I took an AI generated photo and made it better

I know there's a lot of thoughts about AI, especially in the art scene. My personal thoughts are that AI is just another tool that can be used to make some things easier. I didn't think it can replace real, human artists. I've seen some really awesome AI generated images and videos and to me they're neat but there's something about it that is missing. Maybe the average person wouldn't notice (honestly, I see why THIS is a big fear people have, especially with Deep Fakes and AI generated videos of celebrities) but there's something off to me. Maybe it's because I have a trained eye for spotting things because I grew up photoshopping and knew what people looked like before filters were built into photo sharing apps.

Another huge issue with AI art specifically is that it uses images made by artists who may not have consented to having their art being used in this way. There's definitely an ethical discussion that needs to be had around AI art. I could go on but Let me show you an example of a cool, AI generated image I made through Canva.

I typed in “witch in moonlight” or something and it spit out a few different images. This one was the most fully rendered images, that had the least amount of weird, AI quirks (if you've seen many AI images, you'll see multiple hands or limbs or things not placed in the right place). I actually really like this composition and colors and decided to tweak it a little.

I made some edits to the background like removing the moon on the right and changed her face and hand mostly.

Her arm position seemed a little awkward. I changed the draping of the sleeve to make it flow a little better. And of course the crystal! 🔮 My personal favorite addition.

I changed to face to fit my art style, and cleaned up details in the top. I made that amulet on her necklace a star.

So what do you think about these edits? I'm thinking about the ethical part of this again. I did make some changes to this image but can I really claim this image as my own? I feel weird about it. What an interesting time to be alive and to think of these things. :)

Thanks for reading!

Gene Keys, wildflowers, little paintings

Hi friends! Another week gone and I am looking at the calendar wondering how it is already almost May!

Ghost taking a nap on the couch.

This is what i’m learning about lately

Have ya’ll heard of The Gene Keys? You can create your profile for free. You plug in your date of birth and time, and you’ll get information based on that info, kind of like your astrological birth chart. I’m still fairly new to it, so I can’t quite explain it in depth. But I have been reading this book and it helps me see my life, my behaviors, as well as others in a different way. It’s like, I’m seeing how each person is programmed from birth with these certain gene keys and they are expressed in different ways but they’re also all connected. Like I said, I am still learning this and I don’t have a strong enough grasp on it to explain it properly yet. I’m also interested in Astrology and I can see how that ties in with Gene Keys. Anyways, that’s the rabbit hole I’ve fallen into lately haha.

This is my Gene Keys profile. Those numbers really didn’t make any sense to me until I got the book. Even with the book, there’s SO much unpack and learn. It’s really interesting to me and I want to nerd out about this with other people.

daily life

What does your day to day look like? Mine isn’t exactly the same each day, but I say most mornings I get up, meditate for 10 minutes, do some yoga (I’m a big fan of Yoga with Adrienne on youtube!) then do some chores, make coffee, walk my dog and then write. I haven’t been prioritizing the writing this week and I can feel a difference in my day. I have some projects I’m working on that are taking up a lot of brain space, so I feel the need to take certain tasks out of my day. I’m always trying to find that balance though. :)

Tofu scramble scramble with HEB Green sauce.. This was my first time making tofu like this, and it was delicious! I will be making this more often.

A church that’s close by where I work.

I saw this turtle crossing the road on my way home from work on day. I stopped, grabbed it and carried it across to the side it was already heading. There was a creek close by, so I just took it as close as I could get, and as far from the road as possible.

Maybe a river cooter? In any case, I’m just glad I was able to help get this one out of the road.

I was so surprised to see these blackberries growing in the empty lot across from my house. I mean, look at the kind of soil it’s growing out of...It’s clay and shells. Nature is so resilient. :)

There’s so many of these Firewheel flowers in bloom right now. They’re so beautiful!

It’s amazing to see all the flowers and bugs that are out and about now. Abundance!

Here are some things I made for myself this week.

Like I mentioned, I have some projects I am working on so I forget to make stuff for myself. It’s funny that when I DO make something for me, I actually have MORE energy to give. So, this is just a reminder to myself to keep making art.

I painted my light switch cover in my office. I think it’s cute and I’m enjoying adding a little bit more of “me” into this space.

I laid down a thick layer of acrylic paint then used acrylic makers on top. I don’t know how durable this is but it was fun!

I’m thinking a lot lately about how I want to grow creatively. I have this feeling in me that says I’m aiming too low and safe, because it’s comfortable (lol, reading my Gene keys is really bringing up a lot of this to the surface!). I have a lot of potential, in fact, SO MUCH that I let that overwhelm me sometimes. Rather than just doing the things, I overthink. I want to launch a Patreon or something where I’m creating to create things I enjoy (and I have a solid group of folks who have been huge supporters of my art through the years, I’m so grateful!), rather than creating on a social media platform that just wants creators to pump out new “content” in the form of short format video that will be forgotten after scrolling for 5 more videos.

So I am contemplating this a lot lately. How do I make art in a sustainable way that does not burn me or and feels truly, authentically me? There are other introverted creatives who have figured this out, which gives me hope that I can too. I have been considering creating Youtube Videos again. I have time and time again realized I DO NOT enjoy filming my creating process and want to figure out other types of creative videos. I kinda miss vlogging? I just enjoy slower and longer forms of content. I like this blog. Even if it’s just a place for me to brain dump once a week, I have been able to prove I can do that in a way that feels good.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading.

Attitude of gratitude, manifesting

Hi friends! 🤗

Last Saturday a friend from El Paso accidentally butt-dialed me while I was at my kiddo's birthday party. I reached out to her the next day and we went back and forth for a bit and she asked if I could draw something for her in memory of her dad. It's a really fun idea, here are the sketches I came up with.

During the week, I work for a small business that makes the most beautiful pens (I’ve been there ~7 months now). My boss asked me if I'd design something for a major holiday coming up later this year. Y'all, I'm thrilled for this opportunity to do such an awesome collaboration. And I feel so ready to make this happen!

These two opportunities in a week just had me feeling so incredibly grateful. I've been praying, writing, meditating and visualizing these kinds of things…and now that they've manifested, I just feel so grateful and blessed.

