THE GUARDIAN OF THE RED GARDEN, MY NEWEST PAINTING!

 HELLO FRIENDS!

Happy May, one of the most beautiful months of the year because there is so much green, flowers, colors and nice weather! Finally.

Im very happy because I have finished my painting of the wolf and it turned beautiful, so I want to talk about this.

From my work during April 2025.

"Guardian of the red garden"

Acrylic and oil on cotton canvas 24x30”

Signed and certified.

Since November 2024 I have been very close to wolves and this affinity led me to create some sketches to paint. In the end, I selected two for this year, so I started with the simplest one, which is the one you see here. At first, I saw it more as a study, but as I painted, it became more than that.

This is one of my reddest paintings! The ones that come to mind right now are Start Over, an abstract piece, and Red Horse, this horse, also in a figurative abstract style.

For my paintings and sketches, I've been inspired by several things. One of them is Aurora's song "running with the Wolves". For this piece in particular, I was inspired by isolation and that sense of protecting my space. From a passive perspective, like this wolf, but also wild inside.

That's how I see it., as a majestic white wolf, it's fur soft and detailed with flowing brushstrokes of white, grey, and hints of soft pastels. He’s Protecting his red peonies, which add passion to this atmosphere. And if you look closely, the wolf has red marks on his face, adding a little more drama and leaving it to your imagination to figure out what it is.

Is it blood for protecting his garden? The Blood of him or from the intruder?

The wolf's golden, slightly mysterious eye looks calmly into the distance, giving the creature an air of wisdom and quiet strength despite its wildness.

Surrounding the wolf is a lush, vivid explosion of peonies — rich reds, deep oranges, warm yellows, and soft creams — creating a beautiful, almost dreamlike contrast against the wolf’s pale coat. The background feels alive with movement, as if the flowers are both blooming and swirling around the wolf in a protective embrace.

I think the entire piece feels both wild and tender, balancing the quiet and untamed spirit of the wolf with the lush beauty of nature. The color palette is warm and rich, yet the white wolf stands out as a pure, almost mythical figure. It's a magical, soulful painting that feels full of story and emotion.

BUY HERE

This week was full of food! Im a vegetarian foodie so here I share one Nepalese restaurants from St. Louis that I like.

It's called Everest Cafe & Bar it's the only restaurant in Saint Louis that serves Nepalese, Korean, and Indian cuisine. Dr. States is from Nepal, and his wife, Maya Gurung, is from South Korea.

And near the restaurant I saw a very colorful mural!

Also I have been working with my botanical products but I want to show you the earrings that I did with Azalea flowers from my neighbor's house. His son requested me to create some earrings for his wife and this is how they turned out and you can see the Azaleas on the background from where I took them.

I sold a painting in Australia, This is a painting that I did as a Frida Khalo's tudy during a workshop

TO READ:  I am still reading "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" so here what I liked:
-"The dancer in fact has his ear on his toes"
-"Noise kills thoughts"
-"He who loved him the most and possessed him the most is he who has now lost him the most"
TO EAT:  I did lemon scones for the first time and they were delicious! you can follow my recipe HERE
TO WATCH: I did  video about my painting The guardian of the red garden and you can see how I painted from beginning to end HERE

NEW SKETCH OF A WOLF AND TRYING NEW THINGS.

 Hello friends!

The week has gone by super fast, I feel like I did a lot of things in a short time, so I'm going to share with you a little bit of all the things I've done, from sketches to food and bit of what I've been doing. So it's a little bit of everything from This Artist's Life.

Starting in not a chronological order, I want to tell you that I have started a new sketch and it is a wolf and this painting is going to be more monochromatic, it will not have many colors but the palette will be based on red colors.

Since last year I was listening to Aurora and I discovered her song "Running with the Wolves" I thought it was a very big source of inspiration So I started to do some sketches about wolves and in fact I have a special sketch that I love and this sketch I will going to turn into a large format painting but at the moment I don't have the canvas available So I'm going to start with a painting of this wolf that is smaller.

So far this week I did the sketch with graphite and the wash with markers, I cant wait to start with acrylics and oils.

