New Art Supplies

One of my favorite places to wander around is at Blick in NYC. Especially their Soho location which is huge! Theres always something new that I want to get. Who can have enough brushes or watercolors? I don't get excited about shopping for clothes and shoes, but put me inside an art supply store and I'll be there a few hours. I couldn't wait to get home and play with new paints.  This time I tried out a few new colors from Holbein "Irodori" Antique Watercolors.

-Wendy

When artsy friends get married

My best friend Shay is married ! Helping her plan this wedding was a blast even though we spent late nights changing color themes and discussing fonts for her invitations.

This is what happens when you have two people who are best friends (more like sisters) who both bonded as kids over art and now as adults work in graphic design and fashion. It was the perfect recipe for brainstorming sessions and DYI projects. Shay designed her own invitations and letterpress plates. YES, we hand made her invitations and save the dates. This meant rolling on the ink and pressing down the letterpress at home till it was perfect. It also meant hand painting tiny canvases for all the table #'s during the reception.

All the work was worth it when you saw how happy she looked on her big day. I will post more pics of the big day on the next post. For now, below are some shots of us flower shopping in the flower district in NYC brainstorming bouquet ideas.

-Wendy

My Story

I figured I could make one blog post where I could share the whole "enchilada". So here goes.

I was born in Guatemala and still have tons of family there. I visited a lot as a child and teen and spend summer vacations in grandpa's house where I was born. This is the same house where my dad and his 7 siblings grew up. It used to be a house made of adobe which has been fixed up over the years and has a lot of history.

my two aunties outside grandpa's house in the 50's.

Me and my parents moved to NYC, " the concrete jungle" when I was about 3 years old. I grew up in the Bronx playing outside in the bursting hydrants in the summer or rolling around in the snow in central park in the winter.

My life involved learning english as a young kid and learning to fit in. Believe it or not, there weren't that many Guatemalan kids in the Bronx. I would come home to eat tortillas and frijoles and lay on blankets with colorful Guatemalan patterns and colors.

the patio and garden in Guatemala.

tiny me feeling lost in NYC. What are all these layers?

I've been drawing for as long as I can remember and art was a way for me to get away and go into my own little world when it was a little rough fitting in. So it made sense that I gave up my gym class in middle school to take art class ( I had a better chance at succeeding there) and went to the High School of Art & Design next and FIT for my BFA.  I've been blessed that NYC has been my playground in HS when our school was just a concrete building. Central park offered the biggest playground a kid could want.

These days, I'm balancing working as a textile designer and making sure I don't ever stop playing and just getting my hands dirty doing what I love. This little place on the web is just a little piece of my world to share my doodles.

On a recent trip back home.

-Wendy