NEW YEAR REFLECTIONS...

DREAMS+GOALS=ACCOMPLISHMENTS...

Every year, I write a list of my Daily, weekly,

monthly, yearly, five years, and ten years goals!

Over the years I've discovered that writing down my goals helps me reach them!

YOU'VE GOT TO BELIEVE TO ACHIEVE!

When I was 17, I discovered that in order to make

my dreams become a reality, I must have a plan...

One of my many goals,

was to go live in Scotland for a year

I wrote out my plan in detail...

What would I have to do to reach my goal

By having a plan & setting goals,

I was able to make my dream a reality

& go live in Scotland!

My list is my contract I have with myself...

I call it "MY CONTRACT OF DREAMS"

I place my list where I can see it & refer to it often

On New Years Eve, I take out my list,

And I check off the things I have accomplished

This helps me visually see all of my goals I reached

Whatever I didn't accomplish on that list,

goes on my new list...

My list also helps me see where I am,

what direction I need to go in & where I want to be!

If you don't have a destination,

you won't know where you're going & you'll feel lost

EVERY MOMENT COUNTS!

As I sit here reflecting on this year,

I come to realize

how important every moment is!

There is not one moment

this year that I regret,

because I made the most

of every moment...

Should've, could've, would've, what if...

Those words DO NOT exist

in my vocabulary!

I CAN

I embrace & see this moment for what it is...

A GIFT

Whether the moment was by myself,

shared with a loved one,

or shared with a complete stranger

who I connected with in some way...

Being AWARE & CONSCIOUS...

Helps me to realize my dreams and stay focused...

On the beautiful, positive things...

Life offers us...

The gift of BEING

HERE

NOW

DARE TO DREAM & LIVE IT!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

PeAce LOvE aRt & sOuL

Denise Vasquez

ARTISTS NEEDED

Click here to enlarge!

Together WE CAN make a difference!

BASEBALL ART by Denise Vasquez

My friend & fellow Star Wars Fan Chris Walters has an incredible collection of Art on Baseballs...

Last year, Chris commissioned my man Randy Martinez to create a work of art on one of the baseballs...

I remember thinking to myself:

"What a unique, Creative, Brilliant idea"!

How fun!

This year I was invited as a guest artist to attend Star Wars Fan Days III...

When Chris discovered that I would be attending, he contacted me about creating a work of art on one of his baseballs...

YES! Absolutely! I couldn't wait!

I LOVE creating in every way, shape, or form...

Here I was, presented with another wonderful opportunity to create something different...

My first baseball!

Now what to do?!?

I asked Chris what he was interested in...

He took a look at my art & said he really liked 3 characters I illustrated that he did not yet have in his collection...

Oooooo what a treat! I LOVE having options!

Over the next 24 hours, I constantly saw a visual of one character in particular...

I could totally see it, clear as day, I could see the character on the baseball...

I trusted my instinct & decided that was the character to do...

Star Wars Character "Boush"

Chris presented me with the baseball in this lovely Square Ball Holder...

I must admit, leaving the ball placed in the Square ball holder made it easier to keep the ball still while illustrating...

So thank you for that Chris!

What was my process?

First I lightly sketched my illustration on the baseball with my 0.7 Sakura pencil...

Then I colored my piece with my Prismacolor Premiere Markers...

I used my Sakura White Gel pen to add highlights...

My final touches for my lines, writing & signature were with my Sakura Pigma Micron Archival Pens!

I had a BLAST creating my first baseball & hopefully it won't be my last!

Stay tuned & be sure to click "Follow" link above to keep up with ART & SOUL blog

Stay up to date with lots more fun projects I have in the works!

PeAce LOvE aRt & sOuL

Denise Vasquez

SKETCH CARDS~NERDY BIRDS ARTS NEST AUCTIONING MORE OF MY SKETCH CARDS

Nerdy Birds Art Nest

is representing me on Ebay & they have more of my Official ONE OF A KIND Sketch cards up for auction:

Go here to see the auctions & place your bid

http://myworld.ebay.com/nerdybird69

PeAce LOvE aRt & sOuL

Denise Vasquez

HOLIDAY SPIRIT~ THE MAKING OF by Denise Vasquez

Illustration by Denise Vasquez

Two years ago, I once again found myself battling with some serious health issues...

