Gallery Juana - photography & art

I leave on Christmas day for The States to see my Mom and Sister. Thanks to the international dateline and time difference, I actually arrive the same day in the afternoon. So I can say I will be home for Christmas. 2008 has been good. The year leaves me with good memories and full of hope for the future. Wishing everyone a wonderful 2009. Happy New Year!

This is a reproduction print on canvas of my original collage on canvas board titled "Coming out of Chaos". About the original: The center features a portrait done on washi (rice paper). For the background. I tore up other watercolor portraits on rice paper into small pieces. These pieces formed the collage for the background. This week's IF topic is Voices. When I read my own writing, I hear my own voice. If it is a novel, I sometimes hear a different voice. In my dreams, voices can be in different languages (English, Spanish or Japanese). Visit Illustration Friday , to see more interpretations of this topic and for more information on how to join.

Today, I thought I would change my blog layout to the grid layout by blogbuster . I couldn't get it to work and lost all my links in my links widget in the process. I had saved the blog template prior to fussing with it, but the content in my widgets was not saved. Since I couldn't get the nifty layout to work, I added the grey navigation buttons up top and at the bottom of this blog page to console me. Now to rebuild all my links. I will slowly be getting everyone, who had linked to me previously, listed again. If you have a link to me and do not see yours, it might be on my website JuanaAlmaguer.com . If it isn't there either, just let me know and I will add your link. The grey button up top links to this blog post. If you would like to Trade links, just leave a comment with your url below, and I will add your link. L I N K S PranaLight demosthenesclub Sketchbook Project Doodleheads ZenDotStudio Flytie We Blog Artists Marlene's

Last week's shadow shot was of my cat on her perch near the window. This week I thought I would get a shot of my shadow. As I was about to take the photo, my cat plopped herself down in the sun near me and started to clean her front paws. She yawned just at the moment the photo clicked. It made for a fun shot. For more shadow shots and information on how to join, visit Hey Harriet's Blog .

I love Autumn and so does my cat. She has her favorite perch by the window. This morning she tried to get me up and out of bed twice by jumping on me. First time at 7:30 a.m. didn't work, but the 8:30 one did. While I sat at my desk, half-asleep, sipping my coffee, she enjoyed her morning sun. For some reason, she wants me up in order to enjoy her sunning. What can I say? I love her dearly, so what she says, rules. And I got this shadow shot of her. After the coffee took effect, I was glad to be up. It was a beautiful, sunny morning. In the evening, we had our first snow. It melted as soon as it hit the ground, but it felt good to see the snow. For more shadow shots and to learn how to join, visit Hey Harriet's blog .

I had avoided drawing and painting the female figure for the longest time. I had been having trouble finding the right expression. My move toward the nude female figure started with drawing pears. From there, I moved on to drawing the female figure. Nude Female Painting on Paper and Wood Bodies come in all shapes. We are led to believe, in one way or another, through media or peer pressure, that we should all look similar. In drawing the female figure, I have learned that beauty comes in all forms.