A trip to Guanajuato

"Sunny Morning - Nov. 2013"

9 x 12 in. oil on panel
SOLD

Auction ends 11/27/2013   8 pm

"Guanajuato Centro"

12 x 16 in. oil on panel
Auction ends 12/05/2013  8 pm

This painting was begun mid July as a short demonstration of how to get off to a bold start. - you can see that start on the July 17th blog entry. I meant to get back to that picture and finish it but somehow didn't until this past week. I thought I would put an hour or two into it .................... Well, I got caught on it and ended up putting quite a lot of effort into it. If Donna hadn't wrestled the brushes out of my hand I'd probably still be working on it! At any rate - I guess it's complete now. It certainly is a very active picture. Well, I wanted it to be pretty active as central Guanajuato is an active place. What you see here, is about the spot you emerge at street level, after trying to navigate their totally confusing, ancient underground roadway system in the dark. The feeling is always one of shock - you're suddenly hit by this blinding light and sea of moving people. It's almost always hot, hot, Hot. The main part of the city is built in a canyon bottom and there is really only one main drag. It's a very interesting place -  the capital of the state of Guanajuato. It was a very wealthy city back in Colonial times due to gold and silver in the surrounding hills. There are lots of large old domed churches, winding back streets and peaceful squares to paint. Most of the residential part of the city is built on the steep canyon walls and beyond, up and down the slopes of the surrounding hills. Most people have access to their casa via very narrow foot paths, of the switchback variety. If they have a car at all, it's parked somewhere far, far away. Needless to say, they all have strong legs! It's only about 50 miles from here but it has a totally different feel to the place.

I hope you like the picture. I tried to get that hot, afternoon feeling into it. I left out most of the people that are usually bustling through.