Moving Time!

Soo Sorry my darling fabulous people! I have been MIA for some time now...but I am back. Ok...I am trying to come back.
I am in the process of moving to Orange County for work (must love this economy!) and the whole process is driving me absolutely insane!
Why is it so hard to find a place...that all owes a cat...and a dog...ok no 2 dogs! They are my precious babies!
How about finding a place close to work (save on gas and travel time...not sure if there is worst traffic than LA)...

So let me give you a summery of what has happened...
1. I am now a health and beauty coach.
2. I am working on creating a brand surrounding my body-paints.
3. I got a fab full time job in Orange County.
4. I am going to move in with my honey bear (husband...he moved to the OC 9 months ago..)

So keep in touch...I did not forget you..please do not forget me!

Loving Nibbles,

Random Toughts...

Tomorrow is my son's last day of school, (before summer vacation...) for those of you that have kids, you knows that this is a mixed blessing...no more rushing out of the door with a tooth brush in your mouth to, no more late night homework, no more cutting the weekend short so we can prepare for Monday's test...for the next 2 months we will be at peace!! yeah right!!!..now we start the ... what camp? how much? what about family? can he stay home with grandpa? what are we going to leave for lunch so he does not burn down the house? what about snacks? can you get home for lunch so he does not give grandpa a heart attack trying to cook chilly? What about summer activities?

AHAHA! The joy of motherhood! The never ending circle of joy!

The only advice I got...sunblock 45 minimum to apply 30 min before allowing the little gremlin to run off in to the sunshine...and stock up on water and some of those fun Kool aid stuff!

BTW...Kool aid + a bit of petroleum jelly or olive oil = nice natural lip stain.

Nibbles!

2010 Walk For Animals!

Napoleone (my precious Papillon) and I will be Walking for Animals on: Saturday May 1st, 2010 at the Crown Point Shores in Mission Bay! If you are in the Area come out and support! if not and sill want to support Animal you are welcome to make a donation here.

We are super Exited!!
I'll post pictures Promise!

Nibbles,

Happy Earth Day! 50 Ways to Help the Planet!

PLANT A NOTION

1. CHANGE YOUR LIGHT

2. TURN OFF COMPUTERS AT NIGHT

3. DON'T RINSE

4. DO NOT PRE-HEAT THE OVEN

5. RECYCLE GLASS

6. DIAPER WITH A CONSCIENCE

7. HANG DRY

8. GO VEGETARIAN ONCE A WEEK

9. WASH IN COLD OR WARM

10. USE ONE LESS PAPER NAPKIN

11. USE BOTH SIDES OF PAPER

12. RECYCLE NEWSPAPER

13. WRAP CREATIVELY

14. RETHINK BOTTLED WATER

15. BAN BATHTIME!

16. BRUSH WITHOUT RUNNING

17. SHOWER WITH YOUR PARTNER

18. TAKE A SHORTER SHOWER

19. PLANT A TREE

20. USE YOUR CRUISE CONTROL

21. SECOND-HAND DOESN'T MEAN SECOND-BEST

22. BUY LOCAL

23. ADJUST YOUR THERMOSTAT

24. INVEST IN YOUR OWN COFFEE CUP

25. BATCH ERRANDS

26. TURN OFF LIGHTS

27. GREENER LAWN CARE

28. PICNIC WITH A MARKER

29. RECYCLE OLD CELL PHONES

30. MAINTAIN YOUR VEHICLE

31. RECYCLE UNWANTED WIRE HANGERS

32. RECYCLE ALUMINUM AND GLASS

33. TELECOMMUTE

34. KEEP YOUR FIREPLACE DAMPER CLOSED

35. CUT DOWN ON JUNK MAIL

36. CHOOSE MATCHES OVER LIGHTERS

37. LET YOUR FINGERS DO THE WALKING—ONLINE

38. GIVE IT AWAY

39. GO TO A CAR WASH

40. PLASTIC BAGS SUCK

41. FLY WITH AN E-TICKET

42. DOWNLOAD YOUR SOFTWARE

43. STOP YOUR ANSWERING MACHINE

44. SKIP THE COFFEE STIRRER
45. FIND A BETTER WAY TO BREAK THE ICE
46. USE COTTON SWABS WITH A PAPERBOARD SPINDLE

47. PAY BILLS ONLINE

48. STOP PAPER BANK STATEMENTS

49. USE RECHARGABLE BATTERIES

50. SHARE!

One step at a time we can make a difference.

If I Were...