My mom made this candle and the crochet flower mat it’s sitting on. If you ever wondered where I get my creativity from, it's from her.

Thanks for reading. 💕

Total Solar Eclipse & Fresh Office

On Monday April 8th, 2024, there was a total solar eclipse. I happen to live and work in the path of totality, which means I got to witness this event with my own eyes! The moon completely blocked the sun for 4 minutes and 27 seconds. I tried to get some pictures but just know it was WAY better in person haha.

I took off my shoes and socks and put my feet on the grass while laying on my Sailor Moon blanket. Little kid me would be stoked to hang out with this me.

Interesting solar flare / bokeh light.

It was cloudy that day but there were moments when you could see the sun / moon through the clouds. I had those special glasses, but when the clouds were in the way, you couldn’t see anything, but I was able to get some pics on my phone.

this meme was too accurate lol

This picture is not doing it any justice compared to how amazing this sight was in person.

This was my first time seeing a total solar eclipse. I witnessed the annual solar eclipse last October (This is when the moon is farthest from the Earth, so it does not completely block out the sun) and I believe we won’t have another total solar eclipse in the United States in 20 years or something.

It was wild how dark it got. It was like 1:45 in the afternoon but looked like it was 8 pm. It just felt so otherworldly and made me think A LOT about our human perception of time.

It was really cool to see this event in person. While laying on the grass, I said some prayers and set intentions, and released beliefs that no longer served me... Since that day, I have really felt a shift in my energy. I don’t know quite how to describe it, but I feel more at ease and at peace. And that some weight was lifted off my shoulders a little and I can breathe deeper.

I started this painting a while ago but wanted to try to paint this eclipse just yesterday. I have quite a few layers under there as well as some words I wrote to help me process some feelings. You can barely see writing under the layers of the yellow.

I’m currently sitting in my freshly painted office. I have put up pieces of art I love to look at, some things I have collected over the years up on the walls, I have a bookshelf with my sketchbooks and books I care about, as well as my tarot cards and put up some crystals on my door frame. It feels really good to do those things right now and the energy in this room is different in a really, great way.

Ghost looking so regal, even when growing out his silly haircut.

Almost all my sketchbooks in one place.

Top left art by Oscar Fernandez Top right art by Dom Bam

Bottom left art by Erin Curry and bottom right by Jacquelin De Leon

In the middle, I found a quilted heart

Yesterday was a really good day too. We celebrated my stepson’s 10th birthday and it was the first birthday he’s had both halves of his family involved and in the same space together. I’m so grateful.

Thanks for reading. :)

Rainbows

This last week wasn’t my best week.

I felt emotionally and energetically drained. i feel like i barely made it through work and had nothing left in the tank by the time I got home. When I’m feeling like that, I know I just have to be patient with myself and not force myself to do anything…Including creating art if I was not feeling it. I had a lot of things I wanted to create, especially with this event coming up…I ended up backing out of it, btw, because I did not want to create things I was not happy with. Knowing when to say “no” is part of being kind to myself…

Anyways, I remember the previous week asking the universe to show me a sign. I was feeling pretty low, and thought “Show me a rainbow!” and a big part of me was/is still missing my Loki…There’s this rainbow piece of art I created that now always makes me think of him when I look at it.

I did this sketch with Loki in January of 2023. I later decided to paint this idea onto a wooden panel I had.

I started painting this wooden panel a couple days after the sketch. Loki was supervising / napping.

I added gold leaf in the center and a shimmery pink on the outside. This piece just looks so much cooler in person than in photos.

I decided to add epoxy resin on top to keep the gold flake from flaking off more. It was a process. And the shiny layer of resin on top makes it extra difficult to take pics of.

Some pieces of the gold flake floated off into other sections so I tired putting more on top. You can see how it’s sticking out in some areas.

On Wednesday, we went to drop off Gabriel. It had rained a little and cleared just as we were getting into the car. I saw part of the most vibrant rainbow I’d ever seen in the sky. I love seeing rainbows!

I stick my phone out the window to snap this.

A little farther down the road was when I first saw the second rainbow! It was so much more vibrant in person. It’s like that rainbow painting I have!! Pictures don’t do it justice.

And then as we drove, I could see this double rainbow in perfect view from my side. I tried my best to get pictures. Honestly, seeing this just lit me up inside in such a way. Universe showed me the rainbow I asked for and I felt the second one was Loki saying hello!

By the time we got to where we were going, only a few minutes later, the rainbow was nowhere to be seen. I feel very fortunate that I was able to catch a glimpse of this rainbow and that we were in just the right place at the right time to see it.

It made me think…I don’t think I’ve seen a rainbow after the rain since we moved back to Texas. So I looked through my photos at other rainbows I’ve taken pictures of.

February 2020. I was in a Walmart parking lot in El Paso.

September 2020.

September 2021. Columbia, SC.

October 2021. New Mexico.

🌈 Thanks for reading <3 🌈

SHOP LAUNCH and being kind to myself

Hi friends! I relaunched my shop on Friday and I have magnets, stickers, paintings, and zines up for grabs.

clICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT

So I wanted to be real here…I didn’t get to put up every piece I wanted to in this update. I do work at a job that takes up my time and energy, as well as being a wife and stepmom. I’m not saying these are excuses, because I would have grilled myself over not being able to do a thing 1000%, but I’m a recovering perfectionist and acknowledge my human-ness. Instead of beating myself up, I just did what I could and launched anyway. I did not lose sleep over it (I did lose sleep over other things though haha), and guess what? I still got some sales! :) I’ll update with more pieces slowly, but I’m not going to fry my nervous system over it. This is so different from the pace I went during my 20s and early 30s and I am proud of myself for prioritizing myself in this way.

So here are some pieces I wanted to include in this launch but I could not get the pictures quite right.

I wanted to add epoxy on this wood piece because the gold leaf kept flaking off. You can see pieces of it drifted into other parts. I added 2 layers, but it’s still not quite flat. Maybe that’s okay?

I added epoxy onto this piece. It looks nice but SO HARD TO PHOTOGRAPH. Also, I have to add another layer because there are areas the epoxy didn’t stick.

This sucker has texture AND shiny metallic bits of paint. I also wanted to show how big this piece is.

