Day of the Dead Window Display in NYC!

Art By Mia presents
A Day of the Dead
El Dia de los Muertos

Altar & Visual Arts Display curated by
Mia Roman Hernandez
chashama 266 Window Space
266 West 37th Street
October 28 - November 1, 2009
Contributing artists:
Juan Carlo Suazo, Olga Ayala, Maria Sanchez, Yoli Manzo, Kathy Cano-Murillo, Cyndi Garcia
FREE and open to the public
Sponsored by CARIB: Caribbean Association for Resource, Information & Building

chashama Window Space, 266 West 37th Street

between 7th and 8th Avenues, A/C/E/1/2/3 to 34th Street, N/R/Q/W/7 to Times Square; M16, M34 buses to 8th Ave, M10, M20 to 36th St.

Art By Mia presents
A Day of the Dead / El Dia de los Muertos

Altar & Visual Arts Display curated by Mia Roman Hernandez

Contributing artists:
Juan Carlo Suazo, Olga Ayala, Maria Sanchez, Yoli Manzo, Kathy Cano-Murillo, Cyndi Garcia

October 28 - November 1, 2009

El Dia de los Muertos embodies the greatest expression of hope and faith. People construct altars in homes and graveyards in order to feed the souls of the dead. The feast for the dead originated as a form of ancestor worship. Celebrations begin with the cleaning of the graves and the construction of the ofrenda, or altar. It is a time of remembrance, and the sorrow of the departure of loved ones is caught up in a celebration of the continuance of life.

Sponsored by CARIB: Caribbean Association for Resource, Information & Building details

Thank You Mia, for including me in this Sacred Event! I am so deeply honored to be included amongst such talented women!

If you can't make it to NYC, here are a few more photos! (photos by Olga Ayala)

Below is a photo of the Beautiful Mia and Olga. Not only are they hawt, the are both extremely talented and inspiring artists. Both are from New York, and show regularly!





Here is a close up of the above flier.

Yoli Manzo returns to Santa Clarita Craft Lab!

I was going to write up a blog to share about my upcoming class at SCCL, however, Cyndi did such a wonderful job, I thought I would just repost here! (Thanks Cyndi)

Hope to see you there, and do tell a friend! This is one of my favorite subjects!

Yoli
**************************************************************************

Yoli Manzo returns to SCCL!

I'm so excited about the upcoming Class and Visit from Yoli Manzo, aka Sacred Yoli! Yes. It's true. Yoli is returning to teach another fabulous class here at Santa Clarita Craft Lab!

Her class is scheduled for Friday October 23rd, and she's teaching a "Day of the Dead Shrine Wreath Class." Yoli travels all the way from Sacramento to be here with us and it is such an honor to have her. She is a great Mexican Pop Artista. Her art work always tells a story.

This is a current Piece that Yoli will have exhibited at the
"SomArts Dia De Los Muertos Show 2009"
You know there's a story in there somewhere.
Fantastic Yoli!

Here is a little something about my girl Yoli:

Yoli Manzo, was born and raised in the Silicon Valley. She now makes her home in Sacramento, California where she immerses herself in cultural art exhibiting muse from latin folk art such as Dia de los Muertos, Frida Kahlo and religious saints. Her signature has been described as having a very sharp edge that is admirable for a woman artist. She uses mixed media, strong colors, plenty of glitter and her edgy wit worthy of her label. Yoli Manzo and her art work, including shrines, jewelry, handbags, dolls, skulls and paintings have been featured in art galleries, television, and art festivals throughout northern California as well as internationally via the web. She is a member of the Scary Art Collective and Northern California Mixed Media Artists.

This is from Yoli's "Graffiti" series.

And here are the details for her Day of the Dead Shrine Wreath Class:

Day of the Dead is a Celebration of Life and Ms. Yoli Manzo, aka Scared Yoli will put us in the right spirit while teaching this class!

Students will adorn their black Altar Wreaths with their own hand painted skulls!

This is the Wreath we will create in Yoli's Class.
It's Fabulous!

Students are encouraged to bring their own photos, mementos, and other special objects to adorn their Shrine Wreaths with a personalized touch!

Check out the detail on the skulls.
Yoli will instruct us on how to paint our own skulls.

Dedicate your Wreaths to that someone Special and celebrate his/her life.

Class starts at 7pm and goes until 10pm! This class is only $45!

Over the last couple of years Yoli and I have become really good friends, although most of our time together has been spent on blogs, myspace, facebook, and via emails. She has gone out of her way to meet up with me on several different occasions to show her support to SCCL and to me. She is so busy sharing her kindness and generosity to so many others, and I am extremely grateful and proud to be on her list of people to support.