If I were a month, I’d be October.
If I were a day of the week, I’d be Friday.
If I were a time of day, I’d be 9:00 a.m.
If I were a planet, I’d be Saturn.
If I were a sea animal, I’d be a Orca.
If I were a direction, I’d be East.
If I were a piece of furniture, I'd a Antique Chaise Lounge .
If I were a liquid, I’d be Baileys Irish Cream .
If I were a gemstone, I’d be Tanzanite.
If I were a tree, I’d be a Bonsai.
If I were a tool, I’d be a Paint Brush.
If I were a flower, I’d be a Bird of Paradise.
If I were a kind of weather, I’d be a Warm Spring Morning.
If I were a musical instrument, I’d be a Harp.
If I were a color, I’d be Purple.
If I were an emotion, I’d be Love.
If I were a fruit, I’d be a Pineapple.
If I were a sound, I’d be a calm river.
If I were a pair of shoes, I’d be a sexy pair of high heeled boots.
If I were a car, I’d be a Mercedes SL 600.
If I were a food, I’d be Fillet Mignon.
If I were a place, I’d be an Ancient Castle.
If I were a material, I’d be Silk.
If I were a taste, I’d be Sweet.
If I were an object, I’d be a Easel.
If I were a body part, I’d be a Heart.
If I were a scent, I’d be Sandalwood.
If I were a facial expression, I’d be a serene Smile.

If I were an element, I’d be Water.
If I were a song, I’d be Madonna's 'Live to Tell'.

I found this while browsing around the web and somehow bumped on Makeup by Crystals' blog :)

Nibbles

Fragments of the Art Show...Chosing Images...

How hard is it to chose the perfect images to convey all the passion, the love, the dedication, and the pain I put in my craft? How can I, with just 4 images, convey to all how much this all means to me? or what all this matters...well the funny part is...I'm a Libra...Libras have a hard time choosing...ask any Libras to chose and you send them in a tail spin...ask the hamsters...they know.

Signature Image and the only Image that I knew from the moment it was snapped that it was the one image I had set in stone...

"Black and Gold"

I fell in love with this image before it even left the camera, John showed it to me after taking it, and my mind did a slip. This is it!!

The rest of the images where chosen later... with a more strategic and less emotional mind, and with the help of my husband and suggestions of others, chosen to portray different aspects of my art.

The Empress

Nature's Reflection

The Jester

Nibbles!!

Fragments of the Art Show at the Escondido Municipal Gallery on Jan, 9th 2010

My Artist biography...
For all to see ... or for all those who wanted to see it ...

Roberta Naiyana Merino is an Artist, Makeup Artist, Body Painter, Henna Designer, Writer, and sometimes is referred to by those who know her well as a model in retirement. Born to an Italian father and Thai mother, Roberta was raised in a multicultural environment and was blessed to live throughout the world in places like Italy, Algeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania, Las Vegas and most recently San Diego, California.

Inspired by her mother an artist and art collector herself, Roberta’s love and passion for color and patterns began at a very early age. This love was then shared with the introduction of makeup during her teenage years when Roberta, a then inspiring international model, attended a school for modeling in the U.S. Her training in the arts comes from drawing and art history classes taken both in the U.S. and abroad in Europe, hours of Henna applications and design in Kenya, and countless hours working with some of the top Makeup Artists and Body Painters in San Diego, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Roberta is considered one of Southern California’s Premier Body Painters and Makeup Artists. Her skills have won her numerous awards and acknowledgments from her peers and industry professionals. She is now working on a project inspired by her beloved husband entitled “From Canvas to Body: A Doodling Experience from the Patterns in my World”.

More information on Roberta’s work and adventures can be found on her blog www.naiyanatheartist.blogpsot.com.

Again I wonder at times, why do we torture ourselves in writing things like this...does it really make a difference to you?
Can it really make or break one's life/career/evening/or simple enjoyment in life?
One has to wonder...

Nibbles

24 hours from Show Time

The count down begins... the "to do list" is almost done, just a few last minute details to ensure a successful outcome and then ... then what?
Then I just wait, with the hope and all the dreams of a 14 years old.

Tomorrow...Tomorrow is the day I have been waiting for ... 16 years ...

From that day in the kitchen trying desperately to explain to my mother why I should to go to art school and not language school, from the cold and almost emotionless answer "no, there is no money, no future in art", to the inevitable tears and broken heart that resulted from her logical reply and the dead run down the corridor and up the stairs to my room.

Now it's here ... the day my work, 4 of my Creations, will be displayed in a public gallery for all to see. It's a scary and exiting feeling, one that I want to share with all my loved ones and people I like, but at the same time so fearful of their reactions...what if they do not like it?