Speaking of prioritizing myself, I find as many little things that I can do that bring me joy. Creating art is an obvious one, but being in nature has really been calling me lately. Right now, there’s lots of blue bonnets in bloom and that makes me smile.

I had to stop and take a picture with these bluebonnets. :] They make me so happy!

There’s a small patch of bluebonnets by my work!

I went to Houston to visit my family, Mom made a yummy fish soup and lumpia for lunch. We also went to a plant nursery and she showed me how to crochet!

The front of my parents’ house. I’m glad I got to see them and spend some time with my neices!

My youngest niece drawing on her tablet

Look at this spread! I ordered some crystals from Itsy’s Crystal Cove. I love their videos on Youtube! It’s so satisfying to watch, and they have so many fun and unique crystals. I absolutely love all my pieces and the tarot deck.

This was part of my order. 🥹This knave of wands card looks like Loki! It’s part of a deck with images of Familiars… How kismet.

My brother-in-law and oldest niece came over this weekend too. I didn’t get any pics. But I’m so grateful to be close to family that we can spend time together and not just during the holidays.

I’m very tired lately, and I know recovering from my broken foot plays a significant role in that. I’m trying my best to continue to be patient with myself and listen to my body. Don’t forget to do that for yourself, too my friend.

My first mini zine! You can get in in my Zine Pack.

Spring Break '24

This last week was simultaneously amazing and hard. It was Spring Break and I am grateful I had time off work to spend with my loved ones. I had time and space to reflect on things this week, which I feel was very much needed.

The bluebonnets are in bloom right now. It’s one of the things I love seeing on Texas road trips. This was actually close to my home.

One day I want to have land where the bluebonnets and wildflowers can grow.

The hardest part of this week was saying goodbye to Loki. It’s been 5 days and I am still crying a lot. He was a special kitty to me and you can read more about him and see pictures of him and how we was by my side while I made a lot of art. Thank you for your bright little light, Loki.

I had a painting in the corner of my room that was calling to me. I picked it up and started painting on top of it. This painting is absolutely a processing and healing piece for me.

Okay now that I’ve made myself cry again, haha, let me tell you about what pulled me out of my heartache! Spending time with these guys!

Me, my husband, Mikael (the oldest), and Gabriel (the youngest) watching Kung Fu Panda 4. I really liked it! It made me really laugh out loud in a few parts.

We went to the movies.

We went to an arcade for a bit another day. We like games. :)

Have ya’ll ever played Dragonwood? We played this game together a few times. I have never won, haha.

This was absolutely my favorite moment of the week. I normally sit at this table and make art, and usually alone or with my kitties at my feet. I was really missing Loki (who normally is close as I make art, and of course this piece has helped me process that) and they came over and played a little while I painted. I didn’t ask but I think it was really lovely timing that they deiced to hang out with me for a bit. I just felt so at peace and so incredibly grateful for a moment like this. It made me cry too!!

Meow Wolf - Grapevine, Tx

Meow Wolf!!! I was so stoked to finally make it out here. I went to original Meow Wolf in Santa Fe in 2017. It’s an experience. Photos and pics don’t do it any justice.

Some Art I made this week

This is the finished kitty paw painting. Reaching up into the sky. This is a canvas I wrapped myself and I’m positive Loki was around while I worked on the original painting. I pulled out some paints I haven’t used in a while and just went for it. It feels different from a canvas from the store. And using these particular paints makes me paint differently. I can’t quite explain it, but I just felt really connected to this piece, the paint, and the canvas.

Before.

After - I was just feeling the repeating pattern of strokes on canvas while working on the piece above so I wanted to bring that into this painting too.

3 x 3” canvas magnet.

4 x 4” round canvas disco ball

Right now I’m sitting on the couch writing this. Did I mention I also have a broken foot right now? It’s been about a month of that and it has really taken a toll on my mental health (not to mention I pushed it a little too much at work and trying to DO all the things at home) and I’m really trying my best to keep my spirits up. It’s been a dreary, cloudy, last couple days but I’m just grateful to be able to take the time to write this.

I know now my body has been asking me to slow down for a while and I am finally listening. When I do slow down, I am more in tune with my intuition and I feel more whole and myself. I miss being this me. I know it’s all about balance…and I’m always stiving to find it, in all aspects of my life.. You can’t know how wonderful and beautiful your life truly is unless you experience it’s opposite. You need the dark in order to appreciate the light. If you’re moving too fast, you miss the wonderful experiences and things that are right in front of you. This week was a really, powerful reminder of that.

Thank you all for reading. Sending you all lots of love and light.

In memory of Loki

Last night around 10 p.m. I said goodbye to my sweet little Loki. I wanted to share some photos of this little kitty that really made my life a little brighter.

October 2022. This is the day we got him. We saw him at the local Petco when we were living in South Carolina over the summer multiple times and my husband said “if he’s still here next time, we’ll take him.” And one day I came home from work and saw him wandering around curiously. We believe we was about 4 and half months at this point.

Yes, this is literally me sitting on the toilet and this guy would jump up there. He did not believe in personal space.

He LOVED to play. I mean, he would pick up his toys in his mouth and carry them to us up the stairs. He ALWAYS wanted to play.

Curious about everything!

He took to Ghost pretty quickly. Eventually Ghost came around, although tolerating is probably the best way to put it.

He’s on my leg. He was very cuddly.

He just liked to be near me.

Especially while I was sitting at this table making art.

I was doodling him :)

He sometimes made it a little difficult to draw, hehe.

That sweet face.

I remember this time in South Carolina. It took me a while but I was finally starting to feel “at home”. I was in a really good grove making art and his presence made it so much more special. I didn’t realize it at the time, but we really bonded during these times.

I love this picture. I have this finished piece still hanging on my wall. Part me of wants to keep it forever because he was right there with me while I made it.

Supervising

I put a lot of heart and soul into that particular sketchbook. I actually made a Sketchbook Tour which you can watch on my youtube channel.

Dude was always chillin on my stuff.

The way he was holding onto my ring 🥹

😛Blep

nap time

Seriously, he loved to play. He would fetch this toy and bring it to us.

This is the last picture I have of him before we moved back to Texas. I’m sad to say after the move, the pictures of him (well, tbh of everything) really slowed down and I really got caught up in this new era.

