This Crafty Chica's imagination has no borders
SAN DIEGO -- As the saying goes, God doesn't give with both hands. He gave me the skill to communicate but not even a smidgeon of artistic ability.
My friend Kathy Cano-Murillo got my share -- and then some.
Just ask the 30,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel, or the thousands of others who have -- over the last 20 years -- bought one of her 10 books or attended a speaking engagement.
Who else would have thought of a "Halloween Tree," where you clip candy to artificial limbs and plant it in the front yard so trick-or-treaters can help themselves?
Her latest book is titled "Forever Frida: A Celebration of the Life, Art, Loves, Words, and Style of Frida Kahlo."
I asked my friend why she thought the legend of Frida endures.
"Her art and the stories behind it are timeless and universal," she told me. "The beauty she added to her lifestyle -- from her clothing, her home, her gifts, her words, are very powerful and full of emotion."
For Cano-Murillo, much of the magic happens at the Mucho Más Art Studio in Phoenix, Arizona -- which she and her husband, the artist and musician Patrick Murillo, co-own and have stocked with handmade candles, jewelry, paintings and more. The couple used to schlep to art festivals to peddle their colorful wares. They developed a fan base.
Cano-Murillo has been called the queen of the hustle. Believe it. From her perch in the Southwest, the wife and mother is a branding ninja and the hyperproductive creative force behind an arts and crafts empire.
She is also the unofficial high priestess of Día de los Muertos.
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