Look!

One of our good friends introduced us to the beautiful collection of children's books called the Nutshell Library written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

The collection has four tiny books perfect for little hands: Alligators All Around (an alphabet book), Chicken Soup with Rice (book of months), One Was Johnny (a counting book), and Pierre (a cautionary tale). The simplicity of the stories and illustrations make them enjoyable for both kids and adults alike.

A couple of weekends ago, we went to an art opening in Staten Island. It was rainy and cold -- June has been very wet in New York. As we were traveling back home in the S.I. ferry, I couldn't stop thinking about Chicken Soup with Rice. When we got home, I went straight to the kitchen and cooked a warm and delicious chicken soup with rice...still laughing!

I love books and these days I'm enjoying reading with Mateo. I take him to our local bookstore where I found another great book called Open House for Butterflies by Ruth Krauss. The book, also illustrated by Maurice Sendak has simple thoughts and illustrations like the books in the Nutshell Library. Some of my favorite thoughts are:

Look! I'm running away with my imagination.

There should be a parade when a baby is born.

Suppose old people grew down as young people grew up.

Easter eggs are all different outside but they're alike inside.

A baby makes the mother and father -- otherwise they're just plain people.

Yesterday shows another day is here.

Everybody should be quiet near a little stream and listen.

A baby dances with its feet in the air.

I think a race looks prettier when everybody comes in even.


So always take some time to look, enjoy and imagine!

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand". -- Albert Einstein

Flux

I've been active thinking of new projects, designing a new website/blog, and beginning to take my running and yoga practice to the next level.

My mind and body were ready for a little stir up so last week I found myself running at lunch time in Central Park. I usually run early in the morning around my neighborhood, but I've been wanting to run in the park since I started to work near it.

Although it's been a challenge to keep up with all, it's also been great to dedicate those beautiful green miles in the park -- there's nothing like running through nature -- to think about my new little family, how to train for a race, yoga inversions I would like to explore, and just getting excited about new projects...

Getting excited about new projects reminds me to mention two wonderful exhibitions I recently saw even though they closed already. I wish there were more exhibitions like the Tangled Alphabets: León Ferrari and Mira Schendel at MoMA. Wow! I'm still digesting Schendel's amazing works and ideas. And Ernesto Neto's anthropodino at the Armory which was a fun experience.

Enjoy!

Image:
Yoko Ono, Wish Piece, 1996

Make a wish
Write it down on a piece of paper
Fold it and tie it around a branch of a Wish Tree
Ask your friends to do the same
Keep wishing
Until the branches are covered with wishes

Somewhere to Begin

Well, I'm back from a couple of weeks of feeling like everything is happening at the same time. I can happily write that after three months of having "not so great" runs I'm slowly making some progress.

It was during one of those tough runs when my attitude changed. I decided to give myself the chance to enjoy the process of slowly reaching my usual pace. Since then, I've been enjoying every single movement I make: running around the neighborhood, the treadmill and even cross training in the rowing machine -- which I admit isn't my favorite.

I keep telling myself something I think we all probably know, but surely always forget: patience is our best friend. When we feel different or everything is too new -- a new business, moving to a new place or city, committing to a wellness plan -- the word is patience, patience, patience...

Keep moving!

Green Days

Everything looks so green around the neighborhood. It's nice to see the new planted trees on Smith Street and the Greenmarket back. I like to eat something healthy before I go for a run so this week I decided to make homemade granola bars.

I went to Sahadi's to get the nuts and dried fruit. Most of you probably know about Sahadi's, but if not, this is a special store to visit. It has been in the neighborhood since 1948. I got dates, figs and almonds to mix with the rest of the ingredients I had at home (oats, cranberries, raisins, cinnamon, honey and sea salt).

It only took me about an hour to make the granola bars, but the funniest thing happened right after. I was thinking/hoping the bars tasted good when I heard Matthew call my name multiple times from the living room. His voice sounded like there was trouble...and there was. Well, we live on the fourth floor and a bold squirrel entered our apartment through the fire escape window. The squirrel was determined to find the roasted nuts and oats.

Matthew managed to get the squirrel out of the apartment immediately through the same window with the help of an Eames chair — like a lion tamer. Hilarious!

I never saw our little visitor, but that is the best review for my first experiment with granola bars. I'm now excited to experiment more...

Texture

I meant to post earlier this week, but it's been busy with lots of changes. Change is hard, but at the same time, it feels amazing when we add an infusion of fresh flavors, colors and textures to our routines.

While browsing the Food Issue of the latest Prattfolio, I read an interview with graphic designer Margaret Noon. Noon is the owner of a green event planning business called Sustenance. She is also the leader of Slow Food USA in northern New Jersey. She describes the reason she became a chef after a career in advertisement as:

"Creativity has many outlets... Sometimes you reach a point at which your passions change and it's time to be inspired again..."

I totally agree! And to be inspired by the beautiful spring, nature and real food, herbs are in season. Here is a nice resource on how to plant a window box herb garden.

Enjoy!

Energy Flow

One of my goals this week was to go back to my usual five-day-a-week workout routine. I'm happy to say that I managed to do it. Movement is my way of staying positive and dealing with challenging situations. It also influences my work.

On Wednesday, I had a pleasant experience while in yoga class. The group waited for about fifteen minutes (our instructor was running late) when one person suggested that we begin the class. Some people in the group left, but those of us who stayed began a sun salutation. The room filled with an immense sense of community.