This is in our new home in Texas.

So after this move, Dad said NO MORE CATS ON THE TABLE. Which I sadly agreed with. But this little piece of carpet is right under that table where I sat and made art. He still liked to be close by.

I was setting up the spare bedroom and laid down to test out the mattress. He got up there and snuggled with me.

Can you see the feather toy up in the top?

He wasn’t in the mood haha

This was taken in December 2023. One of his favorite sleeping spots is Gabriel’s bed.

This was in January of this year. He looks so normal here. But looking back, this is when he started to show signs that he was not well.

He always found cozy spots to sleep. He was sleeping a lot more these days. I thought maybe he just has a little cold and he’ll be okay.

This was a week after I took him to the vet. He had an ear infection and upper respiratory infection and was so skinny, but after a week he seemed to be so much better, and back to his normal self. He’d greet me in the mornings and come hang out.

This was a few days ago. He seemed to be very lethargic, and was having a hard time walking. I thought maybe he needed another round of meds or something. I set an appointment to see the vet but it wouldn’t be until the next week.

Yesterday he was not okay. I took him to the emergency vet clinic and they ran some tests and told me he was very sick and going downhill fast. His kidneys were failing and there were other things the doctor told me that I was not able to process. And somehow I just knew what decision had to be made. I was so thankful for the kindness and professional staff who helped me ensure Loki could make is transition into the non-physical as painless and peaceful as possible. I held him and told him how much I loved him and how grateful I was to have him until his last breath.

I made this piece of art in my sketchbook a while ago. It really hits differently looking at it now than when I made it.

While I wish so much I could have had many many more years with him, I won’t forget how special this little kitty was to our family. I feel a lot of emotions, I play a lot of things through my mind and think “What if?” but know that won’t change anything. I cried so much. Then I drew. And cried more.

At one point I thought “Is this helping? Is this what I should be doing right now?” And then went to Facebook and saw this right at 11:11.

I know when Spirit speaks to me. I get little signs like this all the time. And you know what, it made me feel better and reminded me that Loki is pain free and playing with all the toys in the non-physical realm. Some people call it Heaven. Whatever you refer to it as, I know it is where we all go and where we all came from. And our loved ones are truly never gone and they will communicate with you if you know how to listen and what to look for.

I want to make art of pets. I think I’m going to open up commissions for pet portrats. It’s something I have admired others for doing but haven’t felt confident in trying it out myself. But I know if these little doodles I did of Loki can make me smile, I know others can feel that way too.

Thank you so much to everyone who has left me comments on all socials. I’m still pretty overwhelmed with everything but I truly appreciate you all. I have so many wonderful, lovely people who have my back and root for me. I am just so grateful to you all and to the universe.

My first event - breakdown of costs and supplies

Last weekend I attended a local art event as a vendor. This event popped up on my Facebook feed in January looking for vendors and I thought, why not! I filled out the application without really knowing what I would bring. About a week later, I got the email saying I was approved. The fee was $50 and I got a 8 x 8 foot table with free reign on how to set things up.

Expenses for the display.

Here are some of the items I purchased to help come up with this display: Vinyl sign and business cards from Vistaprint ($66.87), 2 6” and 2 8” table top easels from Walmart ($13.92) From Amazon I got an 8x8ft table cover (17.45), 12 x 16” dry erase magnetic board stand ($11.99) , 9 x 11” pocket chart to display stickers ($11.99), Square card reader ($10.60). All that comes out to $132.82.

I am not at all discouraged by this amount and I hope that doesn’t scare anyone from trying. You don’t NEED any of these items to start, but this is an investment in yourself and in your business. I had a vision for how I wanted to display things. I have a ton of materials I already had at home to use and most of those purchases can be used again the next time I go into an event, plus….

via GIPHY

Expenses for the art/products

I have been selling my own art for years now in a variety of ways, so I’ve accumulated lots of little things. I have a printer and cardstock at home, so I just printed the price lists on a sheet and cut them out.

I did buy all these magnet canvases, but I got them all on sale. I paid $1.50 for a pack of 4 canvas magnets and $2.50 for the square magnets. Even at regular price they’re not bad, and these babies sold well! Other than that, I already had the other canvases and paints and stickers. I even brought some prints, but decided I had so many other options, I decided not to put them out.

I sold all the round magnet landscapes and the cat. :) I also had one 4 x 4” round canvas disco ball that sold too!

I sold a couple of these Zine packs. I printed the labels on some cardstock at home.

I had these clear bags from many moons ago and used them to package these zines.

happy accidents happen

The day before the event, I was in a little bit of a rush thought “I should try to sell some prints! So I thought, I’ll just print out 3 4x6” images on a sheet of paper from the local office supply store. I saw the first print and gave the okay to do more. When I got home I realized they were not the right size. So I decided I can’t sell these, so I just set them on my table and gave them out for free to anyone who said they liked them.

Aren’t these cute? They were printed on a stiffer paper, like a glossy cardstock. They’re kind of like positive affirmations cards. :) While I didn’t sell these, I love the idea of them so I am getting prints made of them in the correct size.

In sales, I made $197.44 + $60 in cash = $257.44. So if I take my cost of supplies, including vendor booth that’s 188.32, so at the end of the day I walked away with $69.12.

That’s so great to know! And as I mentioned earlier, I purchased some stuff I know I will be able to use again in another event so my profit margin will be much bigger next time. That’s really exciting to me to know these numbers and to have done this event. I do want to change some things up, like how I displayed my stickers. But I am really excited to make new art! And I’m on the lookout for other shows I can vend in my area. I have a potential event in April, which is an outdoor event so I’ll have to check back in with ya’ll about how that goes.

That’s all for now, thanks for reading. :)

Creative Canvas Festival Recap

Hi friends! It’s a lovely Sunday morning and I am so full of amazing energy, I just have to share with you how yesterday went!

The Creative Canvas festival had vendors from the community and in the large conference rooms were activities and the local school district’s Visual Arts display.

my biggest takeaway

Put yourself out there. You don’t have to be perfect. You will find your people. You will attract them. They will find you.

