Today I want to tell you about my new painting, it's my newest painting and I finally finished it, it's called Venom and Velvet.
This oil painting is a rich and evocative composition that merges classical still life with a touch of the mystical. At its center is a lush bouquet of blooming peonies and camellias in soft shades of pink, white, and crimson, their petals rendered with textured, expressive brushwork and a sense of full ripeness.
I love peonies and I had the inspiration by the peonies that I have seen in my garden and my visit to the Missouri Botanical Gardens.
What makes this piece especially striking is the shimmering black-and-silver blue snake coiled as a vase, partially hidden among the flowers. Its textured scales catch the light in a way that makes it appear alive almost—a symbol of both protection and danger, echoing themes of transformation, temptation, or hidden knowledge.
When I stared at the painting I wrote on the canvas background “A snake shed its skin to grow, so you must let go to rise.”
The dark, subdued background throws the flowers and serpent into vivid relief, creating a dramatic contrast that heightens the surreal, almost mythological quality of the image. The fallen blossoms on the table suggest a passage of time or a quiet aftermath, inviting the viewer to linger and contemplate and let go.
Overall, it's a beautifully balanced painting—sensual, symbolic, and arresting—blending nature's beauty with a whisper of threat or mystery.
This painting is 24x30”, cotton canvas signed in from, includes certificate of authenticity. and you can get it HERE
Here you can see my painting in different daylights indoors and outdoors and how the colors and background change depending on the light.
Although snakes are not my favorite animals, it was a painting that I really enjoyed doing and painting the scales was very relaxing and I liked the combination of colors and the brushstrokes. I feel very happy with this Still Life.
In other news...These last 7 days I have been sunbathing and watching the clouds and I happened to see some super pretty clouds. My attention was caught by a rather large cloud in a blue tone. It looks like a sphere. It had a spherical shape camouflaged among more clouds and other clouds that I managed to take over the sun that had the flashes of the rainbow.
Curiously, it was very synchronized since I was working with a printed canvas that someone requested of the Terranauta. So it was all very celestial and related to space. Here I leave an image of the printed canvas 16x20" that went to Texas.
You can get the original HERE, for prints you can contact me.
During the week I have been reflecting a lot about my kitty and I want to share with you what happened.
On Sunday, Pibi wandered out of the house because the door was left open. She was probably out for an hour, a time we weren't home.
Pibi isn't a street cat; we only let her out into the yard a couple of times, so it was frustrating to think she wasn't familiar with the outdoors, wandering among cars, animals, and the cat-hunting owls and falcons.
I walked and searched for her for over an hour, constantly repeating her name. I made my decrees, talked to some cats I saw to "intercept Pibi so she could return home" and I was worried that the tornado would start in the afternoon.
After being unsuccessful in my search, I returned home and put her food dish and toys in the yard, following a neighbor's recommendation.
What I want to share is how I felt and how I processed it.
The first thing I felt was angry because they didn't close the door, but I never showed my anger verbally, only by pacing quickly and desperately. But what caught my attention, and what I didn't expect to happen, was that I felt an enormous detachment.
My kitty has been the best; I love her. She's my companion almost every day, almost every hour. She's my teacher.
While all this was happening, I felt ready to let her go. I thought about her more than myself. I thought maybe our learning cycle was over, her mission with me and my family had concluded. I hoped she was okay, that someone would find her and take care of her or report her with the chip so I could return her home. I felt ready for any scenario. However, as I write this, I don't know if a part of me would have been devastated as the days passed with my kitty. Because when I took care of a bird for two days in 2019 and it died, I cried so much for a whole week.
But with Pibi? She got lost, and I felt ready. I've been working on detachment for a couple of years now, in ways that might sound surprising because they would see me as heartless. Not only in losing a pet, but also one of my women (mother, daughter, sisters), a home, an identity, and even my life. Well, everything we are given in this life, EXCEPT the essence and connection with God, with the source. For me, that is the key to BEING, where nothing matters and where everything begins again because it is a personal process.
Five minutes after I left Pibi's food and toys in the yard, SHE CAME BACK! And one of the thousands of sparks I had already given with love returned to my soul.
Practicing detachment is hard; becoming aware of it is an individual lesson.
I am very happy that my kitty returned home and grateful for EVERYTHING because it was yet another lesson. As a highly sensitive person, it's difficult because I'm super emotional, but I'm still learning that maybe detachment is the perfect balance between mind and heart.
TO WATCH: I did a video about my painting Venom and Velvet where I talk about it and you can watch me paint from beginning to end.