I won!

I'm still here!

Every moment of every day is truly a gift to me!

One day while I was sick, my man Randy Martinez & I were walking down Hollywood Blvd...

Each step I took was a reminder...

As we walked I felt calm & at peace...

The world seemed to move so fast all around me...

It was around the Holidays...

Christmas lights lit up Hollywood Blvd, Frosty & Santa were painted on store windows, and people seemed to be shopping in a frenzy...

I embraced everything I was feeling & took in what was happening all around me...

When we got home, I sat down & wrote a song called

"HOLIDAY SPIRIT"

I recorded a live rough version when I was sick....

Here I am two years later, finally getting around to re-recording it!

Jimmy Mac from The ForceCast asked me if I had a Holiday song he could play on the show

I told him, "you know what, I do have a Holiday song, I just need to record it"

Something inside me said, DO IT

I didn't have much time...

So many deadlines, so little time...

I mean that in a great way...

But I didn't let that stop me!

I decided to take on the challenge

I told Jimmy Mac that I would record the song and asked what my deadline was

He said Monday, NO PRESSURE

I was already juggling deadlines, now adding recording a song to my list when I ended up booking work on "HEROES"

What an AMAZING experience it was working on my favorite TV show!!!

I booked one night & then was invited to come back & work again the following night!

The cast & crew are AMAZING & I got to work one night with our friend Ray Park who plays Edgar on the show!

We worked nights into the mornings which completely threw me off my schedule as I was not used to working these hours...

As I was now accustomed to vampire hours, I used these quiet hours to my advantage...

I stayed up all night Sunday night into Monday morning recording my song

"HOLIDAY SPIRIT"

I already had a tempo in mind as I've played the song on my guitar acoustically over the years practicing with a metronome

I used "GARAGEBAND" on my mac to record my song

A couple of years ago I purchased the "GARAGEBAND" Jam Pack Rhythm Section software, and with that, I found a GREAT drum track that was the perfect fit for my song

Once I had the drum track, I layed down my Acoustic Guitar tracks...

I tried out a couple of my DAISY ROCK GUITARS to determine what type of sound & feel would work best for my song

I recorded the first guitar scratch track with my

DAISY ROCK Retro-H Guitar

After a couple of takes, I picked up my

DAISY ROCK Jumbo Butterfly Bubinga Acoustic/Electric Guitar

As soon as the first run was recorded, I knew my Butterfly Bubinga would be the guitar I would use to record the song with!

My Daisy Rock Butterfly Bubinga guitar gave me such a BEAUTIFUL sound & feel that flowed perfectly with my song!

I did 3 takes and moved onto my lead vocals

I own a few AUDIX MICROPHONES

Om5, OM6 & VX10-LO

I decided to try out my AUDIX VX10-Lo

Sounded pretty sweet, so I went with it!

Once I had a few vocal tracks recorded, I went back & improvised laying down some soft vocal harmonies

I was thinking about adding some keyboard, and mentioned it to my man Randy, when he said he'd totally be into laying down some bass

AWESOME!

He wasn't familiar with the song...

He listened a few times playing along...

I told him, like the name of my band "LESS IS MORE"

He just went for it

Now that I had all the tracks I needed, I faced yet another challenge...

MIXING!

The mix can make or break a song!

I didn't think about it...

I put on my headphones & pushed myself to JUST DO IT!

The first mix was finished at like 4:30 AM

I sent it to Jimmy Mac, uploaded it to myspace & my Digital Store on NIMBIT, and went to sleep

When I woke up, I listened to it on my speakers in stereo and decided to change the mix a little

Sounded different on the speakers then it did on headphones!

I changed the mix

Very pleased with what I accomplished in under 24 hours!

