mom

Much of my earlier years were spent as a shy kid who was afraid to walk up to people and talk. Now, I introduce myself to new people as a matter of course. A lot of  insights I will be sharing have come from that personal journey. So, consider this my personal handshake and introduction of myself. I am Rita, more dearly referred to as Momma or Mamacita. although I am of Mexican/German/Bohemian heritage, my Mexican roots seem to match my looks. my German and Bohemian traits, well, that's where my stubborn side resides...

Cleverly enough, my real creativity began when I produced 7 of the most spectacular creatures on this earth, my kids. It was my biggest ‘project’ of all time and I am proud to say, without hesitation,  it was by far, the best use of my creative gift, with no exception!

 My creative juices must have started flowing very early.  As a young girl of 8 or 9, my parents were generous enough to send me every Saturday to art lessons, painting under the auspices of a real true artist, Victor Harles. Every Saturday, me and about 6 other lucky kids would grab our oil paint encrusted easels, and proudly create our own canvas’s of art. We’d paint for a couple of hours each week. I learned early of such beautiful pigments of winsor & newton’s cerulean blue, cadmium yellow and alizarin crimson. Mother and I still laugh when we talk about colors because we still use words such as burnt sienna, titanium white, viridian green and yellow ochre.  The sound of those colors ring with grandeur, while brown, white, green and yellow, pale in such comparison.  At each lesson I could expect to smell the heavy aroma of  a sweet cigar wafting in the air, as my teacher smoked while he taught us. He‘d  grab my brush from my hand and with swift, courageous strokes, promptly paint over an apple I had been working on the entire 2 hours! I remember going to one of Mr.  Harles’ art  exhibitions and seeing,  for the first time, the most beautifully painted nudes.  The curves, warm colors and gentle brushstrokes stuck in my head. I still find something inspirational about the composition of a nude and clip them whenever I see one that touches me.

So I guess from that point on, it was on. Mother had always painted & she shared that love with me. We often painted and crafted together & we spent many afternoons with jigsaws & routers.  We tried it all.  We were fearless. POWERTOOLS!  A particularly perfect name. From  there, I can say without exception,  that I have tried almost every craft under the sun. So now that my little creations  have grown into these beautiful, talented women, I am now sharing the same kind of time with them crafting, like I did with my mother. We almost can’t stand it!  There is a world out there just pulling at us every day, begging us to use our creative juices; then we start all over again the next day on a new tank of juice. 

My girls, poetically like myself, never stop looking for the ‘next project’.  there are too many glorious things to do, not enough time. we email each other constantly with ideas, tips, recipes, pictures, decorations and bargains.  As just another extension of my art, I now get to ‘wear’ my art permanently. I have about 8 beautifully inked tattoos and find myself addicted to ‘owning’ more.  Not everyone understands the tattoo thing, but to me, it’s profound.  It tells stories about who I am, who and what I love. It’s just another signature and song of my life.

Without self-promoting, we were blessed with some mad, wicked skills.  Don’t even  get me started on my cooking! If for no other reason, this blog is just our love notes to each other. And that’s good enough for me...