TO TRY:I'm back to meditation. Last year I started meditating almost every day, twice a day, when I woke up and before going to sleep, and I loved it. I connected in many ways. Incredible things happened to me. It was a great experience, but at the end of last year I stopped meditating, but now I've started again and I feel connected again, and I love it. I recommend to meditate, even if it's just 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at night, and preferably doing grounding. I like to listen hertz frequencies and face the sky.
Finally April and here has been full of showers, living un the midwest it's always tricky with the weather specially because tornadoes, Im not sure when is tornado season anymore as I remember the alerts happening not only in spring or summer but also autumn and winter, so I hope only for April showers for May flowers.
In a more artistic note and speaking of flowers, Im the happies one with my newest painting! I have finished the Terranaut and this painting name is "THE BLOOM OF A STAR-SEED".
It took me about 2 months, many hours of painting and many songs. Painting this was more easier than I thought but the flowers were challenging as many of them were not in my main design, my main design had the flowers out of focus and they were just like blurry images of colors. After I had to paint the bottom I changed my mind and I wanted vivid shapes, so I started to play organically without a solid composition but at the end everything ended perfect.
I will not upload old photos of my work in progress because you have seen al those already in previous post, so here only the sketch pictures and the new pictures, but I want to share what was my first idea and how it was conceived.
This was my first idea, I was to paint a portrait of myself, I made first my digital painting before putting it on the canvas, so I was to follow as it looks here:
But then I changed my mind and I thought "I know Im not the only one feeling out of this world" so I covered the face...and here I am with my final sketch ready as a projection to be traced on my cotton canvas, and you can see how the flowers were at the beginning.
I thought about the word TERRANAUT many years ago, as I was looking for a word for someone who are in this planet earth as a visitor. When someone goes to space, the word used is ASTRONAUT, because travels into astros (stars), so if we are here in earth as visitors then we are TERRA (earth, or land) NAUTA (voyagers) but theres is a much more deeper meaning about it:
About my painting
Terranaut is a vibrant, thought-provoking acrylic painting that merges the cosmic with the terrestrial, inviting viewers to reflect on humanity's role as inhabitants of Earth.
More than an astrounaut, this is a Terranaut, I gave it this name as I think many of us have come to this planet to sow and harvest but we are also the seed.
Surrounding the Terranaut is a lush, blooming garden of flowers in full splendor, with petals in vivid pinks, oranges, whites, and purples, representing the beauty and potential of human actions to nurture and heal the planet. The flowers, dripping with expressive paint strokes, seem to grow directly from the Terranauta, symbolizing how each of us, as “star seeds,” can cultivate a better world through our deeds.
We are here to bloom with our actions and by making the best of our lives bringing beauty to this world to make it better, it can be with our actions, our mission or purpose or just the most simple things like a smile or an action of kindness. This Terranaut, it's me and it's you.
On thr sleeeve it carries a flag with the symbol of the seed of life or the flower of life, and actually, this is the flag that represents Planet Earth. THIS IS US!
The background is a swirling cosmic expanse of deep blues, teals, and purples, dotted with stars and a glowing halo-like ring, evoking the mysteries of the universe. This celestial backdrop contrasts with the earthy warmth of the flowers, creating a dynamic interplay between the infinite possibilities of space and the grounded reality of life on Earth. The Terranaut’s helmet reflects a spectrum of iridescent colors—blues, greens, and pinks—adding a dreamlike quality that bridges the two realms.
The sleeve becomes water at the bottom where a white lotus rests.
This painting is very special to me, as I always have this feeling of not belonging and that there is much more beyond our understanding, but as I am here, I am the Terranaut sowing the seeds and enjoying the flowers that I keep growing to make this world better.
The mood of Terranaut is both hopeful and introspective, blending a sense of wonder at the vastness of the cosmos with an urgent call to action for humanity to bloom and thrive on our home planet. The style is a fusion of surrealism and expressionism, with bold, fluid brushstrokes and a vivid color palette that captures the eye and stirs the imagination.
Also I have prints available but only under request.
I did a video talking about this painting and where you can see how I've painted it from beginning to end, you can watch on my Youtube channel.
This week was full of rest after finish the painting but also a bit of stress with the massive tornadoes, I am so grateful for having a roof over my head, my heath and my family safe thanks to God and Gaia.
