Um..is this thing on? Okay, I've been away, really away. Did a stint at the beautious Stonehouse Residency for the Contemporary Arts over the summer of 2008. Wonderful folks, wonderful weather, wonderful chicken coop. I loved it.

Check out the new paintings, and imagine the 90 degree weather I painted them in.

My Father's Shop

"My Father's Shop"
Originally uploaded by Michele Ramirez

I think this one is finally done. I was pretty satisfied with the composition from the get go, but the color, oh the color. The relationships weren't working out, and so the paintiing sat in my studio for a good two or three weeks.

Last night I put in a few extra hours and pushed on it. It will do for now. It may click and I'll leave it, or more than likely, I'll go back in and tighten or loosen a few elements. We'll see.

La Raza Noble

I still haven't decided on a title for my new series of paintings, but "Between the Rows" is good. At least it gives an idea of what I want to say about a way of life that, for the most part, is ignored by much of the country.

I want the series--paintings, prints and drawings--to describe the lives of the working poor. The people in these small towns in the Central Valley are the back bone of California's agricultural economy. They work without benefits or safety nets.

This series will be about how I grew up--isolated in a small town where everyone worked either in the cannery, fields or other ag related industries. It's about dignity, pride and the blue skies that stretched from mountain to mountain across the Valley.