ENLIGHTENMENT OF THE HEART AND HOW THE 2026 HAS STARTED

 Hello everyone!

Happy Sunday 2026!...is this my first post of 2026? 

Anyways...

2026 it feels for me like the official beginning of the start, like if I were in a race and I have just started to get up to run, that would be in a rough sketch, but in the spiritual, from the side of my soul that I know the best, I know this is just part of the next step, the one that follows to my quotation of each year "I am doing a ph degree and honors cause this year" Yes, every past year that was my saying for the struggle, but now it feels like the year of the reward, even when I know another lesson is waiting for me and I am ready to learn with love and patience...and many elements more just like I did past years.

My reward this year is LOVE, isn't that beautiful? one of the most desirable dreams ever a human can wish for. Funny thing is to think how precisely this was the starting point and where everything ends and the same time, just how has to be.

It was as if my master's degree had been awarded.

That's why my painting ENLIGHTENMENT OF THE HEART was born.

So the first thing we see is this figure resting with closed eyes, immersed in a field of sunflowers that merge with her hair and body, blurring the line between human and nature. Golden petals and textured brushstrokes surround her like rays of light, symbolizing joy, love, and spiritual awakening. The face rising the sun, receiving warmth, surrendering to illumination, embodying a heart fully open.

Enlightenment of the Heart was born from the feeling that true happiness brings into my life

—a sudden inner light, like warm rays of sunlight touching the heart. It feels like a hug that holds me tightly with care, and at the same time allows me to expand, to open, and to grow.

This piece is a self-portrait, my first of 2026, inspired by a selfie I took earlier this year.

From there, I began to intuitively explore the background through layered double exposures, weaving in sunflowers until the composition revealed itself. The painting reflects the joy that nature awakens in us, the ecstasy of an open heart in love, and the quiet warmth of being illuminated from within.

The process unfolded through synchronicity. I created this painting in Arkansas, where the person who inspired it lives, and in what will become my future studio. In that sense, the work also speaks of new beginnings—a heart opening once again to level and receiving love.

Near the completion of the piece, an unexpected snowstorm arrived. Moments like this remind me how often my paintings speak back to me, revealing connections I didn't plan but somehow always feel.

Everything is connected.

The sunflowers hold a deeply personal meaning-they were the first flowers I received from the man I love, given at Thanksgiving on a snowy day. They now symbolize for me the warmth in the middle of winter, light in cold moments. No matter the season, he is my sunshine and he makes me feel like a flower enjoying his warmth.

In other note, I'm moving to another studio in Arkansas, and this is where I made my painting, it could not have been more perfect for the subject and to start 2026. I can't wait to see all the amazing things 2026 has prepared and also my new art from a new womb where all will gestate in love.

TO BUY ENLIGHTENMENT OF THE HEART click HERE

Another thing that I want to share because I love pottery, is the hand painted plate I did for my love, I wanted a black and white design kind of tribal, so here how it turned out.

YOU WANT THE LABUBUS BUT I WANT THE FLOWERS, MY LAST PAINTING FROM 2025!

 Hello everybody! Happy 2026!

Has been a long time since my last post but I am here to keep you all updated.

A lot of things has happened with my life and I could not be more happy. I feel like I don't know how to start and how to share all the things I want, so I will keep it easy.

For starters THE ART....of love!

😂 

Ok, getting serious now, I have finished the last day of December 2025 a painting called "You want the labubus but I want the flowers"

This is the painting of the Labubus with flowers.

One day I was sitting in the living room with my daughter and she wanted the labubus, we spent a few nights trying to collect them from the official online store but they were sold out in seconds and we never got one even after a few nights trying.

Months later I saw they can be found on Amazon 😂 but also we visited the official store in Chicago and they were sold out, the only way you could have own one was by subscribing the waiting list.

Isn't crazy for a toy? The trend has been so popular during 2025.

Anyway, I told my daughter “You want the labubus but I want the flowers” ​​and this is how I got the idea about painting labubus and flowers.

The painting is 36x36” on unstretched canvas, it has also pressed flowers.

Painted with acrylics.

To buy this piece please contact prietova.mx@gmail.com

November was an amazing month, the sun was brighter than ever and my heart could not be more happy, I have enjoyed the last days of the year and I feel so in love and inspired.

I had also a lot of work, for which Im so grateful with all the people who supported my art and my creations these last months. 

I was painting also natural leaves with Frankenstein theme. THANK YOU to all the people who has bought the originals and the prints!

You can get prints of Elizabeth and the Cretaure HERE 

To conclude the year I sold the painting "In search of a path" from 2023. Thank you so much for buying!

Here a video where you can see me paint the labubus

WITHOUT LIGHT NOTHING FLOWERS, A FLORAL POP ART PAINTING & RUNNING WITH THE WOLVES EXHIBITION IN

 HELLO EVERYONE!

Welcome to another blog post, and this time I want to share all about my newest painting "WITHOUT LIGHT NOTHING FLOWERS" and some highlights about the second biannual exhibit in Angad Arts hotel.

But let's start by the beginning...

I had a canvas waiting for me and I really was into the pressed flowers...still I am. So I did a portrait where I wanted to experiment with textures, colors and flowers, and the result was so different than I expected.

New season and new painting, I was experimenting with chunky textures made with marble dust. 🌻 🎨 I have enjoyed the last sun rays of summer, collected colorful leaves during walks . Nature is one of my main inspiration.

Continuing with the pressed flowers I have bought a sunflower, rose, gerberas and daisy cushion pompons. 🌻 🌹 🌸💐

I went to the botanical garden to catch the last flowers before everything gets dry.

I liked the white background but from minimalism I went to maximalism at the end, turning into a Pop art wrok.

Are you ready for winter? ❄️ I do.

ABOUT THIS PAINTING:

This artwork is a vibrant and I like it is also emotionally uplifting

This is a mixed-media portrait of a woman surrounded by blooming life and radiant color. Her eyes are closed, giving her a serene, meditative presence. A crown of real pressed flowers sits atop her head, daisies, gerberas, and soft blue blooms, symbolizing connection to nature, memory, and transformation.

I wanted to add a brilliant big sunflower shining from the center of her chest, its petals expanding outward like warm, glowing energy, as the inner light, awakening, and healing.

The background was so fun to do, it was dynamic, kind of urban, abstract, and spontaneous. I did some drips, splatters, and patterns to create a lively pop-art feel, contrasted by butterflies fluttering around her, hinting at freedom and rebirth.

The handwritten quote on the right reads:

“Without darkness nothing comes to birth, without light nothing flowers.”

It ties the entire composition together, reminding us of duality: shadow and illumination, struggle and growth.

My painting celebrates resilience, intuition, color, and self-blooming.

Despite the transition into winter, I still feel drawn to vibrant colors and flowers. I wanted to create a floral portrait using some of the pressed flowers I've collected over time

The background evolved very differently from my original sketch. I let intuition guide the process, improvising as I went. I loved revisiting old patterns and blending them with a pop-art energy. This piece became a mix of spontaneity, color, and growth—much like the season of change it was created in.

This painting it's available HERE

My painting "Running with the Wolves" was selected to be part of the biannual exhibition at the Angad Arts Hotel, the most artistic hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. My piece will be there until April.

To learn more about this painting, you can visit the link HERE.

I'm sharing some photos I took of the autumn leaves.

To see how I did "WITHOUT LIGHT NOTHING FLOWERS" from beginning to end, watch here.

Wishing you all a happy life,

Valeria