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During both adventures to Bali, I visited the Sekumpul Waterfall in North Bali. It is a breathtakingly beautiful and magical place. I would visit a hundred times or more if I could! When you get to the bottom of a million stairs or so, you walk across a bridge over the river, up alongside the mountain a …

After a few commission projects, I was itching to paint what was in my mind and heart. This piece, “Reflections of Peace,” created itself in the moment, I didn’t have a complete image in my mind when I started, but it came together as I played with the paint. Here are photos of the process …

I recently completed a commission project for the newly renovated King’s Restaurant in Tamuning, Guam. I created two large artworks, each 48″x48″ latte stones, one in pieces on the ground, and one standing upright, both in jungle background settings. Here are photos of the process from start to finish:

Last month, I was honored to be invited to be one the first four speakers for the first live TEDx event for Guam, alongside Guam’s first lady Christine Calvo, congresswoman Madeline Bordallo, and owner of Bank of Guam, Lou Leon Guerrero. I was so nervous, to be alongside top women leaders in our community, and …

Studio has been renovated over the last few months, and I had my soft opening at the beginning of October. The grand opening will be December 10th. Here are photos of the renovation process. All that is left to do is install the flooring, some window treatments, and some basic decor.

The 2016 Electric Island Festival commissioned me to create their event mascot sculpture, a mermaid, or “Sirena.” I recruited Addison Moyer to help me build an industrial style sculpture, consisting of mostly rebar and chicken wire.       

GUAM art on BLOUIN ARTINFO, whaat?! Huge thank you to Robert Michael Poole from Blouin Artinfo, top international art magazine, for writing up this article, and giving the world some awareness about Guam and my personal story of going from struggling to thriving artist! I’m so honored to be able to share, and to keep …

Time for some sponge action to create a full-textured Golden Goddess painting commission, inspired by the original Life Force paintings I did a couple years back. This piece was commissioned through the Divine Mother fundraiser campaign to open my art studio. Here’s a play-by-play of the sponging action and close-ups on the textures.

So when I get a commission request, they often show up as an idea and it evolves from there. Here is the a recent request that I received for this almost-finished moonlit jungle painting: How are you?  We follow you on Instagram and love your paintings!  Our 11th wedding anniversary is in April so we …

Waves are one of my favorite, and most challenging subject to paint. I’ve always been in love with the ocean, and am endlessly amazed by the power and beauty of ocean waves. This Divine Wave is acrylic on stretched canvas, 24″x30″ and is exhibited at MoSa’s Joint in Hagatna, available for purchase. Here are photos …

Do you ever feel completely drained or unmotivated to create anything? I’m pretty sure we all experience this on some level at some point. If this is you, it’s all good. There is nothing wrong with you. There are toxic creativity-killers that I have learned to identify and either avoid or zap with my magic wand of …

My birthday is 12/12/84 at 12:12pm, and so I’ve always felt connected to the number 12. Another special connection is sharing that birthday (12/12) with my great-grandmother Agueda Johnston, who was a well-known woman here on Guam. While I have never really been much of a religious person, I do have a strong sense of …

So I was up late one night (I think it was new year’s day? or the 2nd?) and decided to just go ahead and paint the giant canvas sitting in my room. Over the course of several hours, the biggest latte stone I’ve ever painted emerged. I have been loving using the crosshatch style of …

I just finished a 2-piece painting project of a couple flowers that are native (or indigenous) to Guam and the Northern Marianas. The two featured are “niyoron” and “ifit,” in my artistic representation for a commissioned project. Here I show the painting process from start to finish:

Photo by David Zimms. Starting your own business is an intense undertaking. This post has been building in my mind for quite some time. There are many amazing points to sustaining your own solo-entrepreneur style business on Guam. However, there are also many challenges to getting yourself set up smoothly. It can be tricky if you are, for …

