creating three paintings in the courtyard in close proximity to the other painters. The dark windows against the light adobe walls had really captured my attention and I wanted to practice getting all those colors in that seemingly off-white wall down. I could finally see them, all the peaches, blues, pinks and yellows and I was itching to paint them! Part of me still felt that I owed an explanation to why I was painting just one window or just a small part of a wagon wheel, and sometimes I did say something to passersby, but after a while, I just let go off justifying myself to anyone. 

Here are the resulting paintings from that afternoon:

 Mission San Antonio Window I, 8x6"        

  Mission San Antonio Window II,6 x 8     

    Mission San Antonio Wagon Wheel, 8 x 6

I felt good about my productivity after such a sluggish start. I also felt that I learned a lot that day. I have painted adobe walls before but always struggled with the nuances of colors found in them. I really could not see all the colors I saw other artists put into their paintings of these types of walls. I don't know if it's just a matter of experience, of putting in the hours of direct observation and painting or the meditating I did in the chapel in the mornings while Gregorian Chants played in the background 24/7...but I was finally able to see what they see! AND I was able to put it down on paper! I knew I had to just be careful to use the same value, then any color would work, but I was thrilled to finally have reached another level that had been difficult for me.

The next morning we debated whether to paint more onsite at the mission or head back south and paint along the way. We chose the latter, because we wanted to make a stop at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and a few galleries. We were exhausted and eager to get home (why is it that standing still at an easel can be so tiring??) but determined to get at least one more painting in. That afternoon we found Loon Point Beach in Summerland, lugged our gear from the parking lot to the beach and scoped out the location. Immediately I saw a scene with Eucalyptus trees, which I love, and was inspired, but once again, my shyness got the better of me. I decided to head down further along the beach where I saw less people. I dragged poor Anette along, over a long stretch of nothing but boulders and rocks until we gave up and headed back to our original point. Well, at least we got our exercise for the day! By the time we got started there was very little good light left and we literally raced through our set-up, composition sketch and painting, but oh, what fun I had! It forced me to very quickly lay down the important shapes and values without being able to get distracted by details. I didn't have time to take pictures of the sketch and underpainting but believe me it was very simple. I then threw on colors with abandon and was actually giddy with joy and excitement! I didn't even care about the couple looking over our shoulder for a few minutes, I was just having a blast! Below, you can see the finished piece, with VERY little touch up in the studio. I wanted to leave it as loose and fresh as it was at the scene. The colors in reality are actually a bit brighter then you see in the photo especially the lighter blues in the foreground bushes.

Loon Point Beach, 8 x 6

We arrived home spent but happy. In the end we did do a lot of painting, networked and made new friends, filled our creative wells by visiting exhibitions at a museum and galleries, had some much needed down time away from all other responsibilities at home, had some "car seat counseling" while driving and learned a WHOLE LOT about each other, but most of all I learned this:

Tune out everybody else's voice, let go of any expectations you think others have of you and just follow your bliss! We can paint a variety of subject matter if we want, but let's always bring ourselves to it. I love looking at traditional paintings, especially the many plein air paintings done by California Artists, but I'm not always happy with my own results. Whether that's a lack of skills (I'm sure that has something to do with it) or the feeling that I just have nothing new to add unless I focus on the things that truly appeal to me, and paint them MY way, who knows. For now, I'll keep painting en plein air as much as I can and I have faith that through those many hours of practicing my own style will emerge.

Here are some more photos from the mission along with a couple that got me so excited and will turn into small paintings later:

  Anette in front of the mission

   Artists painting in the courtyard   

     The mission halls at dusk  

 The Grist Mill   

   Our group of artists

Rusted tools and wagons scattered throughout:

Since moving out to California this past summer, I have been spending a lot more time painting "en plein air", a French term for painting outside on location. Tomorrow I have the great luxury of spending an entire weekend at a paint out/retreat sponsored by the California Art Club at the San Antonio de Padua Mission in Monterey County, CA. There will be about 50 other artists there and all meals are provided. All we have to do is wake up, show up at breakfast, take the packed lunch with us, go paint all day, head back for dinner and relax. Now that's heaven on earth!

