working, working, working...!!!

tired bunny

Open studios are this weekend! I seem to be back to my pre-Leukemia state where I work until the last minute possible - more paintings, adding some jewelry and fretting about cleaning / arranging my studio on time. I seem to have averaged one day off per week in the last three weeks.Tired, yes! I'm happy with most of my new paintings. The jewelry looks good and will be making earrings today. Am I happy spending so much time in the studio? Yes, most definitely!! It has been completely rewarding.

1890 has finally reached the pre-open studios stage. Lots more artists in the building. You can hear hammering, sawing, voices in the hallways plus trash from cleaned studios ready to be hauled away. I love the building during this time. Its exciting to be surrounded by so much creativity and anticipation. People are at their best: funny and full of angst. There is an amazing sense of camaraderie among the artists. We are all working toward a common goal: OPEN STUDIOS!

Saw my oncologist yesterday, Dr. Kaplan, for my monthly round of blood tests. All blood work is NORMAL (doing a little dance here). For the first time we talked about the future and going off meds. No date given but this is a milestone. I invited Dr. Kaplan to Open Studios. His wife is a photographer so the two share an interest in the arts. He said he couldn't promise but would try to make it. Well...it doesn't hurt asking.

Easter was this weekend. Mom came up from San Jose and sister, brother-in-law from L.A. BIG PLANS. I think my kids and grand kids would have been happy with KFC and an easter egg hunt. Next time!

Have to get ready and get to the studio. Earrings await!!

Hope to see anyone in the area this weekend at Open Studios!

Martha

PRIMAVERA - Spring is in the Air!

Recuerdos / Memories by Martha Rodriguez

Its a new season. Here in San Francisco, it is finally raining. Storms have been blowing in. Lots of grey skies and a hint of flowers blooming.

Now that Spring has arrived, I'm proud to say that I will be participating in a new art showing called Primavera / Spring. I will have approximately 8 paintings shown (inculding Recuerdos, above)  along with various work of artists Maya Gonzalez, Shiloh Sophia McCloud and Margo Rivera-Weiss. The exhibit has been curated by Bird Levy and will be held at Puerto Alegre Restaurant here in San Francisco.

Here are the details:

WHERE: Puerto Alegre Restaurant
               546 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94110  View Map
  
WHEN:    April 3, 3 to 5pm - OPENING until May 8, 2012

WHO:     Martha Rodriguez, Maya Gonzalez, Shiloh Sophia McCloud and Margo Rivera-Weiss

to RSVP, please go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/319224934799791/

Would love to see you at the opening!!
          

Estudio Martita & Spring Open Studios

Bird on Cactus - part of desert series

Martha Rodriguez / Estudio Martita, Studio 318

 invites you to...

OPEN STUDIOS  at 1890 Bryant Street Studios

40 Artists at 1890 Bryant are opening their doors to the public for... 

Spring Open Studios weekend: April 14-15 12 to 6pm. 

 

Preview Reception: April 13, 6 to 9pm 

to get the art collector's view of the studios before the event. 

Refreshments are served. Admission is FREE.

for more information:

Spring Open Studios DETAILS: http://www.missionartistsunited.org/main/openstudios

EVENT GUIDE: http://www.missionartistsunited.org/catalog/042012/spring2012guide.pdf


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Treasury Team Presents: What I Wore and Where

all Quiet on the blog front... but lots going on in studio and beyond

I guess its really been a month since I lasted posted. I managed to get my two paintings into the Latino Cancer Summit Art Show here in San Francisco in July. YEAH!!! I'm also going to be in a show called Primavera on April 3rd through May 8th with three other women artists here in San Francisco. The show will be at Puerto Alegre restaurant in the Mission. I also managed to get one of my paintings, GRATITUDE published this year in the Mujeres de Maiz 2012 Zine. Finally, Mission Open Studios are around the corner at the fabulous 1890 Bryant. They open April 13th with a Friday night preview and continue through April 14th and 15th from 12 to 6pm.. More to come on open studios and my Primavera show in the next few weeks.

The reason I started this blog post was to celebrate the great team I belong to on Etsy: The SFetsy Team. They started a new team activity with members creating Treasuries from a theme. Last week was, "What I Wore and Where I Went." Since most of my time is spent at the studio (and at home too) I decided to title mine, "Another day at the studio." I chose all SFetsy members and their work. It was great fun putting this together. I guess I won the weekly theme treasury (WOW!) and had lots of people look at it. Well....read the post below from the SFetsy Blog and take a look and see what I did. They also featured a necklace I made featuring friend Diana Gaspar's beautiful Frida pendant! I am so grateful. Its so nice to be rewarded when you do something for fun!!