What then?

Nail appointment in the morning, 2 bottles of wine to buy, one more print to make, and just be there at the gallery at 5:30 pm...sounds easy.

I wounder if it will really be that easy...

Wish me luck...

Nibbles

Random Toughts...

Life is hard and at times it seems easier to give up, just throw in the proverbial "sponge", let the world move on and stop fighting...it seams easier, the right thing to do, the only thing to do...but then something or someone comes along and changes our view...our perception...long enough to make you see that there is light at the end, and that you are in charge of your life, your emotions and the outcomes of your actions, and that maybe...just maybe if you start now you can change what will happen tomorrow...

I was browsing aimlessly around on some of my friends blogs and found this...

"Don't"
Don't let what you are determine who you are.
Don't let what people think you are shape what you can become.
Don't let an idea turn into a belief.
Don't let a belief outweigh the truth.
Don't let your heart outweigh what's right.
Don't let your soul grow jaded.
Don't let others have your heart when they have not earned your respect.
Don't let any person lay an unwanted hand upon you.
Don't let your passions die.
Don't let people see your debt.
Don't let honest tears be wasted.
Don't let pride get in the way in the way of living.
Don't let love be forgotten.
Don't let men fight over things they can't possess.
Don't let women fight over things they can't possess.
Don't be afraid of the truth.
Don't let a lie go to waste.
Don't forget to take care of you.
Don't forget to listen to your heart.
Don't be too proud to ask for help.
Don't be too vain to offer help.
Don't judge until you know all of the facts.
Don't be afraid to be alone.
Don't think you can't stand alone.
Don't forget in the end you have to believe in self.
Don't think the world isn't watching.
Don't think kindness is weak.
Don't confuse happiness for ......................
Don't think for a moment you are not worthy of true love.
Don't let love pass you by.
Don't hope for change, create it.
Don't be afraid to get crazy from time to time.
Don't be afraid of hard choices.
Don't be afraid to let some love you for who you are.
With all of that I ask this,
What are your don't and can you say you live up to them?

"Posted by C Alexander "

I liked it so much that I decided to borrow it and add it to my blog too, share with those that read this and see if perhaps it changes something in you to...

Nibbles

A biography….

What is a bio? A biography, according to the dictionary, is a description or account of someone's life and the times… A biography is more than a list of impersonal facts, such as education, work, relationships, and if it applies, death, it also portrays the subject's experience of those events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae, a biography presents the subject's story, highlighting various aspects of his or her life, including intimate details of experiences, and may include an analysis of the subject's personality…

So a Biography is nothing more than a long description of yourself, your accomplishments, adventures and your past, a bunch of words put together in an attempt to describe a being that according to the “Texts” is unique, infinite and faulty…

A self promoting tool to highlight all the good and hide all the bad, an excuse to chant the virtues of those people that had a positive influence on us, and to deny how truly inadequate and lonely they made us feel…

Why do we write it? Why do we need it? Why couldn’t my work talk for itself, why do I need to define it, or excuse it…give it a reason for being?
I overheard people stating that a biography gives others a connection to the artist, an inside to their souls, an understanding of their work…but does it really? Could you really understand me by reading my bio? Can you really see the depth of my soul and the passion of my work by reading a piece of paper…?

I could write that I am from Mars and that I grew up in Kansas…and that my art work is inspired by an alien named Xuc that visits my cat every Wednesday night to watch the ultimate fighter show on TV…and that I have 3 tired hamsters in my head…

As an Artist I find it difficult to write a bio, having to describe on a piece of paper the challenges of my life, the passion and love of my art, to confess my shortcomings and my dreams, my inadequacies and my pet-peeves….and do so this with the hope that you would not hate me at the end.

It’s hard to put yourself out there for the world to see, it’s even harder to live life in hiding for fear of criticisms and ridiculed and finally confirm the inadequacies others have placed on you. Look at the mirror…what do you see…?

So here I am writing a bio… because it is appropriate and expected to do so, because like so much more in this life it is one of the requirements to be part of the “professional” world.

This is my bio, this is me…
I am an Artist…I have 3 hamsters in my head, their names are Ginger, Exer and Skippy…I can be your sweetest dream and worst nightmare. I am Me.
Welcome to my world…you might want to buckle up….

Nibbles…

Art...A part of Me

Art...What is it? How to define it? Can everyone have it, be it, and create it?
Is it a natural gift? Or something we learn, acquire with practice and training?