So, why is painting en plein air such a big deal? No matter what an artist's subject matter or style, painting from life is vitally important to one's artistic growth because it hones our observational skills like nothing else will. It also adds a few more challenges to the painting process such as weather, bugs, time constraints (the light will change drastically in an hour or two depending on the time of day) and the distraction of curious onlookers not to mention the overwhelming smorgasbord of subject matter! I will address those difficulties of plein air painting in another post but wanted to share with you today some tips on the practical issues, especially for pastellists.

After several different set-ups and lots of trial and error I have come up with a pretty compact set up which all fits into one backpack so I can hike a bit to my chosen location. Having said that, the weight of the pack does make it a little more difficult to hike too far in, but until someone comes up with a great plastic painting box, I don't see it getting any better any time soon.

My current set up was purchased second hand from another artist for a great price. You can see all of my items laid out in this photo:

Top Row:

- Wallis sanded paper in a two ring binder from Dakota Art. Each page is separated by glassine, so you can leave the finished pieces right where they are. LOVE this!

- small scraps of Wallis paper that I tape next to my painting to test out colors before applying them to the painting surface

- view- and value finder (notice the view holes have convenient different dimensions)

- homemade viewfinder consisting of two separate L-shaped pieces of matboard (adjustable to any format you want)

I also forgot to add my camera to this picture which is my most used viewfinder. I find my composition with it and then look at the image on the screen. The small size tells me immediately if I like the composition and design of values and where I might want to make adjustments. If it looks interesting on that tiny screen it will make an interesting painting, no matter what the finished size will be.

- an old compact mirror. No, not for vanity reasons! I always check my work in a mirror whether in a big one in the studio or this one outdoors (I use both mirrors in the studio and ALWAYS catch inaccuracies)

Middle Row:

- sketchbook (two mechanical pencils are hooked into the rings on the side)

-paper towels (once a full roll in the kitchen or studio gets about two thirds finished, it goes into my backpack, so there is never a full roll taking up a bunch of space)

- trash bag (always leave a place the way you found it!)

- Wet wipes

- "Gloves in a bottle", a barrier cream to keep the pigments from being absorbed into the skin and making clean up later much easier

- Sunscreen

You might also want to add bug spray, but out here I've been fortunate enough not to need it, unlike in Texas!

- this is a little plastic tray that holds the pastels I pick out from the whole assortment and use for a particular painting

- scissors

- bungee cord (in case I need to fasten things down in a wind, hook my water bottle onto something, etc.)

- butterfly clips (to hold loose papers together, especially finished paintings)

- masking tape (to tape down the paper)

- tiny container which I fill with water from my drinking bottle to use for the watercolor underpainting I usually do

- small watercolor set

- pencil box with pencils, two brushes, kneaded eraser, conte crayons for sketching

Bottom Row:

- A variety of papers. Some are already taped to foamcore backings and can be put straight onto the easel box like a canvas, others are loose and I will tape them to the back of the Open Box M instead of holding them in place with the holders that are part of the box. Most are very small and square (I love that format), but I also have panoramic and rectangle formats. I choose the paper depending on the scene and know that I can always change it by taping off an area to create a different size. I'm trying my darndest to use standard sizes to make it easier for framing and selling, but sometimes I just don't plan well enough in advance. This bundle also has glassine or wax paper that I put in between finished paintings. Clipped together like this with the butterfly clips there is no movement and the pastels are just fine put back into the backpack.

- Open Box M. I have tried several other boxes and set ups for pastels but LOVE this one! It attaches easily onto a camera tripod and sets up in minutes. One side of the box holds the pastels (which I secure with a thin sheet of foam on top before closing it up), the other folds up and becomes the backing to which I secure the paper.

- bag that holds my camera tripod and umbrella

Not pictured:

- Camera

- water bottle (a trick I learned from my tri athlete boyfriend: tape a foot or two of duct tape around the middle of the water bottle. Not only does it make it easier to grip but in an emergency duct tape can come in handy for just about anything!)

- snack or lunch (I can't focus and am not much fun to be around when my blood sugar gets low so I always carry along some Mojo Energy bars)

Here is how it all looks nice and tidy in the backpack:

I do have trouble closing the very top of the pack because the painting box is square and backpacks narrow at the top. I keep looking everywhere but have yet to find a backpack that stays the same width on top as on the bottom without being huge! If you come across one, PLEASE let me know! I also need to buy some extenders to the fasteners that hold the tripod bag so I don't have to strain quite as much to get it closed. A trip to REI should solve that.