I hope you can take the time to join us on Friday October 23rd and Celebrate with us the gift of Life by creating this wonderful piece of art taught by this wonderfully special and talented Artista, Ms. Yoli Manzo.

This is one of my Favorite pieces by Yoli Manzo.
I feel it represents the way she reaches out to people through her heart
and her art.

Altars for the Spirits/Offerings for the Living: dia De Los Muertos 2009

Hello Friends! I know I have been MIA from blogland, but I swear! I am alive and well! I wanted to give a shot out to a beautiful show that I will be part of! If you are in the San Francisco area on October 16th, please come by and visit us! In addition to exhibiting my piece, (pictures to come) I will also be vending my Sacred Graffiti hand bags and wallets!

Also, thanks so much for the great comments and encouraging words. Behind the scenes, I am still crazy busy with my day job, and I am still holding it down with the daily walks. Sometimes I will squeeze in two walks for a total of almost 6 miles a day! Wow, I never thought I would be a person who loves exercise, but it turns out, I have been keeping it up on the daily since early April. Who would have thunk? lol

Here are the details of the show. Tell a friend, and I hope to see you there!

Yoli

Altars for the Spirits/Offerings for the Living: Dia de los Muertos 2009

Dedicated to Al Robles and Victor Mario Zaballa
When: Friday, October 16th through Saturday, November 7th, 2009
Where: SOMArts Cultural Center
934 Brannan Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Extended Gallery hours: Tuesday—Friday, 12:00pm—7:00pm; Saturday, from 12:00pm—5:00pm

OPENING RECEPTION Friday, October 16th / 6:00pm / $5.00-$10.00 Sliding Scale Featuring Classical & Jazz Music by Mutual Admiration Org, Contemporary Mexican & Chicano Music by Liliana Herrera, Special Performance by Tania Llambelis & the Oakland Improv Collective
FIRST TIME EVER: Artist Market of Dia de los Muertos crafts and artfor sale in our Theater!
CLOSING RECEPTION Saturday, November 7th / 6:00PM / Free
Join our flickr group and submit images to be part of our exhibitionhttp://www.flickr.com/groups/digitalofferings

Rene Yañez and Rio Yañez Curators, Nick Gomez Architect

Exhibiting Artists
Patricia A. Montgomery, Elizabeth Addison, Dena Al-Adeeb, Susana Aragon, Adrian Arias, Azul Arias-Aragon, Mara Barenbaum, Jesus Barraza, Virginia Benavidez, Nathaniel Bolton, Nic Bucchi (AKA Flynt, )Carla Caletti, Melanie Cervantes, Deborah Cohen, Alicia Cruz-Hunt, Rick Darnell, Lucinda DeNatale, Kathy DeRosas, Lanell Dike, Annamarta Dostourian, Candi Farlice, Gisela Feid, Juliet Flower MacCannell, deCoy Gallerina, Santiago Gervasi, Francisco Gomez, CJ Grossman, Peter Gurein, Bjorn Heinbach, Rosa Hernandez, Carol J. Stewart, Melinda Johson, Caylly Jones, Fredda Kaplan-Robles, Gina Lim, Philip Long, Ytaelena Lopez, Dean MacCannell, Yoli Manzo, Jeff Marshall, Cris Matos, Susan Matthews, David Molina, Steve Molina (AKA Stix), Fernando Montiel, Mary Molly Mullaney, Carla Oden, Aydasara Ortega, Cassandra Parshall, Txutxo Perez, Audra Ponce, Brenda Rasmussen, Renaldo Ratto, Denise Richards, Russell Robles, Veronica Rojas, Michael Roman, Jeff Roysdon, Enrique Salazar, Nick Salazar, Jos Sances, Nicole Schach, Valerie Schlafke, Shizue Seigel, Malik Seneferu, Julie Slinger, Rosario Sotelo, Ilona Sturm, David Tafolla, Lia Tealdi-Heinbach, Cynthia Tom, Elka Vera, Ellen Vogel, Marcy Voyevod, Alain Waeber, Wilton Woods, Rio Yañez, Rene Yañez, Victor Mario Zaballa

Helloooooooooooooooo

Goodness, just when I turn around, another month has gone by! WOW, it is so true, the more "seasoned" you become, the faster the time flies!

How have all of you been? I see some of you are still holding down the blog "fort". I salute you! Although I have been quiet on my side of the screen, rest assured, I am still reading!

I can't believe tomorrow is going to be September already! This August has just flown by.