TO LISTEN:There were many songs that I was listening while I was doing this painting, it was kind of hard to choose the music for my video but at the end I ended with LET THERE BE LIGHT by Mike Oldfield which I love! but the version from Tubular beats (which I love too). Now that I think, WHAT A SYNCO! I listened this song almost when I was finishing my painting! and why a synco? well, if you listen the lyrics of the song you will discover it, PLUS! there is an extract spoken by Lunar Module Pilot Wiiliam Anders, from the Apollo 8 crew live television broadcast, made when the first manned mission to the moon entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 1968.
TO QUOTE: I am still reading "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" so here what I liked:
-"I am from today and from another time, but there is something of me that is from tomorrow and from the day after tomorrow and from what will be".
-"The greatest events are not our loudest moments but our quietest moments".
-"Punishment, in effect, is what revenge calls itself"
-"And you, wise and enlightened, would escape the ardor of the sun and wisdom in which the superman bathes his nakedness with pleasure".
-"Your fruits are ripe but you are not ripe for your fruits, so you have to return to solitude to become soft".
TO WATCH: Ok, Im guilty! I don't watch TV often but this time after finishing the painting, the tornado alerts, I just wanted to put my mind in pause, I have to confess that every time that I sit and try to find something on TV while I'm having something for lunch, I end scrolling all the shows and movies and my food gets cold because there is nothing that I fancy to watch, then I saw a promo of a show called MANIFESTand I stoped there but then I turned off the tv.
Days later I ended watching that show and now I can't stop watching! This show is about a grupo of passenger who landed 5 years later from their time, so this is a show about fantasy, many many many clues to follow and I think those are my ingredients to keep me there.
And now, another weekend to enjoy, stay creative!❤️
Hello! 👋 How was the moon eclipse my dear people?
Today I want to continue with the topics related to my painting Terranauta and the talks or events that were taking place this week about ASTROLOGY. They say that "Where you put your mind, you are there", well, for me it applies to putting the mind and the paint brush so that things synchronize.
But first here some pictures of the painting in process, I have the sky almost ready, at the beginning I was making several textures with small brush strokes but at the end I change it all into blends.
For those who don't know, among several of the things I do, I dedicate myself to illustratingAstral charts or also called Natal charts. Since I can remember, as a very young girl, I was always felt drawn to the planets, the zodiacs, psychology and history through this astronomical-astrological science. I loved the nights when my dad and I would lean on the car window to watch the stars while we put on face masks made of wet leaves from the lilac tree.
Last week I gave one of my astral charts to an artist with whom I have contact, I sell the charts, I do not offer them for free because I understand that the subject for many is ambiguous, unknown or simply does not interest them, or people can get confused about Astrology and Esotericism, well,...I am not a bad witch. However I dared to offer the chart as a gift because the personality of this artist is very unique and I was curious to know some of his characteristics from the astrological point of view, so it was kind of a study for me and a bonus gift for him with whom there is something that as in my town they would say: "it scares me but I like it" or "has a I don't know what, what do I don't know" sounds confusing in english, but in Spanish has all the idea. The things is, I find differences in personality, he may seem to me at first impression as a total egocentric and a brat, with airs of superiority, Mr, Perfect, Zatatustra's Superman (which by the way is what I am reading) and all those qualifiers that in turn makes an artist a genius and a figure until the grave, however we are connected by the passion to create, we respect our ideas, differences, we agree on many things and I admire his dedication to creativity, the way he defends his point of views, he works with passion and also he creates with his hands from scratch, for me that's so valuable, all this makes him magnetic in some way.
Anyway, the point is that while I was diving into the aspects between planets, houses, and zodiac signs, I realized how my work has been related in some way to space, the stars, and mysticism.
My Terranaut reminds me of the most earthly aspects, because he is not the being that left planet Earth to explore outer space, on the contrary, he is a being from another place that has come to explore the planet Earth, and not for the first time, but many times! She is familiar with it, however she feels alien and she knows it. (The Terranaut is female, it's me, but also can be you!)
I started to think about the zodiacal series of portraits I did where I read the beautiful Greek mythology about the zodiacs, that's right friends, many of the zodiac signs have roots in Greek mythology, where astronomers of that time observed the sky and created beautiful stories to explain what they saw.
Here are some examples of the legends associated with the signs of the zodiac and the portraits that I did.
Aries: The golden ram, sent by Queen Nephele to protect her children, and whose fleece was hung in a sacred grove consecrated to Mars. The symbol of Aries represents the animal's face and horns, while it's astrological colors, white and red could represent the white of wool and the red of the sacrifice.