On the photo at top you can see what it looks like when I'm all set up. Notice the bag between the tripod legs. I will put my water bottle or some rocks into it to weigh it down and make it more stable and secure. Or if it's not windy at all, I'll rest my camera in it. You can also see my paper towels (I wipe each pastel on it as I use them), the little tray that holds my chosen colors (this happens to be a different one from the other picture) and the scrap paper taped to the side of my painting with the pastel test marks.

In case you're curious, I was painting at McWay Falls, in Big Sur, CA, in this photo.

I hope these tips might help someone else get going on plein air painting. Even with pastels, it does NOT require lugging around a whole bunch of paraphernalia to paint outdoors. The magic word of course is: simplify! Figure out in the studio what you actually REALLY need to create a painting, whittle it down to the essentials, pack smaller versions of those and head to the hills! Or mountains or beaches or city centers...

Now, that that's out of the way, I'll tackle the MUCH tougher subject of actually painting on location next time! I'm still working on figuring that out myself...Plus, I'll tell you all about the retreat, so stay tuned!

This is my latest Up Close & Personal portrait, and is it ever personal! I worked from a photo taken of me kissing my partner-in-life and crime Rich during a visit to Germany last year. The poor guy not only participated in an Ironman Triathlon event in Frankfurt, he also had to meet my whole family for the first time! He did very well under the pressure, I must say. This was during a sightseeing trip to a nearby small town. We were sitting under a red umbrella at a sidewalk café, enjoying the summer weather and down time. I just loved Rich's expression on this picture and couldn't wait to paint it. He is not exactly known for being calm and still (let's just say he can be quite the adrenaline junkie!) so this image of sweet surrender to the moment is near and dear to my heart, as is the man I'm kissing!
These fun, small captures of every day life are my take on portraiture for today's families with our busy schedules. They also work very well for people who do not like having their picture taken (I happen to be one of them!), since I focus in on only the best features, the ones that most express the personality of the person.
If you'd like to see more of these contemporary portraits, please click here.
If you would like to order one or more for your own loved ones, please contact me. There is still time to put one under the Christmas Tree!

We went back to Haiti last weekend and it was so great to see the kids again! Some of them had changed quite a bit in a year as kids will do and I was nervous. Would they remember us? Did they think we had forgotten about them? Would they recognize themselves in the portraits? My fears were soon quieted.

The presentation to the kids was a success! They loved their portraits and I LOVED seeing their faces when they saw them.  Each child was given a photocopy of their portrait which we framed in colorful frames and displayed on bright blue benches in the chapel where we held the event (see photo).  I also made personal thank you cards for each child with a photo of me in front of my easel, with the original reference photo I had taken of them and the painted finished portrait (like the photo seen here).

Some of the 31 children I painted were not able to be there but will receive theirs when they return.

In addition the kids got goodie bags filled by my daughter Sam. 

We were thrilled to present the kids with the start of the first library at New Life Children’s Home! Originally, we had planned on building shelves to hold the books, but the orphanage is currently in the process of acquiring new land adjacent to the current home, onto which they will erect new buildings. One of those will house a recreational area which will include a study hall/common room where the children can read, study and play board games as well as work on art and craft projects. This will be the perfect place for the library.

In the meantime we came up with a solution to house the books in a flexible way: mobile library carts! We brought three of these with us and filled them with books which we arranged in different categories such as English storybooks, books in French and Creole, flashcards, activity/puzzle books and DVDs.

We also brought along metal shelves and plastic containers with art and craft supplies.

These carts can be wheeled anywhere to make it convenient for the staff at New Life and will fit right into the permanent library later.

We had also collected a lot of stuffed toys, clothing, toiletries and more art and craft supplies to deliver, but were unable to do so due to a summer bag and box embargo imposed by the airline which greatly limited what we could bring along. They are ready to go next time, though!

The owner of the orphanage expressed to us a desperate need for storage of items such as medicine and school supplies. We will be buying dozens of large plastic containers online and shipping them to her within the next week or two.

I will now focus on selling more of the portraits, with the proceeds going to add to the collection of books and setting up the permanent library once the building is in place.

