A Very Busy Summer: Day of the Dead Altar, Visiting Museums/Exhibits, Working on Creative Projects, and the Garden

This summer was very busy! A lot happening in my life with family, personal stuff, the garden, and finally working on some creative projects. This is a long post so brace yourself…

Current Exhibit: Día de los Muertos: Recuerdos de Sabores (Flavorful Memories)

On display through November 19, 2023

This summer I answered the Ontario Museum’s call for art for the 25th anniversary Day of the Dead exhibition which opened on October 5. I didn’t want to dive right back in and pressure myself into finishing new artwork by a looming deadline, so I asked if I could create an altar to remember Tommy. The Museum agreed and I spent a lot of time in August and September working on that project. It was fun working on it and gathering items to include in my installation. The family helped me install it at the museum and I’m so glad they went with me because this was my first art drop off/installation at the Ontario Museum without Tommy. We used to always go to together to help each other with art drop-offs, and I’m glad I wasn’t alone this time. I even continued the tradition we had to eat Pizza Pirates on museum day. ❤️

The altar turned out so great, we are very excited about it, and proud of it. The exhibit is on display from October 5-November 19, 2023. Visit the museum’s website for more details.

Tommy’s altar is currently on display at the Ontario museum through November 19, 2023. I used a lot of things that reminded me of him - the antique frame in the back he bought to use for one of his photos one day, the black veil was one of his favorite items to use in his work. The colors I had in mind for the altar were orange, gold, yellow, and sunflowers to match the theme of our wedding. 

The left side of the altar I added one of my food themed artworks called Burger Withdrawals which is what he would say during the stay-at-home quarantine when he was craving burgers. Our niece painted the cute pizza and hot sauce paintings because that was some of his favorite foods ❤ The chili pepper rock is from my painted spring rock art. 

The middle section has a photo of him where he won a prize at the 2017 Ontario Open. The next year he was invited to participate in the 2018 Ontario Invitational art exhibit.

The right side has Tommy’s personal artwork. He loved scary movies and cats so that was some of the photos he took which he never exhibited anywhere. This was a nice way to display them for him and for his work to be a part of the exhibit.

Día de los Muertos: Recuerdos de Sabores (Flavorful Memories)

October 5 – November 19, 2023
Community Reception – Saturday, October 7, 2023, from 12 PM – 3 PM

Ontario Museum of History and Art

225 S. Euclid Ave., Ontario, CA 91762

Free admission

Museum Days and Hours: 

Thursday/Friday, 12 PM – 4 PM, Saturday/Sunday, 11 AM – 5 PM

To learn more and read the press release visit the museum’s website.

Visiting museums, exhibits and other inspiring activities 

Another fun part of the summer was visiting museums and interactive pop-up exhibits/experiences in the Los Angeles area. I went with my sister(s) and toddler niece to the Getty Villa in Malibu, the Hollywood Wax Museum, World of Illusion, Ripley’s Believe it or Not, Guinness World Records, Barbie World (and the Santa Monica Pier), and Bubble World. I visited the two local museums in Ontario, the Chaffey Community Museum of Art (CCMA) and the Ontario Museum of History and Art (OMHA) - went to events, workshops, receptions and panels at these. It was fun! I’ve been to a lot of the places in LA/Hollywood before, but that was over a decade ago, so it was nice to go back and experience them again after such a long time (and re-experience things with a different perspective). It was a very inspiring summer.

Working on creative projects

This year I started making art again after a 5-year break. It started in late winter and March. Since I had visited the Ontario Museum last fall for an acrylic mediums workshop, I got re-inspired. I decided to celebrate Tommy’s birthday in January by buying myself a new desktop table easel, some Golden mediums, and a starter acrylic painting kit. This is the 2nd time in about a decade buying new art materials (back then I would just shop to collect things) so I had banned myself from buying more art supplies unless I absolutely needed them. 

