"Party Girls"

"Party Girls"
24" x 24" Oil on Canvas
© Monique Straub

"Dia de Los Muertos" celebration planning is in full swing at Barracks 19, and my boney Betties are ready to party! Traditional altars honoring dearly departed loved ones are taking shape around our creative neighborhood, and the bakery across the street has announced their annual preparation of the "Pan de Muerto" or "Dead Bread " along with some really cute little bone shaped shortbread cookies.
If you live in the San Diego area, please stop by this fun and festive celebration on Friday, November 1st from 5-9pm. The studios will be decorated and we will have several special art exhibits honoring the season in Barracks 19, including music and dance performances scattered throughout several other buildings in the area.

"Party Girls" is painted on 1-1/2" depth canvas with sides painted black, ready to hang and enjoy. You may purchase here and have it shipped to your door, or purchase here and pick up at my studio/gallery at Liberty Station, Pt. Loma, and I will refund the shipping. $595 + $40 to ship anywhere in the continental US or Canada. Updated 6/24/14: Sold...to a local collector!

Daily Painters "Scootin..."

Number three in the Dia de los Muertos series, my boney buddies are out for a fall spin on their nifty little scooter...probably on their way to the pumpkin patch!

Painted in soft pastel on sandpaper, this piece measures 12" x 12" and is framed in wide dark wood with thin gold liner, and UV/non-glare museum glass. Ready to keep a smile on your face. Buy it now price $325 + $30 to ship anywhere in the continental US or Canada. Updated 10/10/11: Sold...and "scootin" their way to a new collector in Conyers, Georgia...

Daily Painters "Singing Her Heart Out"

Here's the second piece in my Dia de Muertos series for this year. Do you remember the classic movie "The Man with the X-Ray Eyes?" That's how I approach these pieces..."I see boney people." I think there will be a few boney dogs and cats to follow.

Painted in soft pastel on sandpaper, this piece measures 12" x 12" and is framed in wide dark wood with thin gold liner and UV/non-glare museum glass. Ready to hang and enjoy. Buy it now price $295 + $30 to ship anywhere in the continental US or Canada.

Daily Painters "Urban Lore"

Along with Halloween, and some of the more common traditions of Fall, is the celebration season of "Dia de Muertos" or "Day of the Dead." I always chuckle at the raised eyebrows and averted glances when visitors to my studio encounter skulls and dancing skeletons in my artwork this time of year.  Day of the Dead is an important traditional Mexican celebration that takes place every year on November 1st and 2nd. This celebration of dearly departed loved ones began over 500 years ago and was central to most ancient civilizations, with the Aztecs being the last and most famous. While the traditions are pre-Hispanic, the celebrations we now see are the result of a complex mixture of indigenous beliefs and practices and those imposed by Spanish Catholics. Catholics celebrate All Souls Day, which like all celebrations commemorating the dead happen during the dead time in autumn, after the harvests have come in. This coincidence of timing and belief, allowed Day of the Dead to survive the Spanish Conquest of Meso-Americans, and accounts for its continued existence in modern Mexican folklore. So...now that you know all that stuff...you need not be afraid :) Dancing skeletons, sugar skulls, and Marigolds are just a few of the embellishments you will commonly see depicted in this celebratory art work.

Each year at this time, I break from my traditional landscape and floral works to create a few "celebration" pieces of my own. This piece is painted in soft pastel on sandpaper and measures 18" x 24". Framed in wide dark wood with UV/non-glare museum glass, it is ready to hang and enjoy. Buy it now price $550. This piece is available in my Spanish Village Studio #34a only. Shipping not available.