Martha

p.s. Have had to slow down for the past few days. Caught a horrific cold and now sidelined. I know there is something called balance where in  my post Leukemia hospitalization and remission state, I have to find.ways of slowing down. Haven't quite found the balance.necessary to create, pursue as much as I can. Honestly, I have to realize when I don't take the time to rest enough, my own body forces me to.

I'm a terrible patient when I have a cold. Things are harder to figure out when your head hurts, sinus ache, ears are plugged plus you have a nagging cough. See, I told you I'm a lousy cold patient. I'm actually, finally, getting better - but you'd never know it!

READ THE ETSY TEAM BLOG POST BELOW...

SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 2012

Treasury Team Presents: What I Wore and Where

We had over 1000 views this week on our collective treasuries featuring SFEtsy team members within the theme of "What I Wore and Where."  Thanks to Sarah,Lisa, Martha, Katy, Fleur, Kathleen, Ashleigh, Moria, and Maggie for adding their vision!

Our featured treasury with way over 300 clicks, views, comments and hearts is Martha of estudiomartita. (Congrats to Lisa for a close second!)  Her treasury also included exclusively items made by Bay Area artists in our team!  Martha's own shop carries jewelry and housewares inspired by an eclectic blend of Latino and pop-art cultures.  A favorite of mine is her "Frida in her Garden" necklace featuring a carving made by Artist Diana Gaspar.

Frida in Her Garden, Necklace by Martha of estudiomartita

And her winning treasury:

'what I wore and where I went...another day at the studio...' by estudiomartita

A Day @ the Studio...

Building: cement walled, old mayonnaise factory.

Temperature: COLD.

Tenants: bundled artists, drinking tea, visiting, working.

Location: SF Mission 

Style: hipster chic, paint splattered shirts, pants, scarves, knit hats, aprons.

Here's another new piece. I'll be submitting to Latinas Contra Cancer  -  Latinas Fighting Cancer. Latinas Contra Cancer is raising awareness about cancer in the Latino community, increasing access to quality care, working to decrease mortality and improving the quality of the health care experience. They do this by offering support services and resources for the Latino cancer patient and their family; collaborate with other small agencies to provide education and outreach services; partner with health care institutions to bridge the gap through culturally competent outreach and medical care.


Latinas Contra Cancer will convene its third bi-annual Latino/a Cancer Summit. The Summit will focus on the environment  and Cancer and its impact on Latinos from Science to Social Justice. There will be an art exhibit and auction so I'm submitting some artwork for consideration. We'll see what happens!


Here's my latest work for submission to the summit with the theme centering on the dangers of excessive sun exposure and the high rates of skin cancer among Latinos. 


What to do: shade is a good deterrent against UV rays!

Suenos / Dreams Under the Tree

Suenos / Dreams Under the Tree - closeup

Suenos / Dreams Under the Tree - closeup

Suenos / Dreams Under the Tree - closeup

Oooooooo Weeeeeee!!!!!!

Oooooooo Weeeeeee!!!!!! Painting again!!


That's what you say when you've been on a painting rampage for the past two to three weeks!! In my quest to return to more painting and my desire to improve my skills, I'm on a major roll. Do I like everything I've been working on?? The answer is NO! Am I feeling downtrodden and depressed because of this?? Only slightly. I've have had a major talk with myself.and come to the conclusion that this is the process I have to go through in order to improve my skills. I paint. I paint over. I refine. I keep. I hear you saying you can always take a class to add new skills. The truth is that my gut feeling - and I'm only going with GUT FEELINGS since living as a Leukemia survivor - is I'd rather put brush to canvas and just paint. I am not at a loss for ideas. The ideas are rushing in and I have to throw up my arms and catch one as they fly around my big head. I'm trying to work with these ideas without feeling anxious that I have to put them all on canvas in the next few days.

Yes. The creative juices are flowing! Allowing myself the freedom to paint has been a gift. Putting a brush to canvas has made me very happy!

Here's a few images of what I've been working on.

Calavera del Sol

Soldadera

Soldadera

This is it for now. There will be more coming.  I will post as soon as I feel the work is finished.

Have a great week!

Martha

Still Beautiful!

Love this Treasury I was included in called Still Beautiful. It was created by a Turkish artisan by the name of Nehire Tosum from Antalya, Turkey. Her Etsy store is called Pamphylian. 

Here is the Treasury link: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQzMTA5Mzl8MjA4MjIzNjM2Mw/

still-beautiful?page=4#comments

Here is the link to the Frida clutch on my Etsy store:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/86328536/frida-kahlo-silver-clutch?ref=tre-2082236363-9

The clutch has a pink sequin and blue sequin Frida on each side.