<![CDATA[RAQUEL BALDOCCHI FINE ARTS - Notes]]>

<![CDATA[RAQUEL BALDOCCHI FINE ARTS - Notes]]>Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:05:10 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[August 28th, 2024]]>Wed, 28 Aug 2024 19:09:55 GMThttps://www.raquelbaldocchi.com/notes/august-28th-2024<![CDATA[Shadow boxes]]>Wed, 28 Aug 2024 19:00:19 GMThttps://www.raquelbaldocchi.com/notes/shadow-boxesAunt Helen made beautiful shadow boxes with trinkets and keepsake's from my mother's early childhood. These boxes lived on the walls in my parent's home. I love them because they evoke an era long gone by and give me a glimpse into my mother's life as a small child.

The little soldier, camel and penknife likely belonged to my mother's bother, Uncle Bill. My painting,
" Willie and Rollin" portrays Uncle Bill and his father, Rollin, my grandfather, when my uncle was
just a boy in Salinas, CA

]]><![CDATA[Cross stitch and such]]>Sun, 09 Sep 2018 00:16:55 GMThttps://www.raquelbaldocchi.com/notes/september-08th-2018Our family ranch house is adorned with samples of Aunt Helen's cross stitch. One illustrates a poem my mother wrote as a child about her favorite tree. Another was well known to my generation of children as it hung in our bathroom, reminding us to bathe well, but not to bogart... She made two dolls for my mother and my uncle , and stitched their little faces.
I am strongly drawn to stitching as a creative outlet and lately I've used images from my paintings a subjects for embroidery and needlepoint.

]]><![CDATA[Embroidery]]>Mon, 30 Apr 2018 16:14:55 GMThttps://www.raquelbaldocchi.com/notes/embroideryAunt Helen always insisted that if one were to do anything, they should do it correctly. This concept she especially applied to creative work. As you can see by the meticulous stitching in her state flower embroidery, the stitching is perfection. She and I seem to be the only ones in our entire extended family that pursued the art of stitching imagery.

I've taken imagery from my paintings and applied them to this craft:

]]><![CDATA[More from the scrapbooks.......]]>Wed, 07 Mar 2018 15:55:56 GMThttps://www.raquelbaldocchi.com/notes/more-from-the-scrapbooks

Many of the images in Aunt Helen's scrapbooks dealt with the world of children, their daily antics and love of animals. She seemed to be fond of and amused by the lives of youngsters.

]]><![CDATA[February 14th, 2018]]>Thu, 15 Feb 2018 01:14:16 GMThttps://www.raquelbaldocchi.com/notes/february-14th-2018This Valentine Aunt Helen made in bright, shiny foil.; the note scratched into the foil in the middle of a delicate doily heart, with a tiny scroll to be pulled by that green twine containing another sweet message. I just love it!

]]><![CDATA[Aunt Helen's Scrapbooks]]>Sun, 14 Jan 2018 21:22:01 GMThttps://www.raquelbaldocchi.com/notes/aunt-helens-scrapbooks

My grandmother’s sister, our Aunt Helen, was a woman who spent much of her time in creative pursuits. She lived in a small house in Salinas, CA where she gardened, sewed, and made all sorts of things. She made cross-stitched tapestries, shadowboxes and collections of shells, stones and earth from all over the globe. Every year beginning in October, she made numerous elegant Christmas ornaments that she distributed among the family each December.

Among my favorite of Aunt Helen’s creations were her scrapbooks. She made these with books my mother bought in Chinatown; plain bound books with lightweight paper that she filled with images meticulously cut from magazines. She would make covers for them out of wallpaper and fabric. These scrapbooks were many, often themed, and full of delightful illustrations. As children, we would be mesmerized by the images of animals, flowers, and paintings of every day human interactions. I reference these book in my artist’s statement because, all of these decades later, I find that they often influence the content of my paintings.

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