If you would like to help us achieve our goal, please visit the Moni’s Kids portraits page where you can read about each individual child and purchase a painting.

If you have no place on your home or office walls, consider donating the art to your local hospital and deducting it from your taxes. You may also simply donate to the project by clicking here. Any amount is appreciated.

To see the paintings in person please stop by the Lakewood Summer Arts Faire in Dallas the weekend of August 26-28, 2011, where I will have a booth. I would love to visit with you and tell you more about our plans for Moni’s Kids.

In October, there will be an exhibition of the paintings at Luminarte Design Gallery, also in Dallas. More details will follow.

Also, Moni’s Kids now has its own facebook page. I would love it if you “liked” it and help us spread the word. Thank you!

I feel like a year of very hard work has paid off and I've come full circle. Some of the pressure is off. The kids saw that there was a follow up, they were not forgotten. This was so important to me and added to the urgency I felt. Part of my intention with Moni’s Kids is to make the children feel worthy - worthy of having their portrait painted, worthy of an education, worthy of love and attention. I do believe they got a sense of that this past weekend and hope it lasts in their minds and hearts.

Here are some more photos from our trip:

Rich and Sam in front of New Life Children's Home, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Our suitcases full of books

Sam and I had fun filling the library carts with our books!

After my speech Fabien was chosen to thank me on behalf of the kids. He gave a great little speech!

The kids had to find their portrait among all of the 31 on display. Jean sure seemed happy with his!

Getting these incredible hugs made it all worth it!

Playing with the kids

Moni's Kids is now formally a non-profit corporation in the state of Texas!

Thanks to the help of TALA (http://www.talarts.org ) who provide pro-bono legal and accounting services to artists and non-profit arts organizations in Texas. My wonderful lawyer Victoria is also helping me file the paperwork to gain official 501(c)3 tax-exempt status with the IRS which we hope to have approved by the end of the year. It's a ton of work to form a non-profit and I am so grateful to have found some help with this, so I can concentrate on creating the paintings and organizing our trip back to Haiti in just a couple of weeks.

 It can get overwhelming at times trying find the time to get it all done. From the painting of the portraits to the marketing and selling of them, promotion, exhibtions, shipping, staying organized in the office and studio (especially since I still have my other painting obligations and continue to enter a lot of shows). Then there is the whole social media aspect of it hat can be extremely valuable but time consuming. And right now, my spare bedroom/office is full of books and supplies we are delivering to the kids in Haiti soon. Add in my day job which takes up several days a week, plus family obligations....well, let's just say it's not always pleasant to be around me lately, watching me jump through all the hoops!

I am just trying to tackle one step at a time and plow ahead. I did not have all of the answers when I started this process last fall and I still don't. I am learning as I go along and love seeing the many doors open as I approach them. I leapt before I saw the net, and miraculously the net does appear! I followed my heart on this one, and while there have been stumbling blocks, there have also been many new insights and helping hands appearing out of nowhere. New ideas and plans for Moni's Kids are revealing themselves to me all the time and I have faith that I will figure out how to implement them when the time is right.

For now, it's just one baby step at a time, one foot in front of the other, following the path I believe I need to be on, crossing each bridge as I come to it and enjoying the unfolding of each event. All clichés, I know, but oh, so true!

We are returning to Haiti in about five weeks! 
We will use the funds raised so far from sales of the Moni's Kids portraits to build shelving for a small type of library. I have been buying French children's books while in Paris this month, but also had the great fortune to get free first and second grade reading textbooks from the Richardson Independent School District in Texas donated for FREE!
My goal for Moni's Kids is to make accessible to the children whose portraits I paint as many books and educational materials as possible.
I have loved books all my life and can still remember vividly certain stories that I would read over and over again and illustrations that sparked my interest in creating my own artistic images. I believe books can bring the whole world to us and open our hearts and minds. They teach us languages and about other cultures and let us escape our own situations for a little while.
We will be delivering books in the children's native languages, which in this case is Haitian Creole and French, as well as in English, because learning English will definitely help them with future job prospects. We are also bringing them board games and art and craft supplies. Thanks to Erin Maines for giving us such a good start on those by collecting left over art supplies from her teachers at the end of the school year.
DVDs of English language children's shows and movies are also needed. I know from personal experience how easily one can learn a second language by watching TV and movies. When I first came to the U.S. from Germany I learned more conversational English from "Happy Days" than any of my high school textbooks!
As more portraits are sold I plan to add computers to the list of things Moni's Kids will provide to children in developing countries. If you would like to donate any of the items listed, make a monetary contribution or purchase one of the children's portraits please contact me here or at [email protected].  I thank you for your support!

