Catching Up!

Hola Amigx!
Get ready for a personal post y'all!
I've recently started a Patreon and will be posting regularly there as well as getting this going again. To be totally honest I haven't made much for myself lately. After grad-school took off and the residency ended my focus went mostly to writing my thesis, running a successful School Board Campaign, and social justice work. Now I'm feeling very calm, though still busy, about where I am in life.​

​The above photos are from the two day install of the Inside Out Dreamers project. I'm on the Public Art Board and as a board member have taken on a few projects. In this position I like to not just make decisions or dole out advice but to do the work (as I do in any position really). It's been challenging and this project was definitely all I did for about a week but I'm so proud. Many thanks to Carrie Carranza, Audrey Lopez, and all of our dreamer volunteers for the work they did posting the images up. And for being willing to organize our action. Thanks also to the Emerson Collective for allowing us to take our site one step further and provide full context of why we NEED a Clean Dream Act NOW! 

I've recently started a challenge for myself where I will doodle everyday for at least 10 minutes. I'm hoping to exercise my illustration skills, shake off some of the stuffy way I've been trained to draw, and also just get back into observational drawing. It's been so long and most of the drawing I've done in the past year or two is as a means to an end or very quick. I want to see what happens if I draw every day and have fun with it.

Bookmaking workshop with the Lancaster County Community Foundation Baldwin Fellowship Program

I've also been invited to lead creative workshops, talks, and host panels (feel free to email me if you want to book me!), and I've occasionally gotten paid for that work! This makes me so happy because I feel affirmation from my community. It's also a challenge when I desperately want to help and educate or share but there's not always funds available and it requires so much time and energy from me. Still working on those boundaries.

At work we've moved out of our old building and into our satellite spaces. We allowed students, faculty and staff to add a touch of graffiti to the walls before the building is torn down. These are mine. 

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​​So this is where I am now. Below is the link to my Patreon (cafecito's aren't free!), some shots of Etsy products, and a screenshot of my first official School Director photo! 

​https://www.patreon.com/salinaalmanzarart