Warrior Women Paintings

 I created two individual pieces for the Elemental Sisterhood art show. These reflect my views of the required balance of feminine energy needed in healing our planet. My whole life I have been seeking to fuse my art with my desire to communicate ideas of healing, of elevating consciousness and radiating new vibrations for positive change. I used to paint what bothered me in my surrounding; urban sprawl, environmental degradation etc., but then I realized that these things are already there and enough energy and attention is spent in their perpetuation. I need to put forth the visions and solutions that come from the light in my heart! These are the things I need to share. I was very moved by a speech during election season by Alice Walker called "Democratic Womanism". She echoed my feelings about the role of women in fixing the damage to our earth and our spirits. In the picture below, titled "Warrior Women Sewing Seams, Sowing Seeds" a young girl is mending the earth while planting seeds of love. She loves her work, she is smiling as she moves forward.

Warrior Woman Sewing Seams, Sowing Seeds. acrylic on wood.

The second painting is called "Justice Sows Revolution". Here we have a mother in the garden growing the food that nourishes her body while she nourishes her baby. She is accompanied by butterflies, a dragon fly, a praying mantis, and a bee. She is Lady Justice. The scales are kicked to the dirt as she gets the good work done, and her blindfold is off because she sees what is going on- she knows what to do and proceeds. She is free.

Justice Sows Revolution. acrylic on wood.

details and sketches from these two panels and some of what I did in the collaborative works in the Elemental Sisterhood show:

Elemental Sisterhood

Awhile back I was grumbling about wanting to be in an art show to my friend Cosme Cordova. He owns Division9 Gallery and is an incredible asset to this city of "Arts and Innovation" to say the least. I guess it was good timing because he just so happened to be working on an all women show. He put me in touch with Kiandra Jimenez who was responsible for rounding up some gals for the show. Once again, I am so lucky because that was the beginning of a fantastic artistic journey, a challenge, and some lifelong friendships I am sure. Five of us met up to begin brainstorming on what we wanted to do. We had no idea that five artists working in different mediums could be so much on the same page, and that our work would be of equally great quality and so complimentary to one an-others!
Maggie Tello-Case does fabric work with embellishments. Erin Maxwell does mosaic. Cynthia Huerta (already a friend from a few years back!) does wood burning and painting. Kiandra Jimenez does fabric work with paint. I just paint!
Details of our story can be read here from the Press Enterprise article. Here are some photos from our show:

Cynthia Hurta, Kiandra Jimenez, Maggie Tello-Case, Erin Maxwell,  and me! Selena Wilson

Here are some of our collaborative pieces:

This one was my favorite! I gave her glittery nipples. yes, that's right...glittery nipples. A savy lady bought her up the first 20 minutes of our show :)

I just love how these freeform collabs are unpredictable to view. You can't be sure what your eye will run into next

the vine work from each panel grows into the next so these pieces work as a group or individually.

my profile <3

People really liked our profiles, but they were so personal that we couldn't sell them! We decided we would offer to make them for people who are interested. We now have a blog of our own where people can read our story and acquire one of their own custom art profiles, lovingly made in mixed media :) I have more details on my own work in this show here. The photos above were taken by photographer Mariela Campbell, you can follow the link to her blog and hire her for weddings, portraits, anything really because she is great!

Heartimalz

Last year I began doing these little designs I call Heartimalz. It started off as a simple doodle of an elephant contorted into the shape of a heart. Naturally I needed to draw more animals like this, and so the art form evolved into a more mature version. So far I have done Heartimalz as wedding gifts and upon request from friends and family. My next series will feature California native animals and plants! I am so excited, so stay tuned :) Here are a few of my finished Heartimalz, they can be found on products in my zazzle store. They are ink and watercolor works on paper. I made a facebook page you can "like" if you like Heartimalz. I will update here and there when I create new ones.

* new ones 2015 These two are my dawgs, Raider and Roxy. Raider is a bluenose we got from the shelter as a puppy, and Roxy is a Chug, chihuahua-pug who came from a student of mine.

This one is a memorial for a mother/son pair who were murdered! RIP 2016

Rooster for Francine in Kauai '12

Whippet for Teresa '12

Arctic Fox for Hanna Landry '12

Baby Elephant for one of my oldest friends (she's not old-even though she's a grandma- we've just been friends a long time!) Rhiannon '13

Flamingo for my niece Shannon '14

Lion for my daughter Kaelah '12

Life is but a dream

Here is a poem I wrote and illustrated. You can probably tell that I have no training or background in poetry. Nevertheless, these words came into my consciousness as I was relaxing in a hammock contemplating life one day after work. My daughter wrote some music and revised the poem somewhat (she is 12!). You can hear her rendition here where she is playing her original guitar tune and singing. Here is a link to a downloadable and printable zine in case you want to carry a copy in your pocket or give them as gifts. They also function as coloring books! These are good to have on hand if you are a busy parent of small children :) If you do color one, I'd love to see it!

Thanks for looking! feedback is welcome :)

suburban narratives

Sleeping Mother oil on canvas

Paved the way, oil painting, 2002

Mountain Lion Gets Death For Acting Like Animal, Oil Painting, 2002

Why did the coyote cross the road?, oil painting, 2002

detail

A delicate feather

Up above the birds flew by

a delicate feather fell from the sky

 drifting gently to the ground

Too soft and pretty to make a sound

Art VULUPS

The long name is Art as a Vehicle to Understand Land Use Planning and Sustainability, and is a unique collaboration between artists and urban planners. Each artist/planner team   explored a topic to conceptualize for greater public understanding. I was pleased to be working with Grace Williams from the March Joint Powers Authority on the topic of jobs and housing balance. It got me thinking about my own commute to work from Riverside to Nuevo, and what I would rather do with the time spent on the road in addition to the guilt I feel environmentally speaking. It brings peace of mind and time to enjoy life when work is close to home. A balance in jobs and housing is a balance for not only communities as a whole, but also for the residents of those communities. And its better for the environment. Commuting is polluting and all that jazz! If the topic is interesting to you there is a dialogue about the project in more detail here at the Art VULUPS website. Here are a few pictures of our project. We were inspired by the idea of "more time to play", and wanted to use an old airplane propellor (march air force base reference), and create a merry-go-round (what people often refer to the chaos of working/life cycle as). As this was not possible to realize (YET!), I designed a board with a fan installed. The fan represents the fresher air from less pollution, and when it is turned on it becomes a mandala. The blended colors become symbolic of the oneness of your living and working life. A mandala represents being balanced, finding harmony. Visit the Art VULUPS website to check out all of the amazing interpretations by other artist/planner teams, there will be more to come from the program too -I'll keep you posted :)