Yes, work has been dominating my time, however I also made a personal challenge to work on my fitness. For the past 4 months, I have been power walking 6-7 days a week at one hour to one and a half hour periods of time. Seriously, I had to do something! the poundage was packing on quickly, and it was time to make my body a priority. Because it can get really hot here in Sacramento, my walks have been starting anywhere from 6:30 to 7:30 in the morning! Ayee Dios! another challenge, because I am normally a tweaker who doesn't go to bed till about 3:00 am! (my creativity usually doesn't strike till midnight when all is calm here at home)

Now I find myself in bed by midnight and waking up without an alarm clock! Who knew?
It's all good. Although I am not keeping track of my weight, I have gone down two dress sizes! Yay! I am even more motivated to keep on going.

No, I haven't stopped creating. I am working on a two Shrine concepts. One for an upcoming show at SomArts Cultural Center in San Francisco and another for a Benifit hosted by Rebecca of Recuerda Mi Crazon.

I am also just about done for a Dia De Los Muertos Prototype project for another class I will be teaching at Santa Clarita Craft Lab in southern California this October. (I can hardly wait, by the way!)

Other than that, just been enjoying time home. Didn't really do any traveling this summer, but to the family cabin and a few road trips. A couple of weeks ago, I went to the charming town of San Juan Bautista. I hadn't been there since my third grade field trip. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it. Very cute town, excellent for window shopping and of course the beautiful mission.

Here are a few pics I ganked from the web.

San Juan Bautista

Photo 1108 of 1197

Super Charming!

Stay tuned!

It is Scary Time Again!

originally posted by my "Scary" partner in crime, Krissi Sandvik

You've Been BEGGING Us For The Last Year!

You know, for a live crochet tutorial! We may move as slowly as tacky glue in January, but we DO move. So without any further excuses, we're bringing you one of the make-and-takes you've been begging us for:

For this month's craft fest, Jenn de la Fuente of Rosebud Designs will be at Scary CRAFT's Night of the Creators to teach us the basics of crocheting while we make one of her super-cute designs - a mini-wallet.

These little cuties are convenient for use as a business card holder or for a few bucks and your ATM card when you're having a night on the town.

SCARY CRAFT'S NIGHT OF THE CREATORS:
Tues., July 28, 2009
(& the last Tues. from Feb-Oct)
6pm to 9pm
Side Show Studios
5635 Freeport Ave., #6
Sactown, baby!
MAP

Important stuff:

• Be on time if you are planning to take part in the tutorial (otherwise, show up whenever and work on whatever you like - we don't mind, we're just happy you're crafting).
• What to bring:
• yourself
• size "I" crochet hooks if you have them - Jenn only has a few.
  
• something to sit on. We expect this to be a very crowded event, so don't blame us if you end up sitting on the floor (dude, it's FREE). Oh, and we just might be your new best friends if you come early (5:30) and bring extra folding chairs & a table or two.
• you may bring some acrylic mid-weight yarn to play with if you like, but Jenn has some for you too.
  

We hope to see you there!

psssst! Next month Jenn's coming back to teach us how to KNIT so we'll all be ready when the weather gets cold again (hard to believe that will ever happen with the string of 100+ days we've been having though, huh?).

xoxo

Krissi for Scary CRAFT

My recent trip to SoCal

Hello Chicas, this here blog is so long overdue. (I am really trying to fight this pattern I have been creating)

I wanted to share my weekend of July 11th and 12th with Yall. I had the honor of teaching two classes in two different fabulous venues. The Santa Clarita Craft lab and C.J's Angels. As if that wasn't enough, I also got to stay with the beautiful Cyndi Garcia and her wonderful "show biz" familia. :D

I couldn't count down the days fast enough! Work had been extremely stressful and hectic, and although I would be teaching, this was truly going to be a de-stresser for me.

Friday the 10th, I filled up my tank and ipod and drove down the 5 (in Chinga) to Valencia, California. It is a straight shot from Sacramento, and because my head was floating, the 5 hour ride flew by. Before I knew it, I was in Cyndi's driveway. I think I even surprised her at my speedy driving skills.

After I unpacked, she took me to take a sneak peak of her famed "Santa Clarita Craft Lab". It was like being inside a beautiful jewelry box. From the wall colors, to her supplies, store and examples of previous projects. Everything, had it's place and was meticulously displayed. I don't know how she leaves that oasis. It is truly a dream studio and store. I am so proud of her, she has accomplished so much, in such a short time. Cyndi is a true testament to the ol saying, "Good things happen to good people".

After a short tour, we headed to a local Mexican restaurant for some cold cervesa and dinner.
Because I was so excited, I had trouble sleeping and I don't think I passed out till around 2:30 am! No worries, I woke up with ease and was ready to celebrate Frida Kahlo's birthday at my first class.

Everyone came ready to party and create their own lil Frida Kahlo doll. Here are some photos of my beautiful students in action.

(pics ganked from Cyndi Garcia. Don't you just love the net?)


The above hot chica is Cyndi Garcia. Rarwwww.


