Art and Design by Claudia

02/21/2026

02/19/2026

And Arizona and New Mexico. White people are the immigrants across all of America.

🏗️ The Foundation of the Southwest: A Story Written in Stone and Soil 🇲🇽📍

The history of Mexicans in California and Texas is not a footnote — it is foundational.

Long before modern U.S. borders were drawn, these lands were home to Indigenous civilizations, later part of New Spain, and then Mexico. Families built missions, ranchos, towns, irrigation systems, trade routes, and cultural traditions that still shape the region today.

When borders shifted in the 19th century, many communities did not migrate — they remained where they had lived for generations. The map changed. The people did not.

From Spanish place names and ranching traditions to architecture, law, cuisine, language, and music, Mexican influence is deeply woven into the fabric of the American Southwest.

These roots run deeper than political lines. They carry language, memory, resilience, and identity across centuries.

Honoring this past isn’t nostalgia — it’s historical literacy. It’s recognizing that the modern Southwest was shaped by layered histories: Indigenous, Spanish, Mexican, and American.

When we acknowledge those layers, we don’t divide the story — we complete it.

We are not outsiders to the narrative.
We are part of its earliest chapters.

02/13/2026

When life (finally) gives you sun, create a poppy suncatcher to save it!

04/23/2025

Viva Mexico! My Cinco de Mayo alter is complete! This should bring all the hummingbirds to the yard!

04/13/2025

My grandkids go to a Natural sciences focused home school. They do the typical table work each morning at home, but spend lots of time in the woods and nature centers learning about insects, wildlife, the importance of wildflowers and plants. Two years ago Landon started building a wildlife teepee that he had been intrigued with at one of the nature centers. He even made a tiny 'welcome' sign out of an old flower pot and yarn. Everytime we have a windstorm he drags and adds new branches to provide shelter and nesting opportunities. In the fall he adds piles of fresh leaf litter to the inside for butterflies, fireflies and bees to winter over. The leaf litter eventually breaks down and makes rich soil. I made him a small sign out of a wood slice last night to educate people on what this is. (I get lots of questions) After all of our severe storms this year, it has gotten quite large, and dense. There is a hanging bird feeder that gets filled daily, and he puts cracked corn and apple bits inside. In the winter after a fresh snow we go out and look at all of the different wildlife footprints that go into the teepee searching for food and shelter. Now his little sister helps - but her love is more toward crows, ravens, toads, snakes and bats. We need to work on those habitats. My broken pottery is used for toad houses and shallow water dishes. Keep them wild!

04/13/2025

I hung the Ukraine Flag barn quilt yesterday, with unintended consequences... it got visited by very confused emerging and hungry honeybees. So, I went out and quickly bought some violas and panseys and put them below the quilt. I also made sure there is fresh water in shallow vessels around the gardens to help them hydrate. Wild things are starting to bloom right now that are pollen rich - dandelions, dead nettle, crocus, some clovers. Please hold off mowing this month to help the bees survive this important first month.

04/11/2025

The barn quilt is done. I will hang her outside as soon as I find my hanging kit.

03/31/2025

Progress. Maybe at the halfway point now. 2ft × 2ft Ukrainian flag barn quilt. RESIST!

03/29/2025

This is a... mess. An awkward, horrid, almost unsalvageable, mocking mess. The vision was - is, a barn quilt that honors Ukraine - like a barn protest sign.

I have hit that point where my 'vision' is mocking me with every brush stroke. But, still I will persevere. I will adjust. Reimagine. Back up and try again. Rest. Drink some water. Let it all dry. Sleep on it. Pick up my brush and add more color... And eventually it will click, and come together 'like magic'. I have been in this messy space many times. Tired. Skeptical. But, then... alchemy.

Step away. Rest. Eat. Drink.... but, don't you dare give up. Ever. Surf that wave to the shore. Don't let these ugly times steal your beauty and vision of better times. Paint. Sing. Plant a garden. Write. Play music. Dance. Be kind. Go for a hike. Breathe. Keep going.

02/27/2025

New moon blessings in these dark times.
In spirituality, an owl paired with the sun symbolizes a powerful combination of inner wisdom and enlightenment, representing the ability to see clearly through both the darkness and light of a situation, often signifying a need to balance intuition with conscious awareness and embrace new perspectives.