Sunday, June 26, 2011

abuelo's

If you want yummy, easy Mexican food, make a trip to Abuelo's in Pilsen. Michelle and I both like this place! I had the pozole, the vegetarian taco and the vegetarian sope. Very flavorful for veggie dishes, and the guac is awesome! but go easy on the green sauce ... spiceeeee!

-cristina













- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Pilsen

Monday, April 18, 2011

SAIC Continuing Ed exhibit

this is a snapshot of the work exhibited at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  This is collective work done by students in the Continuing Education program, all classes, watercolor, drawing, fashion, sculpture etc. 

it was so much fun seeing the variety of work and meeting new people!  looking forward to my next class, hopefully this fall!

-cristina






Ann Moon's work - Figure Painting class
 












exhibit

one last event at the saic: an exhibit of all the continuing education program work.  my very first show ... awww! 

-cristina


with Chris and Ricardo




Chris' work



Barb's work


with Michelle and Brad


watercolor 10

so this is it: school's out! 

our last day of class we did a review and critique of our work, and it was so interesting to see the progress everyone made.  i feel like i got so much out of this class, more so than technique.  i got a better sense of what painting is all about, expanded my view and approach, got tons of ideas, and overall got very inspired and motivated to keep going. 

ricardo showed us his work, which inspired me and helped me understand abstraction more.  i was very inspired by his point of view and his interpretation of the painting subject. 

i had loads of fun in this class, and made some new friends along the way.  it was such a cool escape, and i'll miss my monday nights!  hope to take another class next fall, and to run into some of the same people again too. hopefully moving on to figure studies ?? 

-cristina



Wednesday, April 6, 2011

vegan truck

yesterday i ate the most yummy vegan mac'n cheese for lunch from chicago's first and only vegan food truck, Soul Vegetarian!




the truck drives around the city at lunch time, between 11:00am and around 3:00pm, and stays about 10 min at each stop. the food is 100% vegan, mac 'n cheese, sandwiches, desserts, and they only take cash for now. it also makes special delivery and caters lunch or dinner with advance notice.

i am so excited we have a vegan food truck in chicago ... i mean, this is chicago we're talking about, land of the meat! and there was actually a line of people waiting the entire time. i don't know how the driver keeps a schedule. my friend Ruth (who told me about the truck) and i waited only a couple of minutes past the scheduled time for the truck to get to Clark and Jackson.







so check it out if you're in the mood for a yummy vegan lunch ... and don't forget to get the carrot cake for dessert too, it's delicious! so delicious in fact that i ate both the carrot cake and the mac'n cheese and forgot to take pics of both!

http://stemartaen.com/food-truck/





-cristina


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:chicago

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

watercolor 09

more washes yesterday, and experimenting for the first time with white gouache.  i did 3 washes, in different hues, which i may use to develop further and add some glazing, and painted with white gouache in a monochromatic pallete on one of them ... used a picture of me and grandma when i was about 9 as an inspiration for the abstract.

-cristina

wash and gouache scumbling






Saturday, April 2, 2011

watercolor 08

this time we experimented with washes and did some transparency, staining and color mixing exercises.  i kept 4 of the washes as they were, and used one to create a quick sunset landscape.  i'm addicted to washes!  i love to see the dramatic results, mixing the hues, and manipulating the mixing process with gravity.  sometimes you get amazing results without expecting them!  colors are just fascinating.

-cristina

wash and drybrush scumbling