Artist Paula Santos

Crohn's Disease...

I've taken a little hiatus lately from all my online blogs, websites, facebook, basically because I've been dealing with my son's Crohn's disease. My son was diagnosed with crohn's about 3 years ago. The 2 first years were really tough and in March 2012 he ended up developing an abscess and a small fistula. He had to have surgery and spent about 10 days in the hospital. At that point we decided to try Remicade in order to control his crohn's. For a year things were great. Every 2 months he spent the day at the hospital getting his treatment and he led a normal happy life. About 2 months ago he started feeling sick again and at first the doctors thought he had just developed an infection. They put him on antibiotics for a month. Unfortunately that did not help. He had an MRI done and that came back with great results but yet he didn't feel well. It got the the point were he was having a lot of difficulty sitting and walking so we ended up at his doctors office again trying to figure out what was going on. They finally discovered that he had developed another abscess so he had surgery about 2 weeks ago. At the same time we did a lot of testing and we ended up finding out that his body had developed antibodies against the remicade so that is no longer a viable form of treatment. On monday we head back to the doctors for his first treatment of Humira which we hope will help him get healthy again. Being sick is hard but having a child sick is really the worst feeling in the world. I wish I could protect him and take all this pain away but all I can do is make sure he gets the best treatment and I can give him all my love.
To find out more about Crohn's or to donate to find a cure please visit:
http://www.ccfa.org

Affordable Logos

I wanted to have a logo for my website and correspondence, business cards etc. Unfortunately at first all the companies I contacted wanted an outrageous amount of money which I could not afford since I'm starting my business on a limited budget. And truthfully I would rather spend the money on supplies such as paint or beads. I did come across gigbucks.com and they did have offers to create logos for as little as $5 however the communication with the people selling the logos was a little difficult since they had a hard time expressing themselves in english. I bought 3 different logos from 3 different people and although they were okay it wasn't really what I was looking for. Even after their free revision they still did not understand what I was describing to them. A little more research on my behalf and I ended up purchasing some graphic design software and creating my own logo. So here it is and I hope you all like it.

Let me know what you think...

I will also be adding logo services to my website in the next couple of weeks or so starting at $15 if you need one immediately don't hesitate to contact me.

Have a fabulous day.

Boston I'm thinking of you...

What insane world we live in. If it's not a shooting or stabbing at come school it's crazy stuff like today. How can we protect ourselves from this insanity.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the people that were injured and their family and all the runners.
I also hope that the person or persons responsible for this deplorable act will be caught and put behind bars.
God Bless they people hurt by this attack and God Bless America.

Copyrighted 2013

My Birthday...

It's been raining this morning here in Hollywood, FL and I'm just waiting for the sun to come out...Hopefully soon since my mood right now is a little like the weather outside. Yesterday was my birthday and I spent the day doing absolutely nothing...well except feeling sorry for myself. First off once you get to a certain age should we really celebrate??? LOL...who wants to be reminded that they are no longer a spring chicken.

I know I need to do what the picture says and just relax (how appropriate that this is actually a sitting area in my backyard).
I have to admit that the reason I have been feeling blue is because I have been working really hard to get my store for my website up and running and the day before my birthday I accidentally hit something that delete most of my work of the past couple of weeks...-> sigh :0(
I guess it could always be worse, anyway right now I just hope the sun will come out and brighten up my day. Hope you are all having a fabulous week and don't forget that smiles are free so share yours with someone and brighten up their day.

www.Paulasantos.com
©2013 PaulaSantos

Jewelry Making & more...

Love the creative process and I have to admit that I can't have just one thing going on at the same time. I finally finished one painting as you can see. The photo doesn't really do it justice since you can't see all the wonderful textures.

I'm currently working on another huge painting which I hope to finish soon.
Besides painting I've also been working on some jewelry pieces. Which will be available on my online store (which will go live on April 11th) at www.paulasantos.com

Still taking photos of all the finished items for my webstore. Yikes! only one week left... Hoping to be able to finalize everything by Wednesday so that the web store can go live on the 11th. Will keep you all posted.
Have a great day and don't forget to hug someone you love today :0)
©2013 PaulaSantos

Boys takes photos for Website...

My boys have no school for the Easter holiday so yesterday I enlisted their help in taking photos for my web store which I hope to launch on my birthday April 11. I have to say that I think they both did an awesome job and they worked very well together. Here are a few of the photos they took, tell me what you think...

Coconut Grove Art Festival last weekend was great...

Coconut Grove Art Festival 2013's poster was created by Romero Britto.

It was only $10 to get in per person and worth every penny. Art was absolutely spectacular. I took my husband with me along with my son Noah and his girlfriend. They has a great time too.

they also had lots of food vendors to choose from

The weather was fabulous and the turnout to the event was great (around 150,000 people. Hope you enjoy the photos.
©2013 PaulaSantos

Artfest Fort Myers, Florida

On February 3rd I dragged my husband and 2 sons all the way to Fort Myers, Florida for the Artfest. Boy... it was a very long ride mainly because the boys were complaining almost the whole time about. Stating they could think of better ways to spend their sunday. But I didn't let their complaining deter me from dragging them to the festival with me. Sometimes it's good to expose them to something they might not necessarily choose to do. The bottom line is that once we got there they had a great time. The food was great and this festival was huge. Although we were not allowed to take photos of the artwork here are some of the artists that were present and that we loved (there were a lot more artists but we choose only a few to give you an idea):
www.tardysculpture.com this artist was amazing, the boys including the hubby choose this as their favorite
www.harryroagallery.com - most original jewelry I have seen, exquisite
www.kurtruby.com - metal work art
www.tericausey.com - loved this mixed media 2d artist
www.kimberlywillcox.com - very nice - mixed media 3d artist
www.alanfeldmesser.com - amazing painter
We spend a fabulous day outside, viewing art, eating good food and enjoying the great location of the fair, waterfront.