When the instructor arrived, I think he was pleasantly surprised to see not only that we waited for him, but that we already started the class. He explained why his commute took so long. It didn't really matter, nobody was angry and we were happy to see him. We all smiled and thanked our friend who had the initiative of guiding the class. She did so well! It felt so good to be part of a community.

I left the class with a bigger heart. I suddenly felt an urge to get home and be grateful for everything I have. When I got home, Mateo and I exchanged smiles, blablas and held hands. I thought of Gandhi's words: "Be the change you want to see in the world". And just like that, I realized the value of the wellness plan I started years ago. It was on display at yoga and gave me the best energy for the rest of the day.

Better late than never. It's never too late to bring all the good people and things you want into your life.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Effort

Yoga class begins by dedicating the practice to someone or something. Dedicating the class gives me an incredible feeling of purpose. I began to practice yoga after reading of its benefits for runners, but it didn't take me long to realize that practicing yoga is about something deeper than flexibility.

I want to dedicate my art practice as well and wonder if there are other artists interested in dedicating their creativity to something larger than having exhibitions or selling work?

As artist Lygia Clark wrote to Mondrian: "If I exhibit it [sic] is to transmit to someone else this "moment" stopped within cosmological dynamics which the artist captures...Don't you think that the work of art is the product of two polarities which are the dynamics of human life?"


Photo:
Rossana Martinez
Magical Movement, 2009
Colored pencil on journal

Spinning World

It's been some time since I last ran so I'm slowly adding short runs to my morning walks. It feels great to see and notice the little things while running. There is so much visual information around us that running has become part of my art practice.

To honor Earth Day (April 22), I thought of sharing and recommending the children's book, On the Day You Were Born by Debra Frasier. The story is marvelous and the illustrations are just beautiful.

On the Day You Were Born
by Debra Frasier

On the eve of your birth
word of your coming
passed from animal to animal.

The reindeer told the Artic terns,
who told the humpback whales,
who told the Pacific salmon,

who told the monarch butterflies,
who told the green turtles,
who told the European eel,
who told the busy garden warblers,

and the marvelous news migrated worldwide.

While you waited in darkness,
tiny knees curled to chin,
the Earth and her creatures
with the Sun and the Moon
all moved in their places,
each ready to greet you
the very first moment
of the very first day you arrived.

On the day you were born
the round planet Earth
turned toward your morning sky,
whirling paste darkness,
spinning the night into light.

On the day you were born
gravity's strong pull
held you to the Earth
with a promise that you
would never float again...

...while deep in space
the burning Sun
sent up towering flames,
lighting your sky
from dawn until dusk.

On the day you were born
the quiet Moon glowed
and offered to bring
a full, bright face,
each month, to your windowsill...

...while high above the North Pole,
Polaris, the glittering North Star,
stood still, shining silver light
into your night sky.

On the day you were born
the Moon pulled on the ocean below,
and, wave by wave,
a rising tide washed the beaches
clean for your footprints...

...while far out at sea
clouds swelled with water drops,
sailed to shore on a wind,
and rained you a welcome
across the Earth's green lands.

On the day you were born
a forest of tall trees
collected the Sun's light
in their leaves,
where, in silent mystery,
they made oxygen
for you to breathe...

...while close to your skin
and as high as the sky,
air rushed in and blew about,
invisibly protecting you
and all living things on Earth.

On the day you were born
the Earth turned, the Moon pulled,
the Sun flared, and, then, with a push,
you slipped out of the dark quiet
where suddenly you could hear...

...a circle of people singing
with voices familiar and clear.

"Welcome to the spinning world," the people sang,
as they washed your new, tiny hands.

"Welcome to the green Earth," the people sang,
as they wrapped your wet, slippery body.

And as they held you close
they whispered into your open, curving ear,
"We are so glad you've come!"



Enjoy...and best wishes to all the Boston Marathon runners!

In Full Bloom

This week, I went to my yoga class for the first time after giving birth. It felt great to be back. While in triangle pose, I thought of how important is to find time to do what moves us and makes us flourish. The best is when we slowly notice that the bloom inside of us has changed the way we approach our everyday and the people around us.

Here are some of the benefits of triangle pose:
*Stretches and strengthens the thighs, knees, and ankles
*Stretches the hips, groins, hamstrings, and calves; shoulders, chest, and spine
*Stimulates the abdominal organs
*Helps relieve stress
*Improves digestion
*Relieves backache
*Therapeutic for anxiety, neck pain, osteoporosis, and sciatica

For more information check Yoga Journal and Active.

Happy spring to all! It's so nice to finally see the blossoms in the trees.

Video: Created by Dave Allen, Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Web Manager, from over 3,000 digital photos, one taken every 3 minutes from April 18 to April 26, 2008, of Brooklyn Botanic Garden's famed Cherry Walk.

Sound of Music

It's been already three weeks since Mateo arrived and I've enjoyed every second of it. As an artist, I want Mateo to be surrounded by creativity everyday. I listened to music during my pregnancy and music seems to be one of his favorite things. He already has an iTunes playlist! Here are some of the artists we like:

Astrud Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, Caetano Veloso, Louis Armstrong, Bob Dylan, Coldplay, Claude Debussy, Gipsy Kings, Dido, Etta James, The Beatles, Barry White, Bob Marley, Elizabeth Mitchell, Feist, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Radiohead, Rita Lee and Os Mutantes among many others. Enjoy!

Across the Universe by The Beatles


Let It Be by The Beatles


Montaña by Gipsy Kings


Cucurrucucú Paloma by Caetano Veloso


Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe by Barry White


Baby by Rita Lee & Os Mutantes


Til Kingdom Come by Coldplay