Finding the Balance

Happy 2010 to you all! Here's a little snapshot of me & Bunches on New Years Eve to start things off
I've been really busy these past few weeks. Which is always good, but i tend to start feeling very 'spun out'. Seems i have a hard time finding the balance, and i start to get overwhelmed. It's a very tough job trying to be a full time Mom and then some kind of full time artist in there as well. A lot of the time, i end up with a sense of being too divided, and not feeling like i really get to focus my attention on one or the other. That's one of the things i need to work on in 2010, finding the balance for myself. Here's a sketch for a personal piece I'm starting on. "Ask Alice", i think i want to go a little bigger with this one than i usually do. i'm pretty excited about going to paint on her.
Here's a crop from a commission piece i did for Marisa Kestel. Oddly enough, Marisa and her hubby Scott are the owners of Brand MOJO interiors, whom i purchased my incredible refinished factory cart from! Visit they're store! The work is incredible, the attention to detail amazing.

Doing a fun series of gals for another client ... i'll let you know more on this one when i can :)

Two weeks ago brought an onslaught of sleepless nights for Bodie Bear, and, subsiquently, me. First he ended up with this incredible fever that went on for days... by day three the fever broke and he ended up with a rash all over his body. Turns out, he had Roseola. Once the rash subsided he got double ear infections... and followed it all up with a urinary infection.
The first night of peaceful sleep for him brought nightmares for Dylan. So after a week and a half of not sleeping, i decided to escape for the evening. Michael was wonderful about watching the boys and letting me retreat to the camp with Sloan & Joseph for a bit of R&R. Here's a little picture of Sloan and I at our fireside chat :) I felt so centered after that. Just to leave the house by myself... pretty amazing.

Last week brought a full week of storms through SoCal. Wild weather, tornados, flooding... and here in Yucaipa, we were treated to snow at the end of it all.

Dylan and I walked around the neighborhood in the snow, but i couldn't get Bodie to join us.


It snowed off and on all day... into the night as well. We even made a little snowman. It was a magical day in many ways...

and a heartbreaking day in others...
My dear cousin Todd and his wife Lisa lost their 9 month old son Jagger on Friday, the 22nd. These things should never happen. A friend of mine shared a quote with me that says, "the death of a child is so wrong that even the angels weep."
RIP Baby Jagger, you touched so many lives in your short time here....

The end of the year blog...

Oh it's been ages since i've gotten on here and blogged. there's a resolution for 2010... more blogging. Doing a few commission pieces on the art front, and i just did this one for my awesome conductor friend Manuel Aybar. Manuel & I went to jr high and high school together. We recently hooked up on facebook and i got the chance to work with him on this project.I'm so proud of Manuel, he just got a gig to go and conduct in China this next year. WTG sir!!!

For a group show at Distinction Gallery in Escondido, CA
For a group show at MModern Gallery in Palm Springs, CA...
Actually these past couple of months for me have been about spending good time with my friends. It's been a long while since i've had this much interaction with everyone... and i must say, you all helped end 2009 on one very sweet note. Here are a few pics from this year's Fall Retreat. Hopefully not the last, but bittersweet... it's the last one we will be having at Camp. Due to budget cuts they're shutting down Camp Wrightwood. booo...hissss....
Me & Sloan enjoy the red, red wiiiiinnnnnnee....

The boys had a table-full of hilarity...

and, just like a dream, it snowed on fall retreat night. not enough to be a problem, but enough to make it magical.
Made a lot of cookies this year with the boys.... another resolution... take off the 8 pounds i packed on over the holidays. another booo... hisssss....

Also, thanks to the internet and facebook, it is unreal how many old friends have come back into my life. amazing really. Here's my old pal Mike Ehlers from the camp counseling days at Arbolado. He and his wife Melina came through for a visit. i hadn't seen him since i was 19.

Me, Sloan and Phil Beebe. We went to Jr. High and high school together. Had no contact with him since graduating... another lovely internet connection. i like Phil's stoosh.

