Posts from — October 2011

Finally saw the Tim Burton exhibit! What a beautiful show. It was fun to see Tim Burton’s work as a child and listen to stories from his art teacher (via the audio tour). My favorite part: Edward Scissorhands. It reminded so much of my high school years. Because really, what is high school without Johnny Depp? I walked through Burton’s childhood, then mine, then my son’s (James and the Giant Peach). Incredibly inspired, we left the exhibit feeling like we needed to grab our sketchpads and start drawing.

Sadly, the show goes down tonight. But, here are some pictures courtesy of LACMA for your viewing pleasure. If you did get to see it, what did you think?

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Tell me there’s going to be an Aztec procession, and I am there. After hosting a potluck, which by the way included a couple of my favorite food bloggers (post to come), I grabbed the hubby, my son , his friend and Vianessa, and headed out the door to The Autry. I’m not a huge Halloween person but I can definitely get down with Day of the Dead festivities. Music, guacamole, vibrant art, costumes, celebrating life and remembering the dead? Yes, yes, yes.

My Little Pony, Frankie Jonas, Strawberry Shortcake, Monsters and 30s Gangsters. Wait, what? Where were we? Oh nothing, we just decided to start the Halloween celebration a touch early. We were invited by the Hub Channel to attend their first Halloween party this year. My son loves The Hub Channel. In fact, he wrote about it back when he started school. It opened up his world to the classics like Happy Days, The Wonder Years and Family Ties. Ah yes, when TV was fun. A family activity.

If you’ve decided a relaxing weekend at home is more your speed, check out all their Halloween shows for the kiddos. My son previewed the Haunted Hour and gives it a thumbs up. But warns it’s a bit scary.

(Thank you The Hub! It was a blast!)

If you follow me on , then you know I’m a skin care buff. It starts with healthy food, vitamins and lots of water. I don’t smoke and I always wear sunscreen. When I hit 25, I noticed a miniscule line on my forehead, which at that time looked more like the San Andreas Fault. That marked the beginning of my skin care haul life. Here’s what I’m using these days:

Amway’s Artistry ~ Time Defiance: Cleansing treatment. Polishing scrub: Love the glow. Time Defiance day-time: Can’t help aging, but I like to keep my skin looking smooth. Time Defiance night-time: I use Retin-A once a week (just told you my biggest beauty secret), but need my night creams the other 6 nights. Creme Luxury: It feels like silk. Skin refinishing lotion: Great after the polishing scrub. Check them out HERE.

(Many thanks Zócalo Group and Amway Artistry)

So, do you remember my excitement about this? My son is part of the Getty’s audio tour Demons, Angels, and Monsters: The Supernatural in Art. I wrote about it a while back when he recorded his portion. Before we left to DC, we spent the day at The Getty touring the galleries along with the other kids who are part of this initiative. It was amazing. Of course, I’m biased. It’s my kid and all. But … I love it as a museum educator as well. I think it’s so important (and genius) to have children speak amongst themselves about art. It’s effective. In fact, when I worked at the Bronx Museum I trained teens to become docents. At the end of the school year, their classmates were invited for a tour to be led by their peer. Seriously, one of my best memories in museum education. I am so proud and over the moon happy that my son is involved in this project. You have to take your family and check it out. Here’s a . The tour is free until February 5, 2012. This for kids, by kids tour is all about demons, flying superhero angels and dragons (perfect for Halloween). Some of the masters include Gauguin, Tiepolo and Bernini.

If you have a chance to hear it, let me know what you think!

(Many thanks to The Getty’s fabulous Education Dept)

P.S. I’m Mom of the Day for Mom It Forward Have a look!

Today Univision kicks off a seven day campaign called ¡Edúcate, Es el momento! in an effort to impact Hispanic educational attainment. Tons of activities will be taking place this week, including a blogger outreach like this one. The cool thing about this program is that every day there will be a different theme. Today’s focus is How to interest youth in Science & Math. I had other choices but decided to stick with math and science. Now why would an arts educator choose this? Simple. There are dozens upon dozens of ways to combine art with science and math – at home and in the classroom. In fact, when I was a student, an integrated approach always worked best for me. My son, on the other hand, does well with math and science, and enjoys art when it’s connected to those subjects (He loves Mondrian and Rousseau for that reason). Doing art projects together is always a fun balance for us because he and I learn so much during the process.

Combining our left brain/right brain strengths, my son and I decided to pick a subject that is culturally relevant to us. He loves rain forests and animals, so we looked up El Yunque in Puerto Rico. We were a bit nervous about getting into painting a waterfall, so we chose a Plumeria Rubra and decided to do a very Diego Rivera inspired painting. We talked a bit about the golden ratio and measured our canvas. We also looked up video about El Yunque, their flowers and natural habitat.

And of course we had to add our friend the Coqui!

The internet has a wealth of integrated lesson plans. Incredible Art is a great resource. If you’d like more info on ¡Edúcate, Es el momento! here you GO.

(Acrylics on illustration board. Coqui was done on poster board. Flower image title hyperlinked to source. All materials from Blick)

So in the middle of my ‘I must know more about Emmanuelle Alt’ Friday morning ritual, I ran into these impeccable images. You know this stuff excites me more than the average person. I mean, I want to walk in art. Always. We all have our thing, don’t we?

I certainly do miss the inspiration I would get from museums. For example, I’ve left the Met with urges to wear Victorian dresses. The Frida at MoMA always made me realize that I don’t wear flowers in my hair and I should. And if the Guggenheim’s Salome does not make you fall in love sheer fabrics and jewels, then I’m at a loss for words. I was not kidding when I said this stuff excites me. Here’s more INFO. Have a GREAT weekend!

(Images: Vogue.com)

I remember my first copy of Latina Magazine. It was 1996. I was working for a banking firm at the World Trade Center as a front desk receptionist. I did this while I worked on getting my teaching credentials and applying for grad school. It was lunchtime, so I headed over to one of the restaurants on the main floor. Tons of magazine stops everywhere. I will never forget. The word Latina caught my eye. The cover had a picture of Jennifer Lopez. The title Bronx Meets Hollywood. I was like “who is this woman”. The rest is history.

Happy 15th anniversary, Latina Magazine!

Thanks to the wonderful people over at Fleishman-Hillard.

*update: CoverGirl just posted a few pics on their page. I love this one. Allow me to introduce you to some of may favorite people.

, Monique, Ana, Silvia, Dariela, Caryn, (me), Sandra, Cindy, Sydnie

(Latina Magazine party sponsored by Cover Girl. My dress/belt: Anthropologie. Purse: Jasleen Boutique. Booties: Report)