I can't believe it's already the middle of January again! Today my oldest daughter turns 20, which means I have been a mother for 20 years!! Incredible how fast time really does go by.
20 years of immense joy and challenges, love and frustration, worry and pride. Raising children in today's world is very tough. Trying to instill our own values while being bombarded from all sides
by opposing ones feels like swimming against a very strong current at times. Balancing motherhood with following your muse (and in my case also earning a living and supporting my family) has been
tough and full of feelings of guilt at times. However, there is no way I could have waited to dedicate time to art making until the girls were in college. As tough as the balancing act has been for me and for them over the years, it would have been worse if I had to live without painting. I hope they saw that it is absolutely essential to be true to oneself and follow the path you believe was meant for you, while still living up to your responsibilities.

As this new year begins, I am excited to get back to work in the studio. I have several wonderful commissions, including two large ones from a family who traveled a couple of hours just to meet with me and commission me to paint their children. What an honor.

I also still need to finish the last 5 paintings in the first Moni's Kids series. We are deciding on how to use the funds raised and when to travel back to Haiti.
Plans for Moni's Kids include starting the paperwork to become a full fledged 501(c)3 non-profit foundation and getting some help with administrative stuff!

I am looking for someone who has a passion for art, helping others, has experience (or a degree) in marketing/sales/PR. The paintings are done and I hope to paint many more children, but unless I can sell them, the point of actually helping these kids will be lost.
If you know of anyone who would like to help me get Moni's Kids off the ground and make it grow so that we can keep reaching out, connecting people and helping children, please let me know. Finding someone who would be willing to work as a volunteer, at least in the beginning, would be fantastic. Maybe a kind of internship?

I have ideas about sending proposals to children's hospitals, medical offices, businesses, etc. who regulalry buy art for their facilities anyway. Why not decorate their halls with these children's faces and lend a helping hand to them at the same time? It would be a tax deduction and shed a positive light on the business.
I have the ideas, but cannot possibly follow up on all of them myself. I still have a day job, a younger daughter at home and lots of paintings to create!
I am looking for that angel who can help with Moni's Kids. Know any?
Or do you have connections to medical facilities or businesses who have ties to and an interest in Haiti, have supported relief efforts there and would be interested in this new way of supporting children in Haiti (as I said, other countries will be represented in the future)?
Any and all ideas and suggestions are welcome and greatly appreciated!

On other painting goals: I plan to continue entering shows and competitions this year (although they may be fewer in number) and creating paintings that have been floating in the back of my mind for a while.
Lots of goals, plans and ideas.
Now comes the hard part: Doing it all!

A Happy New Year to you all.

May it be filled with love, joy, laughter, creativity and growth.

I finally have a moment to tell you about the event in Miami!

After shipping 25 paintings to the Doubletree Hotel in Biscayne Bay ahead of time (a huge thanks to Fox for storing them in his office and being so helpful throughout the whole process!), Sam and I arrived there on Thursday. This is after my boyfriend/project manager Rich had INSISTED that we be there on Thursday, not Friday, which I thought would be plenty of time. The poor man had put up with quite a bit of complaining from me about being so bossy and setting our itinerary without consulting me first (it's hard to let go of the German control freak in me). Well...there was a reason why he was so insistent, but I wouldn't find out till later.

The hotel and location were gorgeous. The event was held in the Grand Ballroom with a huge patio overlooking Biscayne Bay and out to South Beach along the horizon. Despite being busy doing last minute things for the show, we managed to be tourists as well.

