Tuesday, March 23, 2010


Regresando por el Rio
30x30in. oil on canvas



La Escuela San Juan de Dios
14x18ins. oil on panel




Al Lado del Oratorio
14x18ins. oil on panel

In the last 2 weeks I've done 2 paintings with Donna's plein air group on consecutive Fridays and these is them. I like painting with her group. In some ways it's a bit distracting but in other ways it kind of takes the heat off me. If lots of kids are hanging around, as they were at San Juan de Dios, it spreads the burden around somewhat. Mexican kids are really well behaved and respectful ....... they deserve not to be entirely ignored, so you have to respond to them when they ask questions or give a compliment. Come to think of it, they were not the biggest distraction at S. Juan as mid- way through my obra I received a very painful sting from what I have been self indulgently characterizing as a probable "Killer bee". The little feller selected me out of a half dozen others in our group and demonstrated the seriousness of his intent by not only zapping me once in the neck but shifting slightly to his left and delivering, yet another dose, for the road as it were. One group member (Helga) broke her concentration long enough to extract the stinger as it was more than a little out of my view but other than a few vaguely muttered references to the possibility of dangerous alergic reactions and such there wasn't a lot of genuinely focused sympathy to be had - the class being completely immersed in their own struggles at the time. So I kind of semi hopped, semi whimpered, for a minute or two and in the end caught a glimpse of my own half-finished painting and went sulkily back to work, the swelling on my neck increasing with every passing brush stroke. This happened Friday and the swelling finally went down this (Tuesday) morning. Despite it all I like the painting! ........ it's got a kind of a buzz to it?
During this last two weeks I was also working on the big 30x30in. "cowboy picture" in the safety of my well-screened studio, the only distraction there being a brand new kitty that someone had thought it expeditious to hurl over our gate. I guess they called it right. I tried to ignore it's plaintive cries hour after hour but by the time Donna got back from the gallery I was inventing reasons why it would make sense and all ............ I've tried to keep the kitten fur out of the paint as best I can.


















































































































Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Calle Codo el la Tarde 14"x18" oil on panel


Jardin Afternoon 9"x12" oil on panel


La Capilla Arriba 14"x18" oil on panel


Passing Showers 20"x24" oil on canvas
SOLD

Well, well ........ March already, - how time rolls around. Bueno, I have been extremely busy with the new gallery and doing lots of painting besides. Galeria Laureles on Zacateros has been open now for 4 whole months and though just a baby is doing very well and showing strong signs of being something more than just a "flash in the pan" so to speak. It was a bit of a risk opening at this point in the worlds economic history but we felt we had something a little different to offer and the customers seem to agree. Our new bilingual gallery sitter (Marionela) is working out fine and claims she loves the job - people are saying nice things behind her back as well and we're not surprised! She's been a friend of ours now for several years and shows great to extraordinary patience with our lousy Spanish. Donna's art classes are being given on the lower level at the gallery 4 times a week now and we go out with a more advanced group of plein air painters every Friday.
Some have actually been saying that they miss our old website, so with this in mind I will try to get into some sort of gear and start posting new things, with hopefully some regularity. I just dropped off "Passing Showers" at the gallery this morning. Based on a a rather desperate attempt to draw some inspiration from this years unusually wet winter weather, I really got involved with it and am pretty happy with the result. It's a kind of a different take on the Parroquia. "La Capilla Arriba" was done at La Ermita high on the Salida Queretero above town a couple of weeks ago. "Jardin Afternoon" was last weeks plein air in the towns central square. "Calle Codo en la Tarde" is a couple of months old now but it's still available and actually in the gallery window at the moment. I should add that we do ship from San Miguel, so anyone interested in any of these could get in touch through galerialaureles@yahoo.ca or, of course drop by the gallery if you're in the area. Donna and Marionela would be happy to meet you. I however will most likely be firmly chained to my studio easel on a typical day ........ but you never know.