Phoenix Rising

Yesterday we painted the second mural at my school with the kids and families of the San Diego Cooperative Charter School. That's me smiling after we finished and that's my dad Rafael who designed Phoenix Rising to celebrate the children, teachers, moms and dads. The art shows how important it is to create and care for our earth and make a garden. We made a beautiful one at our school and we all take care of it and get to walk in and enjoy watching things grow. The mural is on two walls outside of the art room and everybody loves our art teacher Miss Bell. That's her jumping and she can jump really high. On the corner you can see the artist with her brush and paints. There are also children reading because everybody knows that books are treasures. You can also see kids making music on drums and playing outside in the sunshine. There is a flower blooming and inside is the world with the red phoenix rising.

You can see a video of the mural being made that was created by Steven Morris at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kez0US8f-_0

My name is Santiago López, I'm seven and I draw all the time. I like to use sharpies and any kind of paper I can get my hands on. I'm including some of my latest pieces and two recent photos of me in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

My name is Santiago and I like to draw

I did these drawings when I was six. My dad is an illustrator and he did the drawing of me in this blog and my mom is an art teacher. They both have blogs so I told them I wanted to be able to show my friends and family my drawings and have a blog too. They are helping me write this and put it together.
I started drawing all the time when I was two and have filled up hundreds of sketchbooks. I like to use sharpies best and I am always careful to put the caps back on so they don't dry out. They make the best lines and the colors are really great. I live in a loft in downtown San Diego and also have a home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. This summer I was in Mexico and had such a great time. One of my favorite things to do is hike in the botanical garden and I have included drawings of it so you can see what it looks like. My friend Pierre came to visit us with his family this past summer and he really liked it too. We both got a map and I love to look at mine, I like maps and tried to draw my drawing like a map so people would know what it looks like. I also love New York and Paris but I have only been there in books.