I have started Zumba classes because I love to dance. I am very bad at exercising in a gym. I prefer to dance because I love music, although sometimes they play songs that I don't like, but I have enjoyed it a lot. Above all, doing this type of exercise with my daughter is an activity that I like because we create a bond.

At first my daughter didn't want to take Zumba classes and here you can see it in this first photo but after I convinced her to take the first class she is super happy and now she accompanies me to dance which is great.

On Sunday I decided to paint a pair of shoes because I had two identical pairs in brown. So I wanted to paint a pair in blue. There is a blue color that I love called Blue Bonet, which is from the Plaid brand from which I am ambassador.

The truth is I wasn't sure if I was going to ruin the shoes because I had never painted shoes before but the paint turned out incredibly great on this surface. Plaid has a lot paints to use on different surfaces and well, the paint turned out perfect. Plus I applied a Mod Podge sealer which is also from Plaid and with this it looked incredible. I wanted to put some wings on it and this came to me at the last minute because I wanted to put a decoration on the ankles. I think it was the perfect way to include some white wings because here this to me represents the wings of Mercury and Hermes who are this messenger Gods.

In the end I added some glitter, which is also a Plaid brand, but I wasn't sure if I should put it on all the shoes, so I just left them on the wings part.

My tulips are already in their final phase, they are drying so I have really enjoyed spending time in the sun in my garden and above all I love seeing my super green grass full of these beautiful purple flowers and also there are some dandelions and I love this combination of purple, yellow and green colors and it always reminds me of this feeling of welcoming spring also I took some pictures with my gnomes I always do this every year and well I bought my first gnome when I lived in my beloved Des Moines in Iowa in 2015 which is the biggest gnome that you can see here in the picture is called Gerome.

TO QUOTE: I am still reading "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" so here what I liked:

-"Oh, its silence that surrounded me. Oh pure smell around me. Oh how this silence breathes pure air from the depths of the chest. Oh how this blissful silence listens".

-"Happy are my noses that breathe again the freedom of the mountain, my nose has finally been redeemed from the smell of all human nature".

-"This parasite did not want to love but rather to live off of love.".

TO EAT: I made flour tortillas for the first time and I really wanted a homemade flour tortilla. I remember my mom used to make me tortillas. So I decided make some. They are delicious. I made a vegan version, so instead of lard, I used a vegan coconut-based butter and the truth is that they turned out incredible, I dare to say they taste the same as the ones my mom used to make when I was little. You can follow my recipe in my blog about food, HERE

Also I tried the Dark chocolate with almonds and orange, this is a 60% cacao and it's very good, I loved the design, this chocolate comes from Switzerland and is the brand Bettergoods, the gourmet new brand from Walmart...delicious!

Happy weekend!

PAINTING ELVES AFTER FINISHED THE SERIES MANIFEST.

 Hello everyone!

I have been enjoying a relaxing week but also taking care of my creativity. After the Terranaut I had a short brake to watch Manifest and to do a paint study.

But let's break it into parts...

About Manifest...

I think I never had seen TV for so many hours! I watched 62 episodes (the whole series) in less than 7 days for 2 reasons: I was so immersed to the story and because my streaming service was ready to expire. 😂 

I loved the story, it's about impossible things, time travel, chances to change the future, solving problems through clues and all of this thanks to very different and complex characters but my favorite was the one who cries the most: Zeke and his big heart played by Matt Long, his story was my favorite. ❤️ 

After feeling like part of the show due several hours attached mentally plus how as a HSP this of course affects me, I'm glad also I had the time for creating and work a portrait.

Sometimes when I finish a big project like was Terranauta, I like to keep creating but maybe in a less compromised or planed way, I think it's more to keep me fresh artistically and creatively.

I have many bucket list ideas to paint but what I took randomly first was a male portrait, I don't do many male figures but I enjoy them too.

So I started a sketch on linen paper and I was pleased with it, then I thought to turn him into an Elf to give him a specific personality.

Then I started with oils and I wanted a classical style as I always have been in love with classic, romantic - Pre-Raphaelite styles, but I was not very sure about the result.

