Don Raul...or my first experience with a cigarette.

When I was little, my dad would tend to bring home guests to have lunch with us. These people varied and would sometimes be relatives, sometimes friends other times acquaintances. Don Raul was a gentleman my dad brought home around 3 times. He really stuck out in my head because he was an unusually tall, lanky man with a sadness to him.
He was a construction worker, except he wore dress pants, clean work shirts and really awesome (HUGE) shoes. He looked like he had an office job.
Well, it happened one day that my father hired Don Raul to help us build a back room to our house. I would frequently go out back and play with little pieces of wood that were left over from the construction. Don Raul rarely spoke except to tell me to be careful. On his breaks, he would have a smoke. I would watch him light up, finish smoking and then he'd continue working.
One day, Don Raul didn't come to work.
But he left his ciggies.
Being the curious little monkey, little Sandra lit up and inhaled ... DEEEEEEEEPLY.
Little Sandra almost threw up.
I had never known such excruciating pain! It felt as though someone set my lungs and throat on fire! I tried to remain calm but I must have been hacking and gagging out there for what seemed hours. I felt so dizzy.
Well, lesson learned. I didn't like cigarettes.
To this day, every time I see a little packet of Marlboro's, I remember Don Raul and my smoking incident.

Don Raul

CAROLINA

One of the reasons I hadn't blogged recently was because Jorge and I went down to say hi to the peeps. On this particular trip, my sisters 4 year old daughter (who also happens to be my godchild) really caught my attention. She is very quirky and can't seem to sit still. She'll begin her day perfectly coiffed and 5 seconds later it looks as though she walked through a hurricane. She's going through a maternal phase in her life where she puts Kleenex on top of everything pretending to put things to sleep. The Kleenex is the blanket of course. She also has a passion for cookies, LOVES her green crocs ( I don't get it), and likes to try on grown up lady shoes.
She's a total reminder of why it's always good to stay young at heart. I love her to bits.

Carolina

Tammis Keefe

Who says a bad thing cant lead to a good thing?
So I got sick yesterday. I was happy pappy and then my body suddenly decided to cave in. It felt as though someone hit me with a huge stick. I had a sore throat, my body ached, I had a fever and I had serious chills...not the spooky kind.
So I slept...and slept. And slept some more. So much in fact that when night time hit, I just couldn't go to sleep. So I surfed the net...til 6:30 am. As I was surfing the net though, I discovered Tammis Keefe. She was a textile designer graduated from Chouinard Art Institue. She passed away when she was just 46. Anywho, she created tons of amazing little illustrations for hankies. Without further ado, I give you some samples. Enjoy ;)

Her shapes are so simple!

Her limited palette is awesome!

I love this one because the cows are wearing boots and hats.

Soledad

There is a group that Jorge and I grew up listening to called La Maldita Vecindad y los Hijos del Quinto Patio (look 'em up on ITUNES). They play a song called El Tieso y la Negra Soledad which translates into The Stiff Guy and Negra Soledad.
The song is narrated by a guy talking about his cousin who doesn't like to dance at all at parties. He's as stiff as a board (hence the name) That is, until one day he sees beautiful Soledad at a party and learns to dance everything from Mambo to Cumbias, just because of her.
The song inspired me to draw Soledad. Sooooo....here she is. Just the way I imagine her :)

Soledad dancing.

FRUITS!

Something exciting is happening over at Monkeyhouse Toys this Saturday. Its a group show! And the theme is Japanese Fruits! How fun! I'll have two pieces there along with Gabe Swarr, Katie Rice and many other happy people. See you there!

"Fruiticorn"

Snippet of "Ring Around the Fruits"