Taurus: The Minotaur, fathered by the god Poseidon and Queen Parsiphae, who was imprisoned in a labyrinth and finally killed by the hero Theseus. In ancient Greece one myth tell us that Taurus was Zeus, who changed himself into the the white bull that leap into the sea with the Phoenician princess Europe on his back takin her to Crete. On their arrival, Zeus transformed himself back into a God and announced his love for Europe.
Jupite's exploits was commemorated on Earth by naming of a continent in her honor and placing Taurus in the sky among the stars.
Gemini: The twins Castor and Pollux, sons of Leda, one by Zeus and the other by a mortal, who were united in heaven by Zeus after Castor's death. Gemini also was known as The Great Twins, and the Asterism of heaven and earth, one of the most important asterism belonging to the realm of Anu, Anu as I have mentioned in my previous post was an ancient sky God who ruled the upper heavens and the twins guarded the entrance to the solsitce gate as it opened a pathway to the earth, their duty likely being to prevent evil from descending onto humanity.
Cancer: The Roman scholar Macrobius tell us that the Chaldeans created Cancer the Crab that scuttles backwards, the Sun stopped its daily March northwards along the eastern horizon at sunrise, then reversed it's direction after reaching the summer solstice. In ancient Greek, Cancer its a giant crab that Hera commanded to rise from the depths of the sea to help Hydra agains Hercules, the crab was just a distraction. For this portrait I painted the actress Angelique Boyer who now owns my illustration.
Leo: The Nemean lion, a terrible animal that Hercules had to kill to acquire his strength and virtues. The supernatural beast lived in a cave in the mountain valley of Nemea, where Hera had settled the lion after training it how to terrorize the people. Hercules defeated him with his bare hands. Ancient astrologers taught that the world was created when the Sun was in that sign
Virgo: This is my solar sign and I just loved the story and I totally identify as I am a pacifist and nature lover.
The goddess Astraea, daughter of Zeus and Themis, who ruled the earth in the Golden Age. For the Sumerian, she symbolized the Goddess of grains, barely fields. Virgo was also a Moon Goddess represented by a crescent moon over five stars constellation. Ancient Greek astronomers associate this constellation with Dike, the Goddess of justice. The tale tells Dike lived on Earth in the Golden Age of mankind, an era of great peace and prosperity. Humans lived as Gods, knowing neither work or war, but Zeus overthrowing his father Cronus, the less noble Silver Age began along with shortening spring and division of the year in seasons. Forced to labor for their food, humans grew quarrelsome and greedy and no longer honored their immortals.
Dike, was sickened by this, assembled the humans and chastised them, turning her back on the human race, Dike spread her wings and retreated to the mountains. Humans declined into the Bronze age, beset by disaster and war. Dike could no longer bear humanity's sins, so she left Earth for the sky, finding her place next to Libra, the scales, a symbol of justice.
Libra: The scales of Themis, the Greek goddess of justice and balance. Libra is the only sign that it's represented by an inanimate objet, in some versions of Libra's creation tales were linked to Virgo, in those scales she weighed the fate of mortals.
Scorpio: The scorpion that was sent by the god Hades to punish Orion. To the Babylonias, Scorpio symbolized darkness, and it was know as "the best of death", a creature that swallowed the sun bringing darkness to the world. In Greek lore, Scorpio represents the Scorpion of very great size that Gaia (Goddess of the Earth) had sent forth to defeat Orion because he had threatened to conquer any besat the Earth produced. The result of the battle has different endings. In one version, the Scorpion stings Orion in the heel, and he succumbs to the venom. In another version, Orion defeats the Scorpion in a mighty battle, but Apollo, the God of prophecy, tricks Artemis to complete the job with a bow and a arrow.
Regardless the outcome, Zeus admired the courage of both participants and pace them in the sky as a lesson to all to not be too self-confident.
Sagittarius: The centaur Chiron, son of Saturn, who was half man and half horse. But the lore it's ambiguous. Sagittarius or Chiron, son of the Titan Cronos was one of the many centaurs in Greek mythology. Chiron however differed from all of the other centaurs for a number of reasons. One main reason was that Chiron was born half man and half horse, whereas the other centaurs were born of the sun and rain clouds. The arrow of this constellation points towards the star Antares, the "heart of the scorpion", and Sagittarius stands poised to attack should Scorpius ever attack the nearby Hercules, or to avenge Scorpius's slaying of Orion. for this portrait I painted the Model Nils Verberne.
