Creating beauty for the home and helping the planet.

My daughter, Cynthia Hamilton launched her new business yesterday. It is Once Upon My Pillow.

I am impressed and proud of her effort. She has spent the last year, creating one of a kind designer pillows.

Soon these gems will be available to purchase on line

   Cynthia said “I created Once Upon My Pillow from a long-felt desire to do my part, my part for my community, for my fellow-woman, and for the environment.  With the help of women in San Miguel, and under my guidance, we created these pillows from cashmere, silk , cotton , and the most unique trims and buttons, to design and make one-of-a-kind, boutique, pillow cases, all hand-made from 100% recycled materials. I had a desire to help local women work from home; stay close to their children, and explore and expand their natural creativity; hand embroidering and sewing with a treadle sewing machine, using 100% recycled materials.  I do most of the cutting and all of the designs and encourage my Mexican assistants to use their creativity.”

The attention that goes into each pillow is similar to a Chanel jacket but without the price tag.


Her Mexican assistants lives have become interwoven with hers. Of course it is challenging and time consuming for her to find the perfect garments to cut up to make beautiful designer pillows; however these are pillows with a purpose.

Cold Wax and Oil

I made 6 more portraits, but not for the show. They are cold wax and oil. A very different process. I hadn't worked in cold wax for ages and I had to re-think the process. I haven't seen many (or any) portraits done in cold wax and oil, just abstracts.
If you know of any artists working figuratively in this medium, please let me know.

The rest of this day, I will be working in the studio, cleaning and arranging for the show on Sunday. NO painting. I need a break.

Both Cynthia (Hamilton) and I will have our studios open Sunday and there will be a variety of work, sizes, techniques and prices along with champagne and pop corn

Fifty Faces & Open studios, Sunday, June 28, 1 - 4

    You will get clear directions to our home/studios/gallery at my website: www.ezshwan.com

A Mural from the early 90"s

I have always enjoyed working big and there is nothing like the challenge of a wall mural. This one was for a client of Cynthia's in Chicago. I was living in Phoenix, AZ. at the time, so I flew in and did all the figurative painting on this mural that wrapped around 3 walls in a private home. Cynthia Hamilton, (my daughter) did all the background. We were a good team since our schedules were so different. I arrived at her huge loft early in the morning, quit about 5 pm and she arrived late and worked most of the night. Cynthia and a friend installed the finished mural in the home after gold leafing the ceiling.

I sketched it out in charcoal and then painted with acrylic

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finished portion of the mural

Gallery show closing Friday

What a full time this has been. We have been in the gallery everyday but last Monday. That was Cynthia's birthday and we had a dinner party for friends. Cynthia did all the cooking and it was incredible.

And this was just the appetizers

 

 

We are having a closing party Friday. If you are in the vicinity of beautiful San Miguel de Allende, stop in for a glass of champagne and choose any painting for 20% off the retail price.  There will be 5 new pieces of art for the silent Auction.

It has been many years since I worked in a gallery and it has been a wonderful experience. We made many contacts, good sales and I have been asked to teach at the Art Institute. Visual art need to be seen and experienced. Cynthia has been working in the front room. People are fascinated with the encaustic process and love watching her fuse the layers with the torch.

The Opening Reception was packed

Here are some shots from opening night. There were lots of people, champagne, popcorn and Cynthia had sales. We will have the show up until January 16th.

Cynthia's room

Kids, traning and furniture, continued

The response to my last posting with the tables created by Cynthia Hamilton and her crew of kids from the neighborhood was positive and it seems that those tables will soon have new homes. I have been asked to post some other treasures remaining in Cynthia's studio, so here are a couple more.

 38" h x 30"w x 16" d.
 $ 1600 pesos

yellow/green table with vintage hardware, $1600 pesos

Wood chest

14.5 h x 21" w x 13 d

$650 pesos

Wood chest

14.5 h x 21" w x 13 d

$650 pesos

Wood chest

14.5 h x 21" w x 13 d

$650 pesos

38" h x 30"w x 16" d.
 $ 1600 pesos

Tables and Training

My daughter, Cynthia Hamilton came to San Miguel almost 2 years ago. We were side by side neighbors in a mostly Mexican neighborhood, until our move last June.

Cynthia, who was trained in faux finishing in Italy, noticed that many of the neighborhood kids were not going to school and just either picking up garbage to take to the trucks or sitting around the street playing with their phones. The older boys were openly sniffing glue all day long.

 In an effort to help a few of the younger kids, she started a training program to teach the kids to paint walls and most importantly to paint beautiful finishes on furniture. She paid each a small salary. With her constant supervision, and hands on help, the results were wonderful. They were at her apartment everyday but Sunday. She fed them a healthy lunch, tried teaching them some English, took them on trips to Celaya and Comonfort ,(they had never been outside of San Miguel), feeling that this would help them to have a future other than what they saw on the street.

Now she has several beautiful pieces of furniture that no longer fit into our new home and would like to sell them. This is not a business. When these, and and a few more things, are sold, there will be no more. The offer is only for people living in the vacinity.

Cynthia is an artist and art dealer, but her creative eye and caring heart has helped produce this beautiful furniture and perhaps has encouraged some young people to choose a life of creativity and work, rather than drugs.

Hand finished blue table with vintage hardware and matte varnished. 30" w x 31.5" h x 17" d. $1200 pesos/ $90 us.

Shades of green round table. 32" h x 15" h & d. $ 600 pesos / $45 us.

Custom painted yellow table. 32" h x 38" w x 26"d. $1200 pesos / $90 us.

SMA red corner table with matte varnish. 33" h x 27" w x 17.5" d. $650 pesos /$48.

Lunch in front of the TV

learning to paint a wall

Putting on the first coat of paint on a table