A Celebration of Change, You Are Invited

A Celebration of Change

Sunday March 6^th, Itzcoatl #6 , Tematzcallis

Detailed directions found at www.ezshwan.com

Ezshwan Winding and Cynthia Hamilton will be celebrating Women’s History month by opening their home/gallery/shop for one afternoon, Sunday March 6^th from 2pm to 5 pm.

Ezshwan will be showing her new series of paintings, Women Who Changed the World and Cynthia will introduce her boutique of one of kind pillows; Once Upon My Pillow.

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 cashmeres, silks, cottons, 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.

Ezshwan researched for months, deciding whom she would include in this series. ”I learned much about women that I knew of only superficially. I choose women whom I thought made significant changes in our world. There are many more, but I focused on 15. I could have continued indefinitely, but I felt it was time to move on to a new series.”

Call cell 415 115 9646 for private appointments that can be arranged after the opening exhibition.   

Creating Challenges and Solving Them

The last painting I posted posed a real challenge. After removing the offending figure, I was faced with what to do next.

I cut cake recipes out of an old, yellowed Joy of Cooking and collaged them over the figure. I added more encaustic and oil glazes and still I had a big empty space. I scraped with a razor blade and used charcoal to pick up the textures. Still not right. My daughter, Cynthia Hamilton, suggested words. You can see the result below.

Creating and Solving Painting Problems

I put a painting that I liked out in the sun to lightly fuse some oil paint into the encasutic. Ops! I didn't lay it flat and I forgot about it. I lost the freshness and had to scrap off the mess.

Working over it , I finally realized that the figure on the right was ruined and the best thing to do was get rid of it.  I created another problem. What am I doing to do now? I'll keep you posted on the progress. At least I hope their will be progress.

detail

detail

I realized the figure on the right was ruined

Now what?

Scraping away the dark

 I finished another painting in the Memories series, ( I think that is a better name than Remembrances ) . I am going to take a break and clean the studio and get ready for an encaustic student tomorrow. It's a good thing, because I feel as if I have stopped seeing the work. When that happens, the best thing I can do is put the work away and not look at it for a while.

charcoal sketch on milk paint on board

several layers of encaustic and oil glazes

transfers and charcoal

I did a lot of scraping. I though it was too dark

I Need a Title

 I started this series, thinking of old black and white photos with a touch of sepia to add to the aged look. This is the 6th painting in the series. I started with a charcoal drawing, then layers of encasutic, that I struggled with because my studio is sooo cold. The wax sets up immediately and it is hard to get it smooth. After the encasutic, I add oil glazes and do a lot of scraping; then add charcoal to emphazise the blacks. All that needs to be fused for permanency.

I am missing color. The next one will be more colorful. I am planning 6 more paintings. I feel a series needs at least 12 paintings.

charcoal on milk paint, on board

Feeding the Chickens

I thought this painting was finished, but when my daughter, another artist walked into my studio, she said "I love it", followed by "What are all the rocks in the background?" Since I had chickens in mind when I painted the background, the shapes looked like chickens to me. At first, I thought there was nothing I could do about the "rocks" since the ink drawing was under many layers of clear encaustic, but after checking Goggle images, looking for chickens feeding, I saw that I could do some scraping and draw a bit with very soft charcoal. I added some more oil glazes and carefully fused all that into the wax surface. What do you think?

first image

cradled board, so the painting doe not need framing

last version

detail

It Is Never Too Late To Live Your Dream

Kai Winding, Chuck Mangione, me

Here is the link if you are interested in purchasing this digital book. It can be read on any device.
http://www.amazon.com/Artists-Memoir-Fireworks-Dawn-ebook/dp/B008G371SC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454935726&sr=1-1&keywords=Ezshwan+Winding

It is never too late to live your dream. This is the story of how I changed from an older widow, subsisting on food stamps to a recognized artist, living in joy, peace and fellowship. I moved to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico when I was 70 years old and started life all over again.

Fireworks at Dawn takes the reader on a journey of my life, that can appear like a roller coaster; through betrayals and blessings to this delightful last chapter of my life.

Years earlier, I had felt, If I weren’t me, I would be jealous of me! My husband, Kai Winding, was an internationally known jazz trombonist. The rough parts of the relationship were smoothed, and we relished our deep love and soul connection.
Then my life shattered like a crystal goblet thrown against the wall. Kai, who had been in radiant health, developed a severe and increasingly painful headache. He died five months later from a brain tumor.

Fireworks at Dawn is the story of the dramatic changes in my life and thinking that pushed me from a glamorous, colorful and prosperous life through the painful depths of despair and financial ruin to this wonderful last stage of life.
I yearned for a life rich with colorful experiences, where I could live an artistic life, in a place where I could afford to pay for my basic needs; it was up to me. No one was going to rush in and rescue me. I had to make drastic changes.
When I moved to Mexico, I was still in bankruptcy. My art career was stagnant. Leaving my family was the hardest part of the move. My daughters and grandsons mean the world to me, but I had to convince myself that they didn’t need me anymore. Materially, I had little to lose.
A fine water colorist told me several years ago that being a professional artist was equivalent to jumping off a cliff without a parachute. I agreed.
While writing this book, I have had to scrutinize my whole life – the plethora of choices I have made and resultant mistakes and triumphs.
I was encouraged to write my story. Several people told me that they were interested in what made me who I am. “How did you do it? Why are you now content and at peace?” Through the writing of this book, I had the opportunity to question and release my own judgment and self-criticism. If issues from the past still pushed my emotional buttons, it was time to let them go.
I sincerely hope that this account of my life will motivate others who think they are prisoners of circumstances and that their dreams can not be realized.
It is never too late.

A drawing I made when I was 19 years old, in art school

Is She Waiting for Her Lover?

In this painting from the Remembrances series, we see a young woman from the 1900's who is quietly waiting. Is she waiting for her beau? If so, is her on his way? Has he forgotten? While I was working on this image, I felt that it was a person she was waiting for.

These old images are created with modern techniques to bring the essence into the now. Although customs, communication and dress have changed, have our desires to be cherished changed?

This painting needs no framing. 60 x 80 cm. $2000, @Artfinder

beginning ink drawing

details in milk paint. milk paint is absorbent and holds the layers of encaustic

oil glazes over the encaustic