On Friday, I got the biggest surprise of my life: my brother Andreas and his two kids, Lennart and Vivien, arrived all the way from Germany! Rich had planned this for months and had had a very tough time keeping the secret while putting up with my attitude about his conceived bossiness. The man truly deserves a medal! Everybody else around me (including the hotel staff and Nancy Rivard of Airline Ambassadors) knew about the surprise. I can't even describe my feelings when I found out. The fact that my brother and his family would travel so far for such a short time was an incredible show of love and support for me. They had originally planned on spending three and a half days in Miami, which is short enough as it is coming from Europe, but their first flight was cancelled and they ended up with only two and a half days! I have never felt so loved in my life. That the two most important men in my life, my brother and my boyfriend, went to such lengths to support my project, my dream, left me in tears and speechless. My project is named after our late mother, Monika, and I felt that she, too, was present in the ballroom that night with Andy and me.

After breakfast on South Beach and a dip in the ocean for the kids we spent several hours on Saturday hanging the paintings and setting up our display table. The Bon Voyage party for the Cruise 4 Haiti by AAI started at 7pm and even though not as many people attended as we had hoped, we had several sales! All together, seven portraits have been sold (and put on hold), and many good connections were made. And since I didn't mess up too badly during my little speech (will I EVER be comfortable with public speaking??), the evening was a wonderful success.

Sam put together a slideshow with music about our project. You can view it here. 
Be sure to turn up your speakers so you can hear one of my favorite songs that I thought was perfect to accompany the photos. (Update: I could not use the song we had chosen on this site, but you can see our intended version on my facebook page here.)

I received so many comments about the portraits and the idea behind the project came across exactly as intended. I watched so many people read the kids' stories displayed next to their paintings, point to the drawings the kids had created behind their faces and ask me about the children. I wish the kids themselves could have been there to see the reaction of the audience! It was heartwarming and reaffirming.
I have added the children's background stories (as much as I had) to the Moni's Kids page on this site instead of adding more on this blog. You can read them below each child's portrait here.

We ended up packing the paintings back into heir boxes and taking them to a 24hr FedEx, so we could spend the whole next day driving down to the Keys and snorkeling. After months of non-stop work it felt fantastic to do nothing but play! To get to do it with my family from Germany, which was so completely unexpected and almost surreal, was even better.

Monday morning started before dawn with all of us heading to two different airports to fly back to our respective homes. We were all exhausted, but so happy about a successful launch of this project.

Now, back home, I have a few commissions to do for Christmas, then I will finish the last 5 portraits in this series of 30 and continue to find homes for them. I will be talking to the New Life Children's Home soon to determine when I might travel back to Haiti and how we will distribute the funds raised. I will keep you posted!

Below are a few photos from our whirlwind weekend.

The three cousins Vivi, Sam and Lenny having a blast at South Beach

Hanging Wisben's portrait with Andy

The Grand Ballroom at the Doubletree Hotel, more paintings were hung in the bar and foyer area

Andy and Rich

with Nancy Rivard of Airline Ambassadors

with the Consul General of Haiti, Ralph Latortue

Sarah picked out Vanessa's portrait, which her mom, Leslie Sosnowski, bought. I think Sam was hoping to keep it for herself, it was her favorite!

Annette Tillemann-Dick of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice and her son Zeke with their portraits of twins Fabien and Fabienne

The big day is here! I am exhibiting 25 of the portraits from my non-profit project "Moni's Kids" tomorrow, Saturday, Nov 13, 2010, from 7-9pm at the Doubletree Grand Hotel Biscayne Bay in Miami, FL!
Click here for more details on the show which is part of an Airline Ambassadors International fundraiser.
Please, forgive me for not having posted all of the kids stories on this blog yet, but it's been CRAZY getting ready for this show and still working my full time schedule. You can see the 25 finished paintings here or here (without their backgrounds).
The good news is that one of the portraits, the one of Mitchi-Love, has been sold and will travel to its new home in Germany after the show!
I will post all of their stories on here as well, as soon as I have some time to breathe. I will also, finish the last 5 portraits in this series as soon as possible.

If anyone in or near Miami reads this, please come join us tomorrow night!

We are back from Haiti, and what an experience it was! My 16 year old daughter, Sam, and I travelled from Dallas to Fort Lauderdale and on to Port-au-Prince. Even from the air you could see blue tarps everywhere. Port-au-Prince looks like the earthquake hit just last week. I knew it would be bad, but I had no idea how little (only 2%!) of the rubble had been cleared.We were fortunate to stay in a private home that had sustained very little damage but happened to be right across the street from one of the largest tent cities in the area. Tens of thousands of people living in tents, in stifling heat and humidity, tent "walls" only inches from each other, so crowded it boggles the mind. No human being should have to live under those conditions. I have no idea how they manage to keep hope and faith alive. We saw women with pretty dresses walking through the rubble-filled streets, looking beautiful and composed, proud and dignified, while I was dripping sweat 24/7 and trying not to get irritated about the temperature, constant honking of cars ( it seems to be the standard communication systems among all drivers) and the enormous amount of people on the streets.