Capricorn: The goat Amalthea, who raised and fed Zeus. In Greek mythology, Capricornus is associated with the god Pan, who was half goat and half man. The constellation is also sometimes identified with Amalthea, the goat that raised Zeus. In Greek mythology, the constellation is sometimes identified as Amalthea, the goat that suckled the infant Zeus after his mother, Rhea, saved him from being devoured by his father, Cronus. Amalthea's broken horn was transformed into the cornucopia or "horn of plenty"
Aquarius: The god Poseidon, who was depicted as a man with a water jug. In Greek mythology, Aquarius is sometimes associated with Deucalion, the son of Prometheus who built a ship with his wife Pyrrha to survive an imminent flood. They sailed for nine days before washing ashore on Mount Parnassus. For this portrait I painted Henry Cavil as The Witcher because I was watching the series, after I finished my painting, there was a episode where he has a water jug that he was taking care...what a synco!
Pisces: The fish that saved Aphrodite from the waters of the lagoon. In Greek mythology, the constellation Pisces is associated with the goddess Aphrodite and her son Eros. The myth states that they transformed into fish to escape the monster Typhon. They jumped into the Euphrates River and tied themselves together with a cord to avoid losing each other. Another myth is that an egg fell into the Euphrates River. It was then rolled to the shore by fish. Doves sat on the egg until it hatched, out from which came Aphrodite. As a sign of gratitude towards the fish, Aphrodite put the fish into the night sky.
For me, believing or not in astrological influence and taking it as a guide to follow is not what draws my attention, what moves me is precisely how our ancestors gave meaning and form to the sublime and unattainable, how they used psychology and characteristics according to studies through observation of the cosmos and how they pigeonholed the characteristics for each sign in a way that fits and sometimes we can't explain how.
However, I believe that there is planetary energy that in some way influences us and a classic example is the Moon, probably women are more sensitive to identifying this energy.
How many women do not rely on the lunar phases to understand their body and the effect it has on fluids, tides, new cycles, births, emotional increases such as anxiety, light intensity and sleep disorders and much more! Now, imagine all that we don't know about not only the moon but everything in the vast universe?
In other news, Im so excited and grateful because I was selected for the exhibition "Into the Woods" organized by Webster Arts in their Gallery. Do you find familiar this name? Yes! this is the same of the same Gallery where I was juror las month, so this time it's my turn to put my art on their walls.
The piece that was selected was "TRANSITION" and I love this piece, I made this oil painting during 2022 Equinox and was about spring, warm weather, flowers and new beginnings, but I will talk all about this in my next post and it's available for sale on my ETSY or in Webster Arts Gallery.
Meanwhile, here some pictures where I was retouching my painting, at the end I had to paint the borders of the canvas as I didn't liked the white raw border when I framed it, then I added varnish.
I had a vintage brown frame but I have painted it antique gold to make it more luminous, the result looks juts beautiful! by the way, for the frame I have used golden painting by Folk Art by PLAID.
Im so excited about spring and finally take sunbaths, the daffodils are out now so yellow and shining bright under the blue sky, I have also new ideas for my botanical work that I will share once I put hands on it. I have been working for several years with botanical jewelry and other nature preservations, here some guitar picks that I did, I always forgot to take pictures or share about my work with nature.
These are pics with natural cedar from some pines near my studio, also moss and also a beautiful 4 leaves clove
TO WATCH:Keeping my mystic vibe, I did a video explaining about natal charts and the difference between astrology and astronomy, this video it's in spanish but you can turn on the english subtitles, you can watchHERE
TO QUOTE:I am still reading "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" so here what I liked:
-He who consumes life dies his death victoriously
-In your dying, your spirit and virtue must continue to shine like the evening twilight around the earth; otherwise, dying will have been a failure for you.
-So I myself want to die so that you, my friends, may love the earth more for my sake, and I want to return to being soil to have rest in the one that gave birth to me.
-May your spirit and your virtue serve the meaning of the earth. That is why you must be fighters, that is why you must be creators.
-To create, this is the great redemption of suffering and the relief of life. But for the creator to exist, that requires suffering and much transformation.
TO LISTEN: About 7 years ago I listened for first time LONDON GRAMMAR and I just loved the voice and the atmospherical sound of this band, this week I was listening "Missing" while I was painting the Terranaut and this song made me move very soft, I never had put attention to the lyrics before, this band has powerful lyrics and this was not the exception. you can listen HERE
TO EAT: I always like to celebrate St. Patricks day...since I can remember! why? well, im not Irish but my inner magical fairy and Celt love this, I liked to read about the Irish Folk, myths and legends.
So! I have been making special deserts or dishes during this day, but this time I made a classic of mine, CLOVER JELLO PIE, this is yummy, pretty and easy! you can get the recipe in my blog HERE
