“Lucy”

Artist Diaries

12/24/25

I mentioned before that I kept the left-over brown paper from the palm segments that went over the white paper from the Tropical Nostalgia Project. I love playing with the unexpected surprises. And I think that is why I love using paper. The cut, paste, glue, overlap options are endless. First, I thought I would incorporate these scraps later on somewhere. But when I trimmed them and placed next to each other, I fell in love with them. Realized I wanted to create a pattern out of them. It became a patternmaking project in which made me remember my handbag factory times in NYC.

It took a very long time to cut and paste all together with rubber cement, while making sure the seams would flawlessly continue to the next. It was such a strong rubber cement smell that made me think of my dear Mexican friend Lucy. Lucy was one of my co-workers in the handbag factory I worked in NYC called Finesse La Model Handbags. The factory is no longer in business, but I keep in touch with Lucy after 15 years. Everyone in the factory had their own specific assignment. It was a wonderful experience to work with high-end clientele and materials. Felt like a paid master’s degree. I helped George Sheherlis as the assistant handbag technician. Forever grateful of all the knowledge he passed along. We all listened to the French patternmaker’s classical music. There was a reserved European guy who did all the cutting, and a Latin couple that sewed and did all the final touches. Lucy tasks was to glue all the pieces that needed to be assembled. She had many brush sizes and glue cans in her desk. Once the pieces dried, Gorge and I took over in putting them together. Lucy has a warm heart and a joyful smile. She is grateful for life and trusting life’s plan. Since I glued so much, made me visualize of how Lucy felt while gluing every day and for so many years. Focused, steady and consistent.

I love how the piece turned out. Even though it has a geometric pattern, the bold & loud images and colors break the structure of the stiff lines.