Absolutely nothing is easy in Haiti and you take nothing for granted. Just because we had electricity at the house at one moment, didn't mean we'd have it in the next. The power went off frequently, our host Dave Rivard from Airline Ambassadors carried three cell phones at all times (I could text with mine but not make or receive any calls at all), in hopes that one might work, the car could hit one of the many, many potholes (huge, deep and everywhere!) and break the tie rod (as ours did one evening on our way to meeting two gentlemen from UNICEF) and getting anywhere through the congested streets always took much longer than anticipated.

I have been on other mission trips before, have seen poverty and chaos, but nothing like the city of Port-au-Prince. To be honest, I could not wait to come home. To my bed, air conditioning (it doesn't matter that it's a 106 in Texas today, we can always go inside and cool off!), to unlittered streets and (relatively) clean air.

But once we were actually on the plane back to Dallas a few days later something funny happened. Sam and I both started missing Haiti. The kindness of the Haitian people, their ability to laugh and joke and be so welcoming and hospitable; the children who lost parents or limbs or both, who still played and giggled and hugged and kissed us...well, they got under our skin and into our hearts and we found ourselves not wanting to leave them behind. 

As far as my project goes, well, one thing I learned from prior experiences is that something will always go wrong on a trip like this. And it did. The 30 children I was supposed to paint were not able to meet with me at all for a variety of reasons. Since I only had a couple of days to gather all of the reference material I needed to complete the 30 portraits back home, I quickly had to come up with an alternative. Sure, I could go out and meet thousands of kids in the tent cities, but how would I choose the 30 to portray? Furthermore, how would I find them again in a few months when I can hopefully return with the proceeds from the sale of the paintings? It is important to me that the kids I met would be the ones benefitting in the end. Since Airline Ambassadors had a visit planned at an orphanage the next day, I decided to see if I could work with the kids there. The place is called New Life Children's Home. You can read the amazing story of their founder (an American named Miriam Fredericks) on their web site at: http://newlife4kidz.org.

Miriam was enthusiastic about my project and with the help of her staff and her daughter, Sherry, we quickly rounded up 15 children that I could photograph. We were also so fortunate to have four other teenage girls there to help us work with the kids on providing the writing that will form the background to their portraits ( thank you so much, Dani, Chelsea, Kaitlin and Ashley!).  I thought I would get more written words, but the kids ended up drawing a whole lot more than writing! It's amazing how you can put a pen and paper into a child's hand and they will be happy drawing and doodling for hours. Some kids did share with us what they wanted to be when they grew up ( doctor was by far the most popular choice), and some drew what they wanted to be (a plane for a pilot, for instance), but most just expressed their love for their country. They drew palm trees and tropical flowers, beaches and boats. They wrote "I love Haiti" again and again. We had told them we wanted them to let the viewers and buyers of their portraits know who they were and it seemed to me they wanted us to know that they love their home country as much as we love ours, no matter what our impression of it may be. They see it as a beautiful place and are proud of it. To have that attitude after what they have been through, is definitely thought provoking.

As to the stories of the kids,  I will tell you much more about them as the paintings are finished one by one. Some are absolutely heartbreaking. I did meet with 15 more children the next day (the home has about 130 kids living there), but again things didn't quite worked out the way I planned and I did not get all of their stories yet. I do hope to have them to go along with the paintings.

As far as their needs, they are many and varied. The older ones are in need of tuition for vocational training soon so they may have a brighter looking future. There are also some that still need surgeries. How we will spend the funds raised will be determined by how much we end up with.

I need your help to spread the word, so each painting will find a home as soon as possible after its completion. Also, if you would like to help offset the cost of this mission such as the framing and materials, you may donate directly on this site or at Airline Ambassadors: http://airlineamb.org/TopLevel/3_Programs/Donate_To_A_Project_Template.htm.
Any amount is greatly appreciated and I thank you!

