Happy New Year, Happy New Start!

Happy New Year!

Mary Magdalene of the Bees, work in progress, by Tanya Torres (No bees yet!)

I welcomed this New Year like a thirsty person welcomes a glass of water. I wanted this feeling of possibility and newness to push me forward. I know it's all mental, and in fact I started going with the impulse about a month ago (so that the New Year would find me prepared for the ride). Now that the New Year arrived, the feeling is complete. And it starts with this post from my new project, Magdalene.org.

Lesa Bellevie, the original creator of the site, gave me this wonderful gift to do with it as I wished, and while it took me a while to work on it, I began one sleepless night at 4 a.m. I can't sleep well when I feel unproductive…

I sat down and created the basic structure of the site, and published it. No more waiting, I will work with it and grow it as I grow.

So here I share the first post of this year. Please join me in this new year of art!

***

This year I want to dedicate a large portion of my time to my Magdalene painting practice and growing Magdalene.org. Some plans for the year are to paint numerous small Magdalenes on canvas and to host the Mary Magdalene Celebration here in NYC on July 22, 2016. (Save the date!)

I wish that my Magdalene partner and muse, Raquel Z. Rivera, could be here to sing her Magdalene songs, but even if she is not, we will have our Mary Magdalene Celebration and play her songs. Some friends have already agreed to join me and bring their own creations to make the celebration even more special. I will share more about this once I have a place, time and image for the invitation! 

The first step for this goal is to create a painting for the invitation, which will be Mary Magdalene of the Bees. I wanted to finish it before the New Year, but decided it was better to go lovingly slow. Like most paintings, it shows me where I should go instead of faithfully following the original design. A flower heart, after all, makes sense for the bees! Here is a preview of the work in progress for Mary Magdalene of the Bees:

​​

I look forward to a blessed year full of energy and creativity! I hope you will join me in this journey!