Our new CafePress Online Store:
Cool Gear to Empower
So one day we were thinking, wouldn’t it be great if we had t-shirts to wear at conferences or events and to have stickers available with our motto or The 3 Rules. And then we thought, maybe others might also enjoy such fun things. And thus our CafePress store was born. We’ve been busy playing and having fun designing cool graphics for t-shirts, stickers, and more. You can check out some of our offerings in our store including our Claiming Face journal where you can claim your self and your life on every page and remember that YOU are an Artist! A great compliment to our Claiming Face Ed Guide. More designs sure to come too including art from some of Maya’s children’s books! Enjoy!
Want a Free Copy of CLAIMING FACE,
The Educator’s Guide?
We are currently looking for individuals to review our latest new release:
CLAIMING FACE:
Self-Empowerment through Self-Portraiture
How it works:
We send you a shiny new advanced copy of the book. You excitedly open the package addressed from Reflection Press, you marvel at the book’s pretty cover, crack it open, digest all the wonderful information, then proceed to write a review (of course we want your honest opinion). Finally, you publish it on your blog/column/or other media, and then keep the book. It’s that simple. If this sounds exactly like something you’d like to do, read below for criteria and how to participate. Continue reading »
Tales from “Our Community, Ourselves” Diversity Conference
Spring is here and we’ve been all over the place. I’m one of those terribly homey people. I LOVE home. But I also LOVE to travel. India, Mexico, Brazil, Puerto Rico, New York, Philadelphia, South Carolina, Vallejo, Alameda County… The world fascinates me with its beauty and variation, from the far away and vastly different to the close to home and still different! In San Francisco, we live in what I jokingly refer to as an “adjacent reality,” similar to the rest of the country, but noticeably unique. Ahhh, San Francisco, she’s an island unto herself in some ways. So even when we only travel a county or two away, I feel like we’re on an adventure…away from our familiar little village of the Castro and Mission Districts, away from the public trains and rolling fog, our local markets and favorite strolls.
This last Friday, April 23rd, we were up before the sun and off to the Newark Hilton for the Diversity Conference sponsored by Child, Family and Community Services, Inc. of Alameda County. I love doing these things with Matthew. He drives and I navigate. Usually I’ve been alone, so I drive and I have no idea who’s navigating. We got there nice and early and set up our table. It was the first public event for Claiming Face, the Educator’s Guide, and Continue reading »
CLAIMING FACE in Life – The Making of the Book, Part 1
We have the very first book in hand now. As I hold it I can feel the heft of its 236 pages. The cover is slick and vibrant. It looks and feels like “fresh book.” But it also feels like it has existed forever. I have done a lot of books in my time, but nothing like this. This book is my life. I can sense how it has grown in me ever since I was a child. It feels like me. As personal as it is, it could not have been created this way without partnering with Matthew for it. I think it’s an honest estimation to say that we are each wildly creative in separate, but fabulously complimentary ways. One of Matthew’s many strengths is his attention to great detail and clarity. He has architecture in his blood. I love structure, but often find that dismantling is more my focus. I need a lot of freedom.
Coupled with our individual style we both also engage with creativity differently. I see it as a powerful force I was born with that serves as my teacher. I also see that Continue reading »
Filed under CLAIMING FACE, The Creative Process | Tags: book process, CLAIMING FACE, creative process, creativity, series | Comment (0)So Much More than Art
We attended Our Focus: The Child and Creciendo Juntos: Educadores, Niños y Familias Conference this past weekend sponsored by Las Positas College and Chabot College. 
I often present at conferences like these but it was our first time as vendors. We didn’t know what to expect and were just fabulously impressed with the great turn out, around 500 attendees. We were also impressed with the intent and breadth of the conference format. There were presentations in English, Spanish and Cantonese. And during lunch great dragons and flying skirts dancing and drumming!
During the keynote given by First 5’s Deputy Director Gloria Corral, we were nodding our heads and dreaming about sharing our Claiming Face curriculum as a tool to build cultural capacity in classrooms! We also connected with many great educators and students.
My presentation was filled to the maximum with Continue reading »
Filed under Conferences, Power of Reflection | Tags: CLAIMING FACE, conference, educators, presentations, reflection | Comment (0)
