Maggie Kendis    
Maggie Kendis -I can be reached at mkendis@hotmail, www.maggiekendis.com, Pinterest.maggiekendis

 
I work in linoleum cut prints which I hand color with watercolor. Lately I have been combining them into retablos. 
Retablos are reminiscent of the time I lived in Mexico during my teens. They are small paintings on tin or wood of saints, which hang in many houses in Mexico. I was drawn to them as a kid, because they were so beautiful and a shrine to someone precious. I always loved the folk art, the carved animals, weaving, ceramics of Mexico and have used that joy in my work. So now making retablos, I feel I am making a full circle home. 
As I grew up in Southern California, and spent time in Mexico, that sense of color and whimsy has become part of my latest work.

I also have been doing pet portraits as well. People send me pictures of their dog, cat, rabbit,horses, birds. Some have been framed, some made into my retablos, or pendants, pins or earrings.

I was in Florida earlier in the year, and have been drawn to the Spoonbills, Herons, and various water birds. Next, I want to do some Santa Fe pieces as well.


I am lucky to have a whole room in my house dedicated to my studio, where I work. During this isolated time, I have been so creative. I was on a printing frenzy, and this has come at a time, I feel very motivated with a ton of ideas. It’s been a great time to stay focused and a way to avoid the horrors of what is going on in this country and the world. So being quarantined inside, has been good for me, though I do miss going out to the horses, and riding, and the sun..though not much!

Between pictures of birds I took during a trip to St. Augustine, Fl this winter, and pictures of my time in Santa Fe, I have a tons ideas of from various trips . I am distressed by the current events, our president, and find peace working with color, landscapes, birds, and animals...

This experience has given me time to reflect, and I realize that my art has always been inside of me, and something to not dismiss, that it’s who I am.