I decided to just call this one “Early Summer Newsletter” since everyone knows the last few months have felt like a complete blur.
Despite me slightly ghosting the social media from time to time during the last few months, I have actually been pretty busy with my work.
I guess I can begin by letting you know that despite COVID forcing my first Solo show to go digital, it actually went well in my opinion. The (9) Gallery and I had to switch our gears as we neared May, the month of the planned show, and move everything to the digital world. We were able to do a great interview together that dug deeper into the work of “A Fragile Existence” and we were able to share it via social media and our websites.
I was happy to see new buyers and new people coming in to join in on the journey of my work.
During this pandemic, it has been really fascinating to see how the art world started to adapt.
What is Next?
Since the digital solo show, I have been working on a couple of new series. One series, “The Escape” Series, and the other “Amazon Rainforest” Series.
“The Escape” Series
Release Date: July 31st
As the world experiences a pandemic, fear, and hate, art becomes a lifeboat. Somedays, it is hard not to feel like the sky is falling. As important as it is to stay informed, active on issues, and aware of each other’s experiences, it is also important for everyone to have some sort of moment to BREATHE. If we don’t take a moment to breathe, it is hard to get anything done. When people don’t take a minute for themselves, it can cause one to feel frozen, unable to take action on anything. And that is NOT productive,
Escapism provides the mind with a mental diversion, a moment to envision something calm and serene. Just envisioning something calm and serene can affect the way one carries on with the next challenge, whether that is finishing a simple task in the house, landing a big Zoom meeting, or progressing social and climate justice.
Creating the work in this series was my escapism and now I want to share it with everyone. I want these works to literally become a “piece of mind”…pun intended.
Sure there is so much work to do in today's society and so much to focus on, but the mind is capable of so much more and can DO so much more when we give ourselves a little bit of time to pause and reboot.
This series consists of a wide range of landscapes in all different sizes and tones. It will be released the last Friday of July, the 31st. Subscribers to my email will get first notifications and the first 5 orders will recieve a little surprise with their package from yours truly.
I will be sending out more information on this soon.
**See some sneak peek photos in the photo carousel at the bottom of this post.**
“The Amazon” Series
Release Date: August 2020
Speaking of issues…
I know there are so many issues to choose to focus on right now but this series developed on its own and I just followed it.
If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen the start of this series began in May when I was organizing my studio, and collected a bunch of scrap pieces of paper. I really can’t explain how, but I got the idea to trim all of those little scraps into squares and rectangles that I could draw on. Earlier that week I was reading some stories about different indigenous tribes in the Amazon Rainforest and their battles with illegal logging among many other issues they face with a quickly developing world.
I have always been fascinated with places like the Amazon Rainforest and it is one of my big bucket list destinations, but I have yet to go myself. So, my research on it has been through documentaries, articles, books, and images on the internet. I want so desperately to ensure that it not only exists when I grow older, but that it is thriving. I want to be able to see it one day without hearing about the constant battle to protect the vast ecosystems within it and the people that have called it home for centuries.
I am currently researching legitimate non-profits and charities to work with when I begin to sell these drawings. I plan to donate part of the profits to protecting the Amazon and the life it holds.
As I am still working on some of these small-scale drawings, I will continue to share more on it as we aproach the release in August.
**See some sneak peek photos in the photo carousel at the bottom of this post.**
Other than that…
I was recently interviewed for ShoutOut Arizona! to chat a bit more about the meaning behind my work and inspirations as well as dealing with work-life balance while working from home. Check out the interview here!
Don’t Miss…
This saturday I will be interviewed by Anoop Watts, a Personal Growth Coach, on his “Lockdown Warriors” Live on Instagram at
6 pm (GMT). / 10 am (PST)/ 1 pm (EST)
Anoop is also currenlty celebrating a £50 giveaway. To enter you just have to tag 3 friends in his latest post and must be following his Instagram page! The winner will be announced the following week on his Instagram. Find him and our Saturday interview here!: @anoopwatts
I hope you and your loved ones are doing well and staying healthy at this time.
Thank you again for always supporting,
Jillián
Below are some images of the upcoming series.