How fab are these dolls? I am telling you, my Fridas really kicked some booty with their doll making skills!


Close up.


Fridas con Chulas



Oh, this was such a fun class! Not only were we creating, but we were partying in the process. Cyndi hooked it up with a big ol spread of yummy treats and we also purchased an amazing Tres Leches cake in Frida's honor. I still look back at this class and feel so blessed.

Again, special thanks to Cyndi for believing in me and inviting me to teach this class. I look forward to teaching again. Cyndi keeps an amazing ongoing calendar of classes, so be sure to check out her website often. She has teachers from all over the country lined up to share their wisdom.

After class was over, Cyndi and I headed out for a quick bite, before settling in her Casa for some relaxing and maybe even another beer. lol.

But wait, there is more. I actually got to bed a little early, because on Sunday I had another class awaiting me. Cyndi graciously drove me to Pomona, so that I could teach my Mixed Media Collage Fresco Tile class. Another amazing Chica that I have known online for quite sometime, and who I actually got to meet in person earlier at the Crafty Chica Cruise had invited me to teach at her most sacred Store and Workshop. None other than the adorable, Annette Armas of CJ's Angels.

This would be the first time I taught this class, so I was pretty nervous. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to translate the steps in a way that would keep the students inspired. Fortunately, I had my angels with me, and right from the gate, all my beautiful students jumped right in and blew me away.

Since pictures speak a thousand words, let me just share with you all the wonderful creations.
Because there is so much to share, I am creating a slide show for you. You will see all my beautiful students, their creations and lots of imagry of all the fine merchandise that CJ's Angel's carry. If you are a mixed media artist, this place is a bonanza of ephemera and shrine making supplies!




Annette and Jose, thank you so much for arranging the time for this class. I truly appreciate your support. You have a beautiful thing going, and I am so proud to call the both of you my friend. Also, shot out to your amazing and talented daughter, Theresa.

To my students, it was a sincere pleasure meeting you all and I hope you all had just as much fun as I had. Your talent not only blew me away, but inspired me even more.

Again, to Cyndi and her beautiful family, thank you so much for the beautiful hospitality. (and the yummy cafecito) You guys are always welcomed at Casa Manzo. Special shot out to Tyler, thank you for letting me stay in your room. I am sure there are so many other young chicas who wished they were in my place. :D

Saludos to all of you,

Yoli

Happy Birthday Frida Kahlo: Frida Art Doll Class Details

Wow, where is the time going? My goodness, it has been almost two weeks since I last blogged. I swear, I felt like I just blogged a couple of days ago.

No worries, it has been all good around here at Casa Manzo. My day job (Real Estate) has been off the hook these past couple of weeks. Dominating all my time. In between work, I celebrated my regulator's birthday in San Francisco. If you get a chance do check out "The Slanted Door" at the Ferry building. Awesome food, drink and scenery. Awwww Good times.

I also attended Gay Pride a two weeks ago with a group of friends. It was my first time in attendance, and let me tell you, the people watching was off the hook! I also got to snap some pics of Cloris Leachman and Ongina!

Last weekend, was my niece's graduation party. Not only was she top 10 in her high school, but she got accepted at Harvard! WOW! I am so happy and proud of her. She is a beautiful soul.

Ok, enough about my daily activities.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRIDA KAHLO!

Oh how your spirit moves me. I remember back in the 70's when I went to my first Frida Kahlo exhibit. I didn't know you, but was a big fan of your husband. Wow, did that change up in an instant. Your determination, humor and passion and pride has captured all of us. I so wish I could have hung out with you to shoot the chit about your homies.

In your honor, I am hosting a class at the Santa Clarita Craft Lab with Cyndi Garcia.
We will be painting fabric dolls of your likeness. We will also be embellishing and making your signature dresses.



All supplies will be included. Artistas are welcomed to bring their favorite fabrics and embellishments. Cyndi will also have specialty embellshiments available for sale.

Not only are we making dolls, but we will also be having a birthday party in your honor. We will have cake, goodies and all the artistas are asked to dress or wear their makeup and or hair in your honor.

There will be a drawing for a prize for all the Frida's who show up.

Here is a pic of me and my brother in law a couple of years ago.
Frida Kahlo con her homie, Nach Libre. Y-Que!



The class is this Saturday, July 11th. cost is 35.00 per person. Seating is limited and I believe she already has the class half full!

Contact Cyndi at the Santa Clarita Craft Lab for more details! (click on link for contact number and class time)

The next day I will be teaching a mixed media class at CJ's Angels. I'll post the details in a separate blog.

You can also see more class info. on the right of my blogspot.

Oh, I so can't wait. I am going to get to meet a lot of my online homecheezes!

Orale and Viva Frida Por Vida!