“IlluminLatte” is an abstract latte stone painting I did recently. I recorded the process from start to finish, sharing and explaining my painting style. This piece is an acrylic painting done on stretched canvas, and all the paint is Chroma brand metallic acrylics. This is a full length video, just over 20 minutes. Below is …

Hooray!!! You can now buy prints of my artwork in any size, framed or matted, on canvas, poster or metal. Or get it on a pillow! Also available are phone cases, tote bags, duvet covers & greeting cards. All prints and merchandise are made from high quality materials created by Fine Art America, and can …

One of the most common questions I get asked about painting is: What supplies do you use and where do you buy them? I am writing this to save myself from repeating my answer over and over. I mean, I don’t mind, but this will be much more helpful, for me and you. So, painting …

You can create art in just about any space if you get a little creative. When I got back into painting in 2007, it was not an ideal situation for creating art, or so I thought. My boys were 2-years old and 8-months old, and I was overwhelmed with life. We lived in a small studio space …

I recently found my old portfolio from college (was that really almost 15 years ago?!), and pulled out some old gems. These were from my “Drawing 1” class, using pencil, charcoal, oil pastels and pen, not particularly my favorite mediums. I loved sketching though, I’ve been sketching and drawing pretty much since I was able …

On Wednesday April 29th, the U.S. Small Business Association held it’s annual award ceremony along with its 25th anniversary celebration. Nine award-winners were recognized for their achievements in the small business world here on Guam. According to a Guam Pacific Daily News article, “Several individuals and families who were honored yesterday in the U.S. Small …

You may have seen my previous post showing the progress of the Tree of Wisdom painting. The piece is finally finished, and I’ve compiled all the footage of the process from start to finish. Here is a time-lapse of the painting, to music: “Firestone” by Kygo ft. Conrad Sewell.

A few weeks ago, I had a unique opportunity to paint my art onto a wedding dress modeled by Erin Wong, 2014 Miss Earth Guam for the Pacific Daily News Guam Bridal Guide. Big thanks to Hannah Iriarte for reaching out to me for this project. The concept is to show the art as if …

Yesterday I had the honor of leading a Creative Journaling workshop at the “Guam is Good: Cancer Symposium” held by the Edward M. Calvo Foundation. Keynote speaker Lori Earl flew to Guam to speak about her family’s experience with cancer. She is the author of the book “This Star Won’t Go Out,” based on her …

Due to popular demand, I have painted another rooster, or “gayu” as we call them in Chamorro here on Guam. I’m sure this won’t be the last, and in fact, this might be the start of a collection of pieces to showcase in an exhibit. A rooster exhibit! Here are some photos of the piece …

Today was the grand opening of the Gloria B. Nelson GPA/GWA multipurpose facility, and the unveiling of all the commissioned and installed artworks. Photography by John Barber Art by Frank Perez Art by Taliea Strohmeyer Art by Michelle Pier Art by Phil Card Art by Monica Baza Artist currently unknown Art by Mark Murer Art …

Today’s Creative Session brought about this wave painting, called “Wave of Peace.” I enjoyed creating this piece, going for a moody but peaceful feel. It is 11″x14″ acrylic on stretched canvas.

The latest commission artwork by Michelle Pier, a 4’x6′  acrylic painting on canvas titled “Infinite Love,” was documented from start to finish in this time-lapse video:

I’ve been gradually collecting and taking images of Guam’s local murals and street art, to showcase the more attractive walls and buildings on Guam. There are plenty of “eye sores” here on Guam, abandoned & dilapidated buildings, junk yards, and garbage, but I try to find the beauty instead. The art. And there is plenty …

Sailing inspiration! At Sea, and Smooth Sailing. Inspired by my dad, requesting a special painting to give to a dear friend as a gift. I caught the ocean bug and I just want to paint water, water, water. Here they are, including a time-lapse video of the process for the 1st “At Sea” piece: “At …

The waterfall symbolizes effortlessness. Powerful, graceful flow. Skillfully moving around that which is often seen as an obstacle. The water finds its way around, creating art out of the rock standing before its path. Cascading beauty, into a pool of calm. I have been experiencing a theme of letting go, patience, trust, graceful powerful flow, …