Doing this event helped me remember how much I DO enjoy interacting with people. I have not put my art out to the public like this since 2019. It felt good to do this and I am so inspired to do more of it. I know there are other creatives out there who could benefit from going to events like this and I want to help encourage others by being transparent about what it could look like to make it happen.

---

SHOUTOUT TO THE PEOPLE <3

I ended up setting up across the way from an awesome artist, Oscar who I instantly connected with as soon as I saw his first painting when I walked into the door. I know there are no coincidences in this world, and I fully enjoyed being around such a lovely person and I just see and feel his art on a soul level, you know? So vibrant and deep, but also nerdy AF, which I totally am too. Thank you for being you Oscar, you definitely helped make this day better and brighter.

Thanks to my coworkers who have been hyping me up since I told them I was going to this! And just everyone!

I’m going to leave this here for now and just continue to process everything. I have so many thoughts and ideas that I can break down into separate blog posts. Let me know if there’s anything you want to know about my experience. :) Take care and much love!

Painting, prepping, processing

PAINTING

Hi friends! I’m getting closer to the Creative Canvas Festival and I’m still making new art to show. Here’s a few more things I’ve painted!

This is a 5 x 7” painting. I love those little Lucky Cats (I have 3 figurines in my office, a lucky cat tattooed on me and I’ve draw many versions of them before) and this one combines the colors I’m vibing with and the 3 eyed characters I like to draw.

I also like drawing hexagons and bees. The colors are very strawberry lemonade. It confuses my brain a little, because it makes me think of honey too.

Another magnet! A purple moon.

Another landscape. I changed up the colors.

This is also a magnet! It’s a 3 x 3 wrapped canvas. I love sunflowers. :) Perhaps inspired a bit by Van Gogh’s.

PREPPING

I’m taking some stickers with me. Some new, some old.

I originally did this painting in March of last year. I was thinking of this being with an overflowing cup. The vines were meant to represent growth. At the time I painted it, I really felt like I was seeing things differently, including what my heart wants.

I decided to change her up a little. I got rid of the green, added a HEART in her heart space, and added more twinkling stars and sparkles.

Processing

One thing I’ve really leaned into this year is prioritizing alone time and space for myself. Each day I get up, do 10 minutes of meditation and 10 - 25 minutes of yoga. I usually take care of some of the daily chores then spend another 10 -30 minutes writing. I started writing a little bit last year after reading about “morning pages” in The Artists Way by Julia Cameron. One of my FB friends posted about how intention and writing transformed her life and how she was putting something together to help others experience that too. I joined the Write It Real Experiment in November of last year and it kicked off on January 1st. Check out more information about W.I.R.E. here. I’ll probably make a whole new blog post dedicated to how that’s been going for me and how powerful that’s been for me. I definitely needed to process some thing through writing and art. I had this canvas I had no idea where it was going. I started to write on it in ball point pen whatever was on my mind. Some of it good, some of it bad. I just wanted to out of my head and onto the canvas.

Gonna be vulnerable here. This is a very raw photo of me. I was not feeling my best and I cried as I wrote words on this canvas.

I wrote, rotated the canvas and wrote more. I wrote on top of words. It doesn’t matter, I just needed to get it out.

After I wrote and cried and wrote a little more, I drew on top of the words then started to paint. The words still bleed through and I guess that’s okay. I have an image in my head of what I want to put here. This is all I have so far. The thing about art is that it’s a process and sometimes it’s really ugly. But the making of it is therapeutic and that’s really what I wanted to accomplish here. I honestly don’t care that this piece looks like a mess and I don’t even know if I’ll finish this version of it. I might just paint over it again and write more words on it. Because this piece isn’t meant to be beautiful or perfectly depict an image. It’s a process piece that I’m using to help me heal and release some shit. It doesn’t feel great or wonderful but a part of me knows that THIS is the kind of art that NEEDS to be made, and won’t be the kind of art you see being pushed by any social media algorithm.

So yeah, that’s what I wanted to share right now. Thanks for reading.

Painting small gives me big feels

Hi friends! I’m currently prepping for this event next weekend! I’m excited to get my art out into the community and connect with other people.

I haven’t actually painted on canvas in quite some time. I have canvases I’ve prepped and are waiting patiently for me to play with them, but I have been feeling too intimidated to start. I went to the store to pick up some paint and saw these small canvas magnets. They had different shapes and I thought they were cute and that it would be a fun way to get back into painting.

I wanted to do a northern lights scene here but didn’t have the colors I wanted, so this is what came out instead.

I loved how the blue mountain turned out, so I did another one. I wanted to do fun pops of color.

I wanted to do another fun scene with punchy colors.

Someone suggested a tropical scene, so I gave that a go here.

The day after I painted the first 4, I wanted to do another set. These are a work in progress…Or maybe they’re going to get painted over completely. The peach one on the right is okay, but the colors aren’t vibing with me as much..So I tried to play with purples. Again, they didn’t flow as much as the first set did.

So I decided to paint some disco balls instead!

I’ve painted some bigger disco balls on wood panels and love them so much! So I thought mini versions would be cute!

Doing these mini paintings helped me feel comfortable with painting again. Because they’re small, I couldn’t put in too much detail, which is a good thing that helped pull me out of this painting block. It’s also really satisfying to me that I have 6 new paintings done. I love how they turned out! Which one is your favorite? :)

I’m going to keep on painting. I have more of those little magnets in different shapes, but those larger canvases are warming up to me again. I have another week before the show and I just want to create my heart out until then. I’ll let ya’ll know how it goes. <3

New Logo reveal and ramblings

Hello! Happy New Year! Yes, I realize it’s already February but I feel like I just woke up from a fat nap and am wondering what year it is.

I have been wanting to making a shift in my content for it to feel more authentic and more me. I didn’t know what that meant for a while, or what that looked like and basically I spent most of my time trying to craft this image and create content I thought other people would expect from me. And wow, does it get exhausting tying to do things that I think I should do instead of listening to my heart.

I remember when I was in art school, I was getting close to graduating and we had to design a logo and a business card. This was my first logo, and I chose to do something that represented me as the person I was. I remember the criticism I got from my peers and professors and someone I thought was a friend. The underlying tone I got from them all was that it was too much of me and that wasn’t something other people wanted to see. That was over 12 years ago and I still think about it to this day.