Art, I love Art...whatever that is. I do not know if I learned it in my one class in basic drawing in my junior year in High School, or in the 2 years of Art History… or if it has always been there. I know I was drawing before I could write, I know I was drawing because it made me feel good…but the most important part of all I know that my mother was a painter, not a big fancy Picasso like, not even the ones you see in galleries, she never showed in galleries, and her paintings where not hanging in fancy homes…there where just in my home....

I remember a room in a home far away so long ago..... a 2 story home in Yaoundé, Cameroon, a child room with a whole wall painted with a scene portraying Disney Aristocats...I remember my mother painting an extra kitten...since we she like to have everything in 4, since we were 4 children.
I can still see the kittens, and I was so small then...

I remember a room in a home where the closest city was 6 hours way, where the school house had children from the age of 6 to 12 all in one room. A room where I was “supposed” to nap every afternoon, but a room I would sneak out off every afternoon, and I remember the wall full of drawings of princesses and unicorns, doggies and families, trees and castles all hanging by push pins and tape…pictures made by me, my own private gallery.

I remember a room in a big country home in Italy where canvases were laying around and toys everywhere, a big play room for her 4 children where she could paint and watch them play…
At the age of 8 I picked up my first paint brush, and under her guidance I selected the colors, the brushes and the technique on how to hold a brush, how to switch form one color to another since my mother painted with oils. I painted a house... an ugly house with strange dark colors because no matter what I did, my brushes where never clean enough, and I kept dragging one color over another, and my hand was shaking so the house had the famous lean od the Tower of Pisa, but my mother said it was beautiful, and I believed her. My first paining hung on the wall of the game room along side her paintings.

I never stopped painting, I never will, might take a break since life has a habit of getting in the way, but I’ll never stop…I love Art because it makes me happy, it allows me to be free to express myself in ways words can’t compare, and at the same time to hide a part of me I do not want to world to see…
I love Art...for Art reminds me of her.

Till the next time

Nibbles

Todd Homme from Blush

I normally do not watch TV...OK I do watch TV, I just turn it off if there is nothing good on. I do not channel serf for hours with the hope that something good will magically appear. I particularly dislike having a date/appointment with my television....that is why I record or wait till the DVD comes out at Hollywood Videos!!!

But once in a while the Magic does happen!! And that was "Blush :The Search for the Next Great Make-Up Artist" that aired on Lifetime for the past few weeks.

The Show was AMAZING!!! I learned sooooo much!

I recorded almost all of it....I think I am missing only one episode...

Sooo much Talent in on Show!

And for this reason I have to say I am sooo sad for the passing of Todd Homme, one of the finalist in the show.

A beautiful and Extremely Talented Artist with a Contagious Smile and a Positive and Light Heated View of Life.

My thought and prayer are with Todd's family and loved ones.

Go Paint The Beautiful Angels Todd!

The world has lost a great Talent :(

Little Girls and pink makeup!!!

So here we go, today we look at little girls and pink makeup.

This past weekend I met with Stephanie (fab. photographer) and Nancy (super sweet model) we decided to do a candy doll like shoot.

So here is how I prepared…
I went to work in the morning 11am (I teach basic makeup for actors in training), at 2 pm class is over…I get a text form Stephanie reminding me of the 3 pm shoot with Nancy.

So I run home grab my makeup kit (Heat is bad for makeup, it makes things melt, causing chemical reactions that not only smell bad but are not good for the skin) and make my way to the US Midway Parking lot.

My Kit…
Since the theme was pink I stoked up on all the pink I could find…
Lipstick, shadow, lip liner, blush, some glitter (that should not be used in pictures since if it does how it looks bad…but it looked great in my kit), and some gold shimmery powder, I am not a believer in a “one brand can do all” so I carry different brands all the times, this gives me flexibility.
Once on location we set up in a nice shaded, grass area by the parking lot…
Set up the stool and worked out of my bag (note to self to purchase small foldable table).
Again I took 50% of my time setting up the base foundation and powder; to me this is the most important part of the makeup application. A good base sets the perfect stage for a good makeup job.

Then the cutes things that happens was a group of 4 little girls (ages 4 to 8) came by and just watched, giggled smiled and told Nancy how pretty she was, and how much pink there was all around them (working out of a carryon suitcase means I will spread out on the grass...I like to look at my stuff…)
They stood there for something like 5 minutes looking, their parents a few feet away waiting patiently. It was adorable!!!
It was i

n my mind the most flattering compliment.

So thank the universe for little girls and pink makeup!