1. ) Recognize your awesomeness. You are awesome, complete with all your trials, tribulations, successes, failures, learning experiences, weaknesses, strengths, opportunities missed and taken. Acknowledge the awesomeness of you, others, and your world and all the gifts you have to give, and are grateful to receive. 2.) Be curious. ASK QUESTIONS. Especially the question “Why?” …

Here is PART 5 to the Guam Reef Hotel Project. (You can also check back to PART 1 and PART 2 and PART 3 and PART 4 to see from the beginning). It has been a serendipitous series of events that led up to the project’s birth. There are so many parallels to this story, it will probably sound too good …

It has been a serendipitous series of events that led up to the project’s birth. There are so many parallels to this story, it will probably sound too good to be true if I share it all here. Let’s just say everything happens at exactly the moment it is meant to, and to be clear …

So this past week I decided I wanted to paint something specific. An ifit flower. And I just happened to have a beautiful photo that I took of one last year, much better than any photo I found searching on google! Of course, I would paint it in my own style, my creative version, not …

Continuing my painting groove, today I created this piece titled “Moon Goddess” and I just love her! It is a 24″x30″ acrylic on canvas, with a lot of movement. She is a goddess of the moon, she is nameless. She ebbs and flows as the tides do, she follows a rhythm and cycle that is …

I completed the Uplevel Your Life mastery program in 2011, and the one thing that profoundly changed my life more than anything else was committing to going complaint-free. It didn’t mean that I never complained again, but that I am more aware and open to SOLUTIONS.  I’d like to share an article written by Christine …

Laying a foundation for my creative business, moving to a new house and reintegrating as a family, the death of my grandmother, and reinstating creative rhythm in my life; Let’s just say 2011 has been  intense for me. It is a good thing I had Grace, my word of the year, to back me up. …

A simple and easy way to feel relief and clarity is to pause and check in with yourself and your life. What’s going on right now? What needs to be done, what needs to be simplified? What are your next steps? Most importantly, how are you feeling? The other day a woman asked me why …

So I know if you clicked on this to read, you don’t need “more stuff” on your plate. Let’s keep this simple and easy. ANY time you feel anxious or overwhelmed, you reserve the right to AT THE VERY LEAST… 1.) Take a moment to JUST …B…R…E…A…T…H…E…   Gather yourself another moment and borrow one …

Do you need space? Are you often overwhelmed or scattered? Ever want to just crawl into bed, pull the covers over and hide for awhile? Have you ever felt the paradox of feeling so busy and yet unable to define what you’ve actually DONE all day? That vague sense of incompletion and just-out-of-reach-ness can feel …

Have you nourished yourself today? As a creative person who wants to make a positive difference in the world, it is absolutely crucial that you take extra special care of yourself first. Gone are the days when martyrdom and suffering were the noble way of life. It’s time to nourish ourselves so well that we …

“I see you.” You may or may not have seen the movie Avatar. When the people (Na’vi) of Pandora greet each other, they say (in their language), “I see you.” This is such a beautiful way to interact! Think about it. When you are passing someone, you are not judging them, not requesting any personal …

Update: You can find me on http://myeverydaymagic.com  on Wednesdays! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What are some things that you can feel good about right now? What have you felt good about before? What do you look forward to? What pleases you, makes you smile, or warms your heart? What are the best highlights of the day? The month? …

Do you ever notice that you are holding your breath, even just a little? Many of us are breathing shallowly to begin with, and at times we don’t even realize that we are holding our breath all-together! I encourage you to take a deep breath in right now… Breathe in one more time, slowly…..breathe life …

Often I am asked “Where to start?” when it comes to creating and living a positive and exhilarating creative journey. One of the best things I did to ground myself in my journey, was to start a Creativity Binder. Call it what you want, it can be a Binder of Inspiration, Book of Creativity, Creative …