The Pareto Principle

Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto in 1906 observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population; he developed the principle by observing that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas. It is a common rule of thumb in business; e.g., "80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients."  You can observe this in your own life. 

For example, I realized that if I focused on my 20% of things that are really meaningful in my life, this will provide for the 80% I need to complete my goals… It sounds kind of confusing, but if we really try to apply it, I swear, it works!

“20% of the activity is going to yield 80% or the results” is what Pareto affirms, think on what are the things that you are spending too much time on that are not really making things happen for you?   Start to identify your “Personal Paretos”.  For me, my family and the things I love to do gives me the 80% I need to complete my life, I focus on them, my painting, my child’s school stuff, my husband, in all, my beautiful 20%, and there you go! My 80% is done! Have a wonderful Holidays, and lots of GOALS done in 2011 !!!

Coneccion Limbica Medley

Conección Límbica

This is our First Concert, not a big crowd, but Oh Boy! What a wonderful moment! Finally, after creating the songs, three years ago, and rehearsals with our drummer since February this year, trying to “give birth” to this dream… from now on, we “Rock the House, Baby!!!” Now we're growing, two more musicians have join us.Thanks to each of you who were dancing around, letting us see the light!

My Art Booth

What is this about? I’ve the great experience of sharing more than images, brush strokes on canvases… I’ve experienced the great moment of the power my canvases expelled to the people looking at them. Full of emotions... One woman came into my very “primitive” booth, and starting to tell me about her childhood memories, about what she could share with her grandmother… from my Forgotten series, The Light Bulb, reminded her about warm feelings she treasure in her heart all this time! Then another woman who told me that she’s been going through a divorce process, felt like “a deep breath’s coming out from my landscapes”.

I also enjoyed a little girl asking me about some of the techniques I used, and we embarqued on a long conversation about how we perceive shapes on clouds, floor tiles, and even her little brother spilled juice!

I just want to say Thank you… my canvases are sending good vibrations, and that’s a good job! That is part of my purpose on this planet! Thank you!
October 2nd. @ The Ridgefield Cultural Festival, CT

Slow down!!!!

Slowness… yes! As a way of being: intuitive, centered, receptive, careful, quality over quantity –as opposed to aggressive, stressed, impatient, careless, quantity over quality. Who can compete with a slow cooked food? Not that I’m hungry, but who has forgotten grandma’s soup? We gathered around the table, fully conscious of that moment. For a precious seconds we are totally aware, our senses are engaged, and we are present in our bodies. It’s an event to ritualize and relish, no matter how simple the meal. I do Slow Painting to soothe my soul. Choosing the right speed, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. That’s my freedom.

There’s a Japanese proverb that goes: “The first sip is joy, the second is gladness, the third is serenity, the fourth is madness, the fifth is ecstasy”. Which one are you in?

The Art of Being Possitive...

Cuántas veces nos hemos sentido mejor cuando nos enfocamos en las cosas positivas que nos rodean_

Si uno se concentra conscientemente en lo que nos molesta, lo que nos duele, lo que está mal en nuestro cuerpo, seguramente lo encontraremos. Pequeños dolores, piel seca, granitos en la piel, etc. Small imperfections will feel like huge mistakes…

Igual nos sucede cuando creamos una obra, y empezamos a encontrar lo desperfecto de ella... Si embargo, si nos enfocamos sólo en lo positivo, en lo especial de la situación, la línea inconclusa, el color que caó por accidente, o en el caso de nuestro cuerpo, lo que está bien en él, nos estaremos alimentando de salud, de alegría y de evolución personal.

This will create a positive healing approach and will make you stronger while reinforcing a pro-active and healthy attitude towards yourself, (painting, craft, cook, body, etc.)

Our bodies are incredible machines and you should be treating yours like the temple that it is.  Nuestros cinco sentidos puestos el milagro que somos nosotros, the big miracle of being creators and creations at the same time...

Tengamos una gran semana, an unvelibable week!

The Spanish Lesson

Aces=Ases [əz]+es (alpha-sierra-echo-sierra)"
Mixed media, 6"x15"

Happiness!

There’s an Indian proverb that speculates about happiness and it goes like this:
Who is blind?
He who can see no other world.
Who is dumb? He who can say nothing pleasant about his lot.
Who is poor? He who is troubled with too many desires.
Who is rich?
He who is happy with his lot.
Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply… oh… how many times my grandma made me laugh just looking at our eyes! We could laugh for hours! At the point that we got expelled from the public bus we’re riding, and there we were, standing in the middle of a street, jus laughing, ha, ha, ha… we were free, we were free…
She taught me to “Eat the elephant one bite at a time… but if you could devour it … GO FOR IT!!!!” ha, ha, ha… Life had granted me a gift, and I enjoy giving it away, to share it and show people that reality is something to be experienced.
All the things that surround me, all the noises, all the pain, the laughter, and all “the all” have something to tell, my brush and my soul starts to connect, and a painting is born…

Worries...

How many times I’ve tried, and tried, and nothing came out from me? Sometimes I woke up in the morning, and despite of a gentle hot cup of coffee, I couldn’t sat down to work… There’s a roadblock that sometimes keeps me out of reaching my goals, my perfectly planned journal, full of beautiful colors, very busy calendars, and sketches all around me, start to vanish in front of me…
WORRY is the name of that hard road. I didn’t realize how many times this big foe was sitting next to me, zipping the same hot coffee, in my own table!
We sometimes, choose to be passive about creating our own reality. My coach always reminds me that we’re the creators of what is going to happen to us, and that is perfectly true, I read it in so many books, in different ways they sing to us the same song, once and again, “future doesn’t exist, you’re the only creator” but what do we do? We sit there waiting for that call, expecting someone who never comes, trying our best tricks to make that brush or camera, or any instrument with physical and motor abilities to start working for us!
I am learning to select my thoughts, to replace those thoughts of worry and fear with positive, happy images. NOW has to be my guest of honor, it’s going to be fine, it’s going to be fine. Zip your coffee and go to your studio, grab that brush and start building your new NOW…

Just like that...

I was sitting on the perfect table of a coffee shop. Perfect because it was located on the corner where nobody would see me, I could though... Only myself and I, having an intimate discussion about what makes me happy... suddenly an elongated young woman came in, and dropped a piece of paper to the floor. It was so shrunk, and very white, brilliant to the natural light that filtrated from the window that trapped the evening sun. So I started to observe the significance of this little "ball of paper" laying on the cold floor...it had so many faces, grays in different directions, warm whites, singing under the beautiful light of the evening. It was like the whole shop was in a state of sudden mute, until a distracted man kicked it out with no intention, and there it was, now laying on the sidewalk, and so on, people passed, and it got kicked again and again until I lost it from my view. Then the muting was off and the old coffee shop was the same as always, noisy, social, and no brightness spots to watch any more. "There it was!" I cried to myself, the little sign I was waiting for, what makes me happy was in front of my own eyes... very little, hiding, picking...
And I went back home with a big smile carrying a bright happy heart.

Let's become ignorants please!

All that I've read about, all that I've experienced, all that I've smelled, everything has to become NONE in order to get where I want to go... a place where I could be the creator, of everything that is already done...
I couldn't think, but I could feel, here is the light where I found my peace, the Seed of The Creator, the Sound of Nothing that got into my ears, and It Became...

Try Harder

Once, I had a dream... that was to become an Architect one day. Most of the people I new "recomended me" not to do so, "that is not a profitable occupation." But, I became one.

Another day, I dreamt again... "I wish to become an Artist". I said to myself "that is not a profitable occupation"... But I became one!!!!