Here is the article from my Washington stomping grounds by Cate Gable.
https://www.chinookobserver.com/opinion/columns/coast-chronicles-
michele-naquaiya-where-is-she-now/article_2fd86722-12b2-11e9-8cf5-67f84bba7c38.html
Category: flora and fauna
Bus Stop in a Little Town in Mexico
This is a scene from a sweet little town in Mexico and is my newest watercolor. The little plaza is a familiar and welcome place for these ladies who take the bus on most of their working days. The huge trees provide shade and it’s a good place to start the day.
As they sit and chat and compare notes, a young girl walks by with a youthful stride. She revels in her youthful clothes of blue jeans and backpack. Time changes everything as the days and years go by.
Birdhouses
These birdhouses are made of recycled materials found in anybody’s garden shed. Whether wood or discarded metal fixtures or old roofing materials, the birds enjoy the shelter.
They are feeding on a gigantic sunflower center. I took a little artistic license with the scale of the seed pod…because I can. Moths and butterflies join in on the party.
The pen and ink is done in India Ink and an old fashioned crowquill pen nib. The original is drawn on Bristol board paper, and has been sold but read on to purchase the image on various mediums.
This artwork is available on my Red Bubble POD site. Click the picture to go there and purchase prints or accessories.
Finding White Lilies
Walking in downtown Ajijic, along a small crowded street, a shock of white caught my eye. It was coming from a dark doorway. I couldn’t make out what it was exactly so I stepped closer to get a better look. There were art objects in the doorway as well; a big earthenware bare brown jug with a minimum of decoration, as well as tables with sculptures and displayed paintings.
Then I saw the white of the lilies. I snapped some shots and felt privileged. I just loved them. They were dropping red pollen from their stamens onto the lower gigantic petals. They were on their last leg as cut flowers. I knew them as stargazer lilies. I had grown them in Washington. Mine were many colors of pinks, but I had never seen white ones like these. I looked up and saw a woman staring at me and smiling. Apparently I thought I was walking into an art gallery when in reality, I walked right into someone’s studio. I was embarrassed and apologized and stepped back quickly. She did not seem to mind.
I felt both silly and lucky at the same time.
Even though I have been in Mexico almost a year, I have not seen one calla lily yet. I have seen only a few backyard versions while walking in my neighborhood. They were shades of red and I noticed that they seemed happy in shady gardens.
Diego Rivera painted many works using the calla lily. Even though we see these images over and over just about everywhere, I don’t get tired of them. He also painted them so well that he transformed from the well known flower into abstract shapes molded around his figures as perfect adornments. He found a perfect prop for his figures and faces.
Read about this iconic Mexican artist here:
So lilies of all kinds have been on my painting list for a while. Here is what I painted today from my photo. The red grains are pollen. Click the picture to purchase a print.
If you would like to grow some of your own calla lilies, this is a good site for information.
To learn more about stargazer lillies…
Here’s a lovely little video of a bee collecting pollen. It’s relaxing and I’ve watched it a few times. Nature is amazing.
Little Demo on Scratchboard Drawing
Since I am now using my home base for teaching, I decided to respond to some requests to teach scratchboard and the engraving idea behind it. Although it is not engraved in metal, it offers the very same challenges.
One remarkable quality is that doing large scratchboard is very time consuming and difficult, the opposite is true when in comes to graphic digital reproductions.
This is one of my scratchboard drawings enlarged, which I feel loses zero impact, considering how affordable it is and how it can be applied to metal as well as textile. Click the picture to purchase.
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Venice, CA 1997
Painting Mexico 
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