I started Ali Cali Designs in 2016 and there were moments when I created art just for me because I thought it was neat. There were times I drew things and shared them on IG because I thought it was what other people wanted to see and sometimes I was right and a certain piece of art for more likes than my usual ones. Then I’d keep trying to chase that. Then I’d stop posting completely and pull myself off posting and using social media until I think I’ve grown past it, but then start posting again and post things just because I liked them and thought it was neat and…Well, it’s just a cycle that I’ve been repeating for literally years now!

So I’m going to give this another go. Haha! Okay but this time, I am being INTENTIONAL and I’m trying to be as authentic as possible. I’m a freaking human, I make typos and say dumb shit sometimes. I’m a creative and I have lots of ideas. I know some of them are great! But a lot of them are not! And that’s okay, and guess what, I just want to share those things with others in some way. I just need to express things. That’s really who I’ve been for a long time. I used to have a Xanga. I Tumblred my way through college. I really wrote my heart and soul out on the internet for strangers to see. But now, I actually have a lot of friends and people who really believe in me and have been rooting for me since even BEFORE those days.

So, like i said, I’m giving it another go. I’ve got this new logo which I just think it cute and I feel like it’s my vibe right now. I am ready to put my work out to the world again, and this time, I’m posting what feels good to me and what I want to see. I fully believe that if I stay true to myself, I will attract others who also stay true to themselves. That sounds awesome to me. :)

Roller derby doodles 🛼

It's no secret that I love roller skating. I love the vibes, I love how it feels, I love how it makes me feel.

But I've really been thinking about my roller derby days. I skated for about 10 years and took on as many positions as I could and learned so much from the experience. It's been on my mind more lately (let's be real, it's on my mind a lot on the regular). I know the season is starting back up for some leagues, and I'm looking forward to watching a game soon. I really miss the energy.

Here are some doodles I've done recently.

Roller skater lacing up. I found a reference on instagram. It was a cute little snapshot of a very normal part of roller derby practice.

Looking around on pinterest for reference. Most images under the roller derby tag are these really nice, posed or perfectly captured shots. I like the messiness of these doodles.

Top left corner was of a skater buckling their helmet. The big drawing is a photo floating around on pinterest of a former teammate of mine.

A photographer I follow on IG posted some pictures from a recent tournament. I was really just trying to play with loose doodles. There were a ton of great action shots. I really appreciate those derby photographers!

Prioritizing Fun and health! November Recap

It’s December already! Woah. I have to say November was a busy month for me. I usually go through my phone to see what pictures I took to remind me of what happened this month. I didn’t have too many, but I have been journaling and writing things down more lately, which has been a great outlet for me to get stuff out of my head.

I’m making a conscious effort to have more FUN on the reg in my life.

My honey took me out to play pool one night! We haven’t really gone out on a “date” like this in a while, and I had fun! I won the first game, then the second because he scratched. Then he won the next few. My hubby is one of those guys that’s kinda naturally good at everything (when it comes to games like this and sports). I still had a good time. :)

We went to this arcade place for my neice’s birthday. There was mini axe throwing, along with games, lazer tag (which my husband made 1st place and I made dead last haha), bumper cars and all sorts of other things.

PRIORITIZING MY HEALTH

In September, I started to take my health more seriously by incorporating some healthy habits into my routine, including working out and movement. Some things came easier than others but I am SO glad I committed to regular workouts. At first I was doing bodyweight and cardio, which was a struggle for me because in the past been guilty of going TOO hard when working out and hurting myself by lifting too heavy too fast. I just kept telling myself that each workout was getting me closer to picking up weights again, injury free. I also want to mention I have been doing 10 minutes of yoga every morning when I wake up and that has made a huge difference in my mood and my mobility. Now I am able to workout with weights and kettlebells again! I feel strong again. In a way I haven’t felt since I was playing derby in El Paso.

I was stoked after completing this workout this day because I was able to use a barbell and did not injure myself! Hooray!

Part of working out regularly has my body craving better foods. So properly fueling my body to help fuel me to get through workouts and recover has been important. Look how pretty this salad was!

Look at this cute moth that landed on my Beatles lamp.

Art

This was not my most creative month, as far as making things. I did a lot more inner work and planning, which I think is also very necessary…But I allowed myself to make ugly art. When I say “ugly art”, I mean, art that I have no intention of sharing or selling, which has no purpose and I feel like I threw things together. Which sometimes ends up kinda cool!

I created these pieces with clay a while ago, and didn’t know what to do with them. I was planning to make them into jewelry I think but that didn’t work out so I hot glued them to this board.

I painted over the pieces and this is how it turned out. I just really like the textures. It’s funky.

Speaking of textures, I had an old canvas that I glued scrap pieces of paper to. Some were balled up and crinkled, others were flat. Then I threw paint in it.

Better angle to see the textures.

I took some paint pens I had a doodled some flowers. That was interesting, because it wasn’t a flat surface, it forced me to draw things in a really sketchy way. Kinda neat!

I made a little planter from clay. When I went to take a picture of it today, I dropped it and broke it’s ear. Oops. :)

I actually have a lot of things planned for next year. I’m trying my best to juggle working and life, as well as making my own art a bigger priority and having that be my full time work. I have been really wishy washy about selling my own art in the past. I have some deep rooted beliefs about worth and value and money that have not served me and I need to let go of.

I found a course lead by a Facebook friend with an amazing story and who has achieved so much abundance in her life, it's so inspiring, I just wanted to know more about how she did it. It's a year long commitment and I've already had unexpected money flow back to me since I've made the investment. Which tells me the universe had got my back. Ahhh. Not sure if that makes sense but…I just have a great feeling 2024 is gonna be life-changing.

Stick around and I’ll share more of that with you! :) That’s all for now.

Jake, other animals, friends, and art! September + October Recap

Howdy Folx! It has been a busy last couple months for me. Has it been that way for ya’ll too? I’ve been taking a much needed break from social media too so let me catch you up!

Let’s start with a very unplanned, but exciting addition to our family. Meet Jake!