The change of pace was nice because this summer I was feeling ready to work on some home décor paintings. I opened my pack of 12” x 12” canvases and started working on a new series of six blue scale paintings that go together (which are still in progress) and they will eventually go over my living room TV. I’ve also resumed working on the blue abstract acrylic painting I posted about early in the year.  It’s been a really long time since I worked on art that took longer than a month/few weeks or days to complete, but I told myself that is ok since I feel like I am starting over again after a long break. I didn’t want to give myself pressure with a dumb self-imposed deadline. 

The six 12” x 12” canvases I’m working on. I took a break from these to work on other things but plan to finish them before the end of the year.

My first, temporary painting station at this new house. It was hot and I wanted to be downstairs near the central AC vents while watching TV so decided to paint downstairs in the living room. Picked this corner next to my LED floor lamp. Mr. Gold came to smell the new artwork.

Some of the skulls I painted for Tommy’s altar. These are Halloween decorations so painted them gold and silver to make them look different. I also drew on the eye socket area of the skull tea lights to make them look more like sugar skulls. Then I decided to use the leftover metallic paints on the palette to continue the blue abstract painting. It’s still not finished.

Summer garden updates

Delicious foods from the garden! Love using the San Marzanos, basil and oregano in my pizza and spaghetti sauces. 

My garden is doing well – a lot of learning, mistakes, and successes. While it's not massive and in non-stop production like I imagined, it's been successful in many aspects. I’ve been able to harvest a variety of produce and herbs every week.

• Cucumbers – garden fresh cucumbers are amazing! Not bitter at all and so delicious to eat alone, even without salt or pepper. But also delicious in salads or with lemon/lime and salt.

• Tomatoes – lots of San Marzanos from one of my plants, and a few cherry… the weather is still warm so I’m hoping I still get more. 🤞 My “average first frost date” is in December, but the decreasing sunlight has me wondering since my patio is shaded by the afternoon. Not one single Brandywine pink tomato yet...might remove the plant soon.

• Jalapeños - the first 10-15 were small and super spicy! Even my mom, who loves spicy foods, had a hard time finishing the first ones. The most recent ones have been bigger and milder because I’m watering more often. Also, my first time ever tasting red jalapeños - spicy!

• Bell peppers (green and red!) – Yay! I had a lot more flowers get pollinated in September so I’m hoping the little ones growing make it to full size. 

• Cilantro – mostly from my indoor plants but I also planted some outdoors in late summer. Been adding to lots of dishes as a garnish. Tommy would be so proud of me because he loved Cilantro on everything.

• Basil – Lots and lots of this delicious herb! Been making Margherita pizzas and pastas this summer, also adding into my homemade marinara and pizza sauces, and even made pesto.

• Oregano – I bought a starter Italian oregano plant at the Armstrong Garden Center but I’m glad I did because it almost entirely replaced my use of this dried spice. I also have some Greek Oregano growing indoors under LED lights that I use often. These are perennial herbs so theoretically they will replace my use of the dried spice version. 

• Garlic chives – bought a starter plant at the nursery because they were out of orange bell peppers late in the summer; so glad I did because when I opened my dried chives, they did not look very appetizing, so I’ll plan to replace them with these from my garden. They are perennial plants, so I’ll have them for years if I take care of them. 

Multiple views of the garden. The neighborhood cats love spending time there and Mr. Gold loves looking at it and seeing his friends through the slider. Tommy would be so proud of how nice and friendly he is towards the cats here - at the apartment he was so territorial and hated all foreign cats.

Other plants:

• Strawberries – these are perennials. I didn’t get very many berries this year, just a handful of tiny ones. I imagine it’s because it’s the plants first year and they are still growing stronger roots. I’ll continue watering and fertilizing them and hope for berries in the future.

• Spinach – I tried growing some indoors in the spring but couldn’t keep up with watering the herd of plants, so they died. Planted some outside and hoping they survive the fall. 🤞

• Lettuce – same as the spinach; the spring crops grew out of control and by the time I tasted them they were bitter and awful. I planted some outside at the end of September and so far it’s going ok. 

• Cat grass – it grows super-fast! Mr. Gold loved it, but it became too difficult to keep up with so many plants. Threw some seeds outside for the garden cats; the runoff water from my garden will feed these. It can grow on its own if it makes it.