At the beginning was ok, but it was turning very different from what I had visualized, and I just remembered how different it's to work with oils where a very small dot can change everything specially if you work all at once instead by dry layers. I think the struggle was to paint when I did't wanted and with very bad light, plus I had a lot of pain on my hand.

 Why I painted if I didn’t wanted? well, because my daughter wanted to paint and she never wants to paint with me so I had to take the chance while she was starting a Timothée Chalamet.

Valentina's Timotheè painting in progress

I was not pleased with my Elf and I was not sure if I wanted to start another one as he was almost ready...how to throw away something that has already some life? Im pro art 😂 .

I was kind of lazy to start again all over, but my nonconformity was bigger so I decided to start a second one and keep this one too till finish.

Here the second one:

It looks more like I imagined with more warm colors and more blended details instead vivid brushstrokes, but in some way I like also very much the first one, the expressions are more vivid, he looks with a more raw feeling...I know it sound weird but I can't explain. Seems like According to this post I like the ones with a hard life uh? 😂 

In the end, I love them both and they are special, each in their own way, and now the background...

I wanted something simple but with a soft and dreamy atmosphere for the backgrounds. 

I have added golden frames as part of them and I really loved the vintage design.

FIRST ELF: Here the first elf you can see the colors and more details from the face. He has a neoclassical look but with more expressive brushstrokes.

The slightly furrowed brow, parted lips, and the distant, reflective eyes suggest he's grappling with some inner struggle or longing. This emotional nuance reminds the ability to convey psychological tension through subtle facial details (more than my second elf even when they are inspired in the same model). I wanted to turn his upper lip with more volume as I have been contemplating sculptures, and he reminds me in some way to a sculpture.

SECOND ELF: He has also the neoclassical and Pre-Raphaelite look with warmer colors, carefully blended, he looks more refined and soft, the eyes are smaller but also expressive like asking for something. 

Both elves are depicted recalls the Renaissance or Neoclassical portrait style in terms of lighting, composition, and expression. The elves looks complete with the golden laurel and robe-like garment bridges fantasy with classical mythology. Both appears noble, almost divine, yet humanly uncertain, which deepens the narrative. I see both like victorious as the bay leaves from the wreath represents victory.

Both figures are calm, evoking a sense of divinity and introspection, much like the saints or mythological figures painted by Raphael or Ingres and I love that. The golden laurel crown and draped garment further support this classical feel.

 • Romantic Sky and Mood: The softly blended, expressive sky with hues of blue, pink, and gray adds emotional depth. It evokes the Romantic era's fascination with mood and nature, this time with pastels where the environment mirrors the inner world of the subject.

 • Subtle Fantasy Element: While the composition and technique are grounded in academic tradition (this was my goal), the elves pointed ears and ethereal expressions lend a quiet fantastical quality—it’s not overtly magical, but it feels otherworldly and not just a simple portrait.

 • Painterly Brushwork: Especially in the sky and clothing, retain a loose, textured quality that balances realism with expressive freedom, more notorious in the first one. That gives it a slight Impressionist edge in the background, while the face remains smooth and highly rendered for the second one.

I just love Romantic classicism and subtle fantasy portraiture. The elves appears noble, perhaps touched by destiny, caught in a moment of awe or foreboding—a timeless characters placed between myth, magic and memory.

The Elves "Granted victory for an Elf" are available on my ETSY  sold separately.

TO QUOTE: I am still reading "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" so here what I liked:

-Oh heaven above me, your pure, deep abyss of light! When I contemplate you, I tremble with divine desires.

-Throw me to your heights, that is my depth! Shelter me in your purity, that is my innocence!

-Together we learned everything, together we learned to rise above ourselves and to smile clearly.-\

-There is little male here, that is why their women are masculinized, because only he who is sufficiently male will redeem women.

-For them, virtue is what makes one modest and meek; in this way they have made the wolf a dog and man himself the best domestic animal for man.

-Always love your neighbors, but please be those who love themselves first.

TO LISTEN: "One Day" by The Verve, I always loved this band since I was teenager, the sounds and the lyrics are beautiful, Richard Ashcroft the singer and composer writes very beautiful songs, but this week I was listening repeatedly this one.