At the beginning of September, we noticed something kept taking our turtle’s food. I noticed a partial muddy print on the patio and we couldn’t really tell if it was a racoon or something else. One day I happened to see this dog sleeping between our house in the neighbors, in the shade to keep cool. I tried to approach him but he would always run away. It took a few days, but I won him over with some food.

This was the first time I was able to pet him, after seeing him wandering around our neighborhood for over a week.

Look at this sweet face! He is not a small dog, (over 75 lbs) but has such gentle eyes. After searching local animal groups on FB to see if someone was missing him with no luck, we took him to the vet to see if he had a chip. He didn’t have one. And he seemed really happy with us so, the rest is history.

That’s a happy pup!

So most of September I feel was a blur, with most of my energy going to figuring out the right ways to care for this guy. He’s up to date on his shots and I’m so glad he found us. He truly helped me become more active and I started working out again because he’s so strong and I want to be able to safely take him places, though sometimes he does just PULLS me where he wants. We’re working on that.

Jake is my first dog as an adult. :)

He looks like he’s smiling!

We’re still trying to figure out how to keep him and the cats happy. So far, Loki seems not to mind him, but Ghost hates him (to be fair, Ghost seems to hate everything though haha). So now for some pictures of kitties!

Chilling with Loki.

Ghost’s favorite spot to sleep is in one of my drawers so my clothes. I’m always covered in cat hair.

Kitty at work!

I also started working again. I’m making beautiful pens for a small e-commerce business. I really like it, my co-workers are cool and I’m learning so much about manufacturing and seeing a different side of owning a small business I haven’t seen before. My commute is actually one of my favorite parts of the day because this Texas hill country is so beautiful. There’s a sculpture garden right next to our warehouse too, so I go out and take a walk there on my lunch breaks every day I work. Sometimes I’ll see this little friendly kitty.

Can you believe I saw this on my way to work? A FREAKING KANGAROO! In Central Texas.

That’s a scorpion I found on my back patio. I scooped it up moved it into a wooded area away from our home.

I don’t take as many pictures with my honey as I would like, but this was one during the kiddo’s soccer practice. I love the sunsets out here. Hehe.

I just love how the light beams through the clouds. Seriously, I spend a lot of time admiring the sky out here.

For my birthday, my hubby surprised me by taking me to get Filipino food from Sarah’s Kitchen. I actually CRIED multiple times because the food was SO GOOD and comforting to me.

Halo halo.

Crispy pata

I made a trip to Houston for a friend’s engagement / going away party. I haven’t been the most social person since like 2020, but I think that’s what happened to a lot of us. It was so good to be able to hang out in a neat place like this with so many wonderful people.

My Bestie!! We’ve known each other since high school and anytime we meet up, we pick up right where we left off.

A mini roller derby reunion!

Halloween! I pulled out this cute dress I haven’t worn in YEARS! I also played a little with some makeup, which I don’t do as often these days. It was fun by my skin did not agree lol.

This is our first Halloween together where we actually got to go do things and trick to treat! My hubby was a zombie and G was X-Lord from Fortnite. He got quite a few compliments, tbh it’s a pretty cool costume.

I created a Coloring Zine called Spooky Szn. I’m actually really proud I made that come together and learned a lot in the process. I tried my best to do things in a more traditional way by making my own copies and stapling and folding each page myself.

So I am really into Zines right now. I actually want to make a Qveen Herby FanZine. I have been OBSESSED with her music and there is no doubt most of my Spotify top songs this year will be from her. I have some other designs drawn out but here are the ones I have completed! These were so fun. I love her style.

You can buy these designs on different products over on my Redbubble store

You can buy these designs on different products over on my Redbubble store

And that’s all for now! Thanks for reading. :)

My first Zine: Self-Care

I've been having a bit of an art block. When that happens I try to pivot and find other ways to create. I've had the itch to create more comics. I wanted to tell stories I'm some way. While browsing YouTube one day, I saw a video about how to make Zines. I am familiar with zines and have acquired a few over the years but I never considered making one.

The great thing about this is I already had all my supplies, I just needed an idea. In September I made a conscious effort to take better care of myself and even made a list with goals on a dry erase board so that I could mark off as I met the goal for the day.

So that's what I wanted to put into a zine!

I drew these super quickly and colored them in a little messy because I was more focused on getting the idea across than making it perfect. That's part of the charm of zines, I think. Haha please excuse my badly chipped nail polish and fingers that partially pink from my hair dye. It's very punk though, right and fits the vibe of this zine haha.

This is a mini zine. It's made in a regular piece of printer paper. I folded it and cut a slit in the middle so that it can be folded a little booklet. :)

Have you read a Zine before? Have you made one yourself? I highly recommend you try of you haven't. You can make them on any topic. I could even be a list of things you like. You don't even have to draw it, you could create a collage or just write in it. There's so many ways to do it and none of them are wrong.

Here's what I'm working on now. It's just a draft so far but I hope to have this ready in the next week. More details coming soon!

Thanks for reading ❤️

August Recap

Another month of this year has gone by! It has still been very hot here in Central Texas, with it being triple digits most days.

Sometimes I venture out into public. There’s a little water park out here and I went with the boys. I doodled in my sketchbook and did go down a few slides.

Qveen Herby has been on repeat for me.

Poscas.

I drew this on a day that I was feeling very drained.

I finished a mural in my kid’s bathroom this month. Check out this blog post for more pictures.

I like to go on walks in the morning while it’s not super hot. Right now they’re still building homes in the neighborhood, so I’m trying to enjoy how quiet and empty it is out here before it becomes full.

A yummy Korean Bento I had for lunch one day.

There’s a cute little place by where I live. I worked a little on my art and got a Strawberry Matcha Bubble tea.

There’s a place I like to go hiking. I go a couple times a month, but I’m looking forward to cooler weather so I can go out there more. One morning, I ran into an armadillo!! I couldn’t believe it. I just stood still as it walked by. It even started digging close to me, looking for food I think. On another day I went hiking, I saw a possum (didn’t get a pic) and 3 turtles.

Look how close it got! :’)

This was the biggest turtle. I tried to get my hand close to help give a size reference but I’m not sure it’s helpful lol.

The smallest one.

The medium turtle.

On a Friday, I went to Killen Creator’s Open Studio and doodled this.