I sent Jimmy the new mix, uploaded it to my player on myspace

& decided to make it ONLY AVAILABLE on my

EXCLUSIVE DIGITAL DOWNLOAD NIMBIT STORE

Here are my lyrics:

HOLIDAY SPIRIT by Denise Vasquez ©2007

People are buying gifts all around me

Christmas lights up the Blvd

Santa and Frosty painted on store windows

Mailboxes filled with season greeting cards

Can you feel it

I can feel it

The HOLIDAY SPIRIT'S GOT A HOLD OF ME NOW

People giving

People give what they've got

What they've got

What I've got

Is the HOLIDAY SPIRIT

The spirit of giving is all around me

Mom's wrapping up some new toys for tots

We're gathering gifts for our troops now

People spare change for Salvation Army pots

Can you feel it

Decembers air

Can you feel it

Christmas is here

Can you feel it

I can feel it

The HOLIDAY SPIRIT'S got a hold of me now

People giving

People give what they got

What they got

What I got

Is the HOLIDAY SPIRIT

Can you feel it

I can feel it

The HOLIDAY SPIRIT'S got a hold of me now

People giving

People give what they got

What they got

What I've got

Is the HOLIDAY SPIRIT

HOLIDAY SPIRIT

GO TO MYSTORE by clicking here to download it now

or go to my NIMBIT store at the bottom of this page!

MY ONE OF A KIND OFFICIAL SKETCH CARDS WITH NERDY BIRDS ART NEST by Denise Vasquez

NERDY BIRDS ART NEST represents me on Ebay

They are selling some of my ONE OF A KIND sketch cards starting at special Holiday prices!

Be sure to visit NERDY BIRDS ART NEST to see what they currently have up on auction!

http://myworld.ebay.com/nerdybird69

THE HUNKY SANTA CHRISTMAS SHOW by Denise Vasquez

Only in Hollywood!

We stumbled upon the Hunky Santa Christmas show @the Beverly Center, Los Angeles

THE CLIQUE MENTALITY by Denise Vasquez

Illustrations by Denise Vasquez

What are we in high school?!?

I never liked the "Clique" mentality in high school...couldn't wait to be away from it!

For many years I hoped people would eventually grow out of cliques & grow into WORKING TOGETHER!

For those of you that don't know what a "Clique" is, a Clique is a small exclusive group of people sharing common interests...

Cliques are also known as clans, crews, gangs, pack, mafia, posse, coterie...

During high school, I was who I wanted to be...ME!

...I was, and STILL AM, a nerd, a jock, an artist, a philosopher, a free spirit, an activist...

I was friends with people because of who there were as

HUMAN BEINGS...

and still am...

I was friends with almost everyone... and to this day, I still like being friends with pretty much everyone...

Unless they are negative, energy vampires, gossipers, two-faced, fake, users, & abusers... I stay away from those people...

I Never had the desire to be a part of or support a group or club that isolated or punished someone who wasn't a part of the group...

Nor did I have desire to be a part of a group that requires one to brown nose or kiss up to members or sacrifice your sense of being, in order to be included...

It's unfortunate as an adult to see these Cliques exist even outside of High School!

You can see them quite often even in the workplace...cliques gang up against each other! It's pretty sad!

I've always stayed true to myself, and if I get ousted from a "Clique" I know that they were never really my TRUE friends anyway!

As John Lennon said "IMAGINE"...

I can only imagine what we can accomplish as a society if we all worked TOGETHER!

Together WE CAN make a difference!

PeAce LOvE aRt & sOuL

Denise Vasquez

STAR WARS FAN DAYS III VIP SKETCH CARDS by Denise Vasquez

ONE OF A KIND

STAR WARS FAN DAYS III VIP SKETCH CARDS

ILLUSTRATED BY ARTIST DENISE VASQUEZ

Message Denise socialbutterfly.denise@gmail.com if interested in any of these cards

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Illustration by Denise Vasquez

Wishing you PeAcE, LoVe & JoY this Holiday Season!