I will probably write more about our experience in Haiti, including the great people we met and worked with but for now I need to spend my time painting the portraits.

I am getting a late start on it, because I was sick from the day I got home! I don't get sick much, but this time I was laid out flat (and I didn't catch it in Haiti, but it was due to the overtime worked before leaving and burning the candle at both ends). After a reluctant trip to the doctor and some meds, I'm much better and finished the first portrait. Except...I will do it over!
I had received a very generous amount of paper from my friend and fellow artist Marie Maines, enough paper for the whole project!), but it's a different kind of texture than I usually use and I wasn't quite happy with the effects. Since I do not have much time to get these done before my day job comes calling, I did not want to spend too much time learning and experimenting with something new. So, today I started again with my beloved regular paper.

I invite you to sign up to receive regular blog posts as I upload images of the finished portraits of the awesome kids we met in Haiti. Thanks for your interest and look for the first image in a couple of days!

In the meantime, here are some photos of our trip (You can see more on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Daggi-Wallace-Studio/131014993590334).

sign for help in Haiti

tent city

showers

The Presidential Palace



The kids working in their classroom on their art assignment for the portraits

Sam and Vanessa

Sam and Jeremie

This boy was such a serious young artist, making one playdoh sculpture after another! When I asked him if he was an "artiste" (my highschool French came in handy) he never hesitated with a definite "Oui!" He knew exactly who he was.

Out of fear some of the kids still sleep outside

A dream come true: "Moni's Kids"!

For years I have sought ways to use my art "for the greater good", specifically how to combine my love of painting and my desire to help children in need. I have painted many kids' portraits for clients and visited orphanages with the non-profit group Airline Ambassadors (http://www.airlineamb.org/) in my spare time. But how to make them both work together?
I am so very excited to finally make the jump and start my own non-profit project! I am naming it after my late mother, operating it under the supportive umbrella of Airline Ambassadors and kicking it off next week with a trip to Haiti!

My youngest daughter, Sam, and I will be meeting 30 children who have lost one or both of their parents in the January earthquake. I will be photographing the kids and will paint a portrait of each one of them after I return home to my studio.
While we are there the children will be writing about their stories, hopes and dreams. These writings will be part of the finished artwork, the idea being to give the kids a face and a voice, to have them be "seen and heard".
The proceeds from the sale of the paintings will directly benefit the children portrayed. Sam and I will travel back to Haiti and deliver aid, such as school supplies, scholarships, food, clothing and books, with the funds raised. Each child will also receive a small print of their portrait, so they may see the finished product.
In addition, I hope that the children will gain a sense of dignity and pride by having helped create a piece of art which not only brings joy to the buyer of it but also improved living conditions for themselves. I plan to make this a yearly event, choosing different destinations for each series of portraits.

                       The Inspiration behind "Moni's Kids"

I started drawing at an early age growing up in Berlin, Germany. The first portrait I ever drew was the face of a little girl on a UNICEF brochure on our coffee table. This was my parents' charity of choice and my mother, Monika ( Moni to her friends and family), was instrumental in instilling a social conscience in her three children. She also was immensely interested in other countries. Documentaries of other cultures were the norm in our TV viewing habits. When I started going on Airline Ambassador mission trips years ago, my mother loved the idea but always said she wouldn't be able to go herself because her heart would break. She passed away in 2001 at the age of only 59. I'm naming my project in honor of her. Her sole purpose in life was children, her own and other people's. I love the idea that children will continue to be helped in her name.

                                          Interested in helping?

There are different ways you can help. You can make donations to help offset the cost of this project by clicking on the button above. Or you may make donations through Airline Ambassadors where you can receive a receipt for tax deductions:

http://airlineamb.org/TopLevel/3_Programs/Donate_To_A_Project_Template.htm

And, most importantly, you may help by purchasing a portrait of one of the kids!
All proceeds from this series will go directly back into the project. I will post each painting as I finish it, so be sure to sign up to receive the posts.

Please, join me on this exciting journey to make a long harbored dream come true! I invite all of you to sign up to receive regular blog posts and follow me along the process of creating the paintings. I will also post photos from our initial trip to Haiti and our return to the kids in a few months.

Look for the first pictures next weekend. Off to Haiti!