And here's Sloan, James & I on WAFFLE DAY. The funny thing about this one is that none of us ever talked in jr high or high school. It's a long story... I stalked James at age 14. Thanks to good ol' facebook though, I'm finally getting the chance to know him.

The beautiful Christmas tree. I love flocked trees...

The Carrillo Christmas card for 2009. Dylan did the snowman painting on the left, i did the snowgirl trying to be thin on the right.
Christmas Eve was a great time. We had all kinds of friends and family over. Here's Mom and Bodie...

James with the drink tag Sloan picked out for him...

And the sweetest little boys around :) Christmas was very good to all of us this year!

I think i'll end the 2009 blogging on this note :)

Get 'er done

It's time to start cranking on work for upcoming shows. I'm such a procrastinator... but not on purpose, the days just seem to melt into each other and then suddenly i'm staring a due date right in the eyes. But here's something that made my life. Years and years ago i was perusing an old copy of Country Home (i love that mag) and saw a picture of this old factory cart that someone was using as a coffee table. I immediately vowed to have one of my own someday. Well, fast forward several years, and recently i bid on several on Ebay and kept getting outbid at the last minute, and by the way if you're one of those people... you suck... so decided if i could find the chance to "buy now" i would. Well whaddaya know, i found the most beautiful specimen of the factory cart ever!!!! Here's my baby. Pre-1900 even. Love.


And here's a little synopsis of my painting steps. This was for an upcoming art benefit auction in December. It's based on the movies that inspired us as kids. Of course, i had to go with the Muppet Movie. That was my first drive-in flick and i LOVED it!!! Anyway, first i prime the board, then i size the sketch in photoshop, and then transfer the drawing onto the wood, not unlike the tattoo process.

Lay out my palette. I don't know how many pics i have of my newly layed out paints. I love it.
Hi Darla in background giving me the stink-eye.

then i just go for it, usually staring with filling in the biggest bits first.

and then onto the smaller bits. No real magic involved... just me... paintin'.


Finish up with a little aging and viola! I'm done.
thanks for peekin'!

Man, what a busy week!

So the OC Weekly issue came out on October 8th. On the 10th we were invited to go party in Laguna to celebrate the Best Of issue. I guess every year there's a big bash centered around this very issue. This was the first time i got to see it all in print. Very fun, especially the burlesque dancers & free beer! Also cool to overhear people talking about how great the cover looked. Made me happy :)
Mom & Dad showed up to support their daughter. Thanks you two!

And Bunches, enjoying the night and looking tres chic in his new glasses.

As an added bonus, my bestie Sloan surprised me by making it out! Had so much fun that night, thank you all!
My good ol' friend Jeffrey Newcomer popped in this past week. We put down quite a bit of wine and ended up dismantling the TV. whoopsie. Seemed like such a good idea at the time. Anyway, Jeff, great to hang with you... and anybody who needs shirts made, or embroidery, see him and the lovely Sarah at Embroid Me Northrigde!

This was an unexpected gift this past week. Somebody in the neighborhood BOO'd us, and left this bucket of goodies on our doorstep. I love shit like this!

..and obviously, it was a wonderfully fun surprise for the boys!

Also, this past week was the annual visit to the pumpkin patch...

Then onto Disneyland with the Soto's. Just me & Dylan on this trip. Had a great day with my boy!
And this is fun... I'd always heard about Walt's wife Lillian's favorite horse on the carousel Doubloon, and that he sports a gold tooth. I'd never found it, and am always on the hunt. Anyway, I'd just finished telling Jeff Soto this very story when blammo.... he finds the horse!
cool.
Also this week I took the boys up to Camp Wrightwood where Sloanie works. Sister Heather was here for a visit with her three boys, so we made it a Girl-Day-surrounded-by-Little-Boys day. What fun having the run of the place with 5 little boys to chase!


The leaves on this maple tree glowed. It was just too beautiful for words!

And also this week, we went to a pirate party put on by our friends the Racine's! I cannot even describe how awesome all the decorations were for this party! Thanks guys. Here's Michael munchin'

and some good ol' pirate chests! Craziness.

Here's a small illustration I did in the midst of all of the hoopla...
whew... i'm beat from this week!