In conclusion this is an artfest I would definitely consider participating in. The crowd was friendly and there's no better way to spend a sunday than to enjoy art in the outdoors.
have a great day :0)
©2013 PaulaSantos

Art Festivals/Fairs...Downtown Delray Beach Craft Festival

On February 2nd I dragged my husband and one of my sons to the 16th Annual Downtown Delray Beach Craft Festival (Delray Beach, FL. Even though they weren't too thrilled at first we all ended up having a great time. The festival was held on 4th Avenue and Atlantic Avenue. A great combination of art, crafts and food.

The venue was organized by:
ArtFestival.com
Howard Alan Events & American Craft Endeavors
Producer of the Nation's Finest Juried Art Shows and Craft Festivals

I would definitely participate in this type of festivals. It was well organized and had a great turnout (the weather was fabulous too).
©2013 PaulaSantos

Art Fair & Festival Research...Pinecrest Gardens Art Festival

Since resigning from my job at the end of 2012, I'm trying to find a path to a new career in the art world. The past month has been a journey of doubt and resolutions. So many questions and not enough time in a day to find all the answers. So sometimes it's just best to go with your gut feeling and push fear aside. For is it not fear that keeps us from following our dream. For me it's fear of the unknown but mostly fear of failure. For the past 3 weekends I've dragged my family to art fairs/festivals because I wanted to find out if selling at such venues was feasible for me. It was exciting and fun! The first venue we went to (just me and the hubby) was "Pinecrest Art in the Garden". The gardens were wonderful and they had some really great artists. The only thing I didn't like was the fact that the booths were scattered all over the place so it was difficult to figure out whether we had seen everything or not. It was busy but not overcrowded. Final vote was: it's not a fit for me.

Pinecrest Gardens Address: 11000 SW 57th Ave, Pinecrest, FL 33156 Phone:(305) 669-6990 Hours: Thursday hours 9:00 am–6:00 pm
Thanks for reading and if you have any interesting fairs/festivals etc. in your area shoot me an email. I always enjoy hearing from other people. Have a great day :0)
©2013 PaulaSantos

2013 New Year & New Beginnings

Took some time off and just enjoying the family and friends. It was great. My old Kitchenaid dishwasher went on the blink and so I had to call a repairman. Nixed the idea of fixing it when I was told the pump motor had to be replaced at it cost over $350 just for the parts. So today I got my brand new Bosch dishwasher installed and hopefully it will be as good as consumer reports claims it to be. On another note I'm currently trying to finish my website. I need to start selling all the stuff that is taking up so much room in my studio. Jewelry, paintings, cowls, scarves, bags, totes etc. will all be available soon on my online store. I'm currently sketching some folk art paintings as you can see and I hope to have them finished in the next couple of days.

I've also signed up for some art classes at the Coral Springs Museum of Art. Although I often experiment with different painting techniques it's always nice to meet new artists because you can always learn from them. Visit my etsy store to view some of the items I just listed plus I will be listing some more of my crochet creations in my etsy shop sometime this evening.

Lauderdale-by-the-Sea...Aruba Beach Cafe... Today I spent some quality time with the boys by dragging them to Aruba Beach Cafe for lunch in Lauderdale by the Sea. I have to admit that since going there a few weeks ago with the hubby it's become one of my favorite spots. Today they had someone playing the calypso drums and it felt like we were on a tropical island somewhere. The food is pretty good and the views are great (I always ask to be seated outside). As you can see on the photos there is a fabulous pier, benches to sit on and relax. The location of the restaurant is practically right on the beach as you can see. Soon I will be getting ready to join my husband at B Ocean Fort Lauderdale to Celebrate the New Year. Overall today was a great day to end off 2012. Happy New Year my friends. May 2013 bring you good health, total happiness, lots of love and much success. Cheers!!!

Simple Sunday...lazy and quiet.... I know I shouldn't be complaining about the weather we're having here in south florida especially since most of my family and friends up north are freezing their arses off...but where the heck is the sun. Temperature is okay but the sun is missing :0( Still it's the perfect day to laze around surfing the net, reading a good book, or watching tv (or like the hubby just taking a nap). So with time on my hands and since I'm really not inspired today to create anything I'm mainly doing some research online. Putting a list together of all the places I want to visit in south florida. It's amazing just how much there is to do. First stop next weekend will probably be Calle Ocho in Little Havana (Miami). Haven't been there in years and want to go on a discovery journey. Even South Beach will have to be re-discovered since I can't remember the last time I went there. Here are some photos of the last time I visited.

Can you recommend any places worth going to in south florida? send me a note. thanks and have a great sunday :0) live,laugh, love...
©2013 PaulaSantos