I joined Killeen Creators for part of a community art initiative and we painted a mural on the side of a building. This was really a wonderful experience and I am looking forward to doing more things with these folks.

Look at these people helping make this city a little brighter! :)

Photo by Chris W (@CWD21 on Instagram)

Photo by Chris W (@CWD21 on Instagram)

Armadillo drawing I did while it rained (I was inspired by the one I saw on my hike! I couldn’t stop thinking of it lol). It didn’t rain much but I enjoyed how much it cooled down and I do enjoy the smell too. The smell of rain in the desert is different than in places where it’s more green.

We had TWO full moons in August. August 30th was a blue moon and earlier that day I had some pent up energy and I just kept feeling the urge to paint. I keep making excuses as to why I shouldn’t paint, the main one being I don’t really have a dedicated space. But I’m an artist and when the feeling strikes, I can’t help but get it out. I pulled out an old canvas (wish I had taken a picture of it) and painted over it. All I knew was that I wanted to paint the moon. I put on some earbuds and went for it. I just added a few stokes here and there. I really enjoyed getting lost in the clouds and the stars. This painting is available in my shop.

I put some things up on my walls in the area I create. It makes me happy to look at these <3

My brother-in-law and niece came to visit us…And they decided to work on MATH for fun… Haha. My hubby is really good with numbers.

My Siren Sister, Muhammad Holly! We played for the same team in Houston, many moons ago. I’m so glad I got to meet up with her for lunch and we stopped by Medusa Skate shop in Austin.

And that’s it for August. I’m excited for September. It’s already off to a great start and I can’t wait to share more with ya’ll! :)

I painted my first mural

We moved into our house last month and are still in the process of making it our own. We’ve put up a bunch of pictures and art which helps it feel more like a home. This is my stepson’s bathroom and green is his favorite color so I knew I had to add some greenery in here to make it more interesting. All I knew is that I wanted to draw some leaves and plants, which are things that make their way into my art pretty regularly.

Here’s a before picture.

Not terribly exiting, right? I had to stand in the tub to get this picture but you get the idea.

So I have painted walls a single color with a roller before. And I have painted many times on canvas and paper. Is that enough knowledge to pull off a mural? Well, I had no idea but I was excited to try out something new and just went for it. I really was just winging it and learned a lot during the process.

The first thing I did was pull out a paint marker and I started drawing on the walls. Honestly this was so much fun and I felt I was healing my inner child during this process.

I’m drawing out where I want these leaves to go. At this point I just wanted to add a variety of shapes to keep it interesting.

Here’s a video of how the sketches on the wall look.

Me for scale.

I went to Lowe’s and got some paint samples. I ended up choosing 5 different types of greens and then got to work. I KNOW I have rollers and larger brushes somewhere in some box in my garage and I refused to buy another set of those, so I just worked with what I had…Regular old paintbrushes.

my 9 year old helped out too! It really makes me happy that he can look at this wall and know that he helped make it happen.

I took way more videos than pictures. I started doing that because I was going to do a series of updates on Instagram and then realized how NOT FUN that made this project. Haha, but I think I will compile all those into a longer form video.

Another progress shot.

here’s the after.

This is the best angle to be able to see the entire mural.

That’s all folks. :) This was such a fun mural, and I’m glad glad I started on a small space. I would love to figure out how to do more detailed pieces or even on a larger scale. I’ll definitely have to use bigger brushes and rollers next time too, haha. Thanks for reading!

I published a my own roller derby coloring book (and you could too!)

In February of 2020, I Released a coloring book.

I published my own coloring book and made a childhood dream come true. It’s probably one of the things I’ve put out into the world that I’m so proud of it, because I did not think it would be possible for a small artist like myself. Honestly, I didn’t really know what all was involved in publishing a book of any kind. I thought I had to work with a company and would have to invest a bunch of money, figure out where to keep inventory, figure out how to ship etc. And perhaps that’s the way some people still do it, but then I found out that I didn’t need a publisher and I didn’t even have to pay anything upfront to make it happen.

You can get a copy of my coloring book here https://amzn.to/448jBSP

Please note that this is an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Here’s a picture of my Goddaughter coloring her copy of the book. She’s become quite the artist and I’ve really loved seeing her creativity blossom.

I’m sure it’s not a surprise to hear me say that as a creative person, I LOVED coloring books as a kid! Sometimes I would be so obsessed with looking at the art that I wouldn’t color certain pages because I didn’t want to "mess up the art”. BTW, if you’re one of those people, I want to encourage you to COLOR IN. MESS IT UP. Don’t worry about it being perfect. :) Have fun with it. I find the actual process of coloring is quite therapeutic. Don’t overthink it, just go for it!

There are quite a few drawings in this book that are based on skaters I’ve had the chance to share the track with.

This is a page I colored using markers, prisma color pencils and a white gel pen.

One day a video popped up Youtube about publishing coloring book. I thought, oh, that would be really cool if I could do this…I kept watching and then I realized, wait, I CAN do this. Don’t overthink it, just go for it! I’ve had quite a few roller derby drawings I’ve made over the years, so why not compile them into a book?

OKAY, we got it, so spill the beans!! How did you publish this thing??

I did it through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon KDP). I had my artwork ready, then I laid it all out into a book format, then uploaded it and published it all through Amazon KDP. You can set how much you want your book to cost (this allows you to adjust how much profit you’d like to make per book sold) . Once the book is published, all you have to do it send the link to someone and they can order a copy and it gets sent right to their door or mailbox. The books get printed as they are ordered and you don’t have to keep inventory or pay anything up front. Once you meet the payment threshold, you’ll get a check from Amazon for the royalties.

As of the day I am writing this, I have sold 386 copies of this book (mostly in the US but also Canada, the UK, Germany, and Australia!) and it still makes me really happy to know that people have some of my art in their homes.

Here’s an old screenshot I found! :) I love seeing how other people colored in the skaters to fit their own team colors.

I adore this version! So fun. Thanks Pslay <3

If you want to know more about this coloring book, I made a Youtube video about it in 2020. https://youtu.be/HhMLz_JRKGQ

Let me know if you have a copy of this book! Or are you someone who’s thought about publishing your own book? Do you want to know more about Amazon KDP? Leave a comment :D

Thanks for reading!