"In the Cool of the Morning"

............and here's the finished picture. I'm pretty pleased with it. It was a subtle study in "warms and cools" and painting from the dark looking out to the light is always a challenge - you really have to use your head - I used to really screw that type up! I may do a larger version of this down the line and think out the peopleing of it a bit better. However, I didn't want it to be swarming with living souls because it was started early in the morning and I wanted to preserve that early morning feel.

A Raw One in the Making.

...................... and, here it is! - and Yes, I was sorely tempted to touch it up before posting it. The picture is missing all the people that were passing through and all the cafe tables, not to mention a great deal of noise and confusion. We were out there for about 3 hours in all and I worked on it for all but about 30 minutes of that time. I would have worked the whole 3 hours if it hadn't been for a couple of Senoras that came along washing windows. I'd been utilizing a window ledge as a godsend of a tool holder............ I got bumped........ and man, were they slowwwwwww......
Anyway, that's what a mornings work looks like in San Miguel. I'll work on it some more, maybe tomorrow, and will post the finished, fussed-over product. Oh, and by the way - it was a bit of a challenge, that one, with lots of onlookers - up close and personal.

..........finally getting re-settled and Back to Work .........

"Summer Morning - cuna de Allende" SOLD
9x12in. oil on panel

I started this one plein air with Donna's group this past Monday. It was a great session with everyone in the group getting good results. I fussed over the painting later, of course (always do) and added the principal figures. I can't seem to leave anything in it's raw state - always have to make a little "finished" painting out of it ................ oh well....................
But anyway, it's gratifying to me somehow from start to finish - what you sees is what you gets. But I just had a thought- Donna and I are going out "solo" in the morning to do some plein air. And this time I won't touch it after the initial work in the street - I'll post the results - it should be interesting ........... I wonder if I can, in fact, be restrained .......................

"Temprano" 9x12in. oil on panel

This was one from two Monday's back. Donna, Steve, Gary and I settled on the old "ten ten pie" cafe. This is the third I've done of it over the years and it keeps getting more fun with the passage of time. I thought I'd kind of exhausted the possibilities after the last one but they swapped the old green umbrellas for orange and it was no time before the new ones took on a nice faded tint in the unrelenting Mexican sun - while retaining a strong, orange saturation on the dark underside ................. they're done "to a turn" now - just what that corner wanted - love it!

Our new Gallery/Studio overlooking the Jardin Principal

Looking from the gallery space back into the teaching area. We had to do a lot of renovating to get it looking like this. People can now browse the gallery without having to feel like they're interrupting the classes.

Looking from

Looking from the Studio/Classroom area out to the Jardin and into the Gallery area. It's a great space - skylights and there's always a soft breeze flowing through. When you take a break it's great fun watching what's happening in the park below.

"La Luz de la Tarde"
Oil 14x18ins.

This is the last picture I did before moving to our new gallery and residence. It was sad to leave that place as the view over the town and plains beyond was unmatchable but our new gallery/studio is overlooking the Jardin Principal and the space, light and view are superb. It's going to be more convenient for Donna's students and we think that in the long run we will get more traffic through the gallery. The large building we're located in is beautiful and is still in the hands of the Sanchez family who first came over from Spain in the late 1500's. It's apparently the only original large structure in town that is still in the hands of the original family. They also we're part of the conspiracy to revolt against Spain in the early 19th. century. I think we may be here a long, long time as things finally feel just about right for us.

"Abandoned Church at Pozos" 14x18in. oil
This one was the second and larger of the two I worked on the day of an outing to the "ghost" mining town of Minas de Pozos with my wife Donna's group, about two weeks ago.

"Up on Montitlan" 12x9in. oil SOLD
This one from a Sunday plein air excursion with our group a few weeks back. There are some fabulous views of the town and beyond as you go up the hills - really inspiring but they are quite a challenge to paint! I always kind of do the background as a generalized blur and plan to differentiate near the end of the session but find by the time I get there I'm just about exhausted and no longer have the freshness required. I relied on the camera here to finish it up back in the studio but it irks me to lug that thing around and half the time I forget to snap one anyway before I start painting. Most paintings I work on fore and background and everything else all at the same time, together. Somehow I can't do this with these big overviews and I don't like the way a painting loses integrity if you chop it up and give your full attention and energy to just one or two "favorite" areas. That is just what I used to do many years ago - everybody does at first - maybe I'm afraid of getting lost in all the little church spirey detail in that background and losing too much time over it as the light changes. However "we shall overcome" (maybe).

"Abandoned Church at Pozos" 14x18in. oil
This is the larger of the two I painted with my wife Donna's group a couple of weeks back at the "ghost town" of Las Minas de Pozos, a largely abandoned mining town from the last century, not too far from San Miguel. It was one of the most comfortable paintings I've done outside in a while, as the old concrete floor we stood on was level and weedlees and well-shaded from the partially intact vaulted ceiling over our heads. We had a great time and all returned to S. Miguel late in the day, exhausted but happy.

"Callejon del Puebla" 14x18in. oil on panel
This one was from our plein air outing with Donna's group two Sundays back. It was a fantastic location up on the hill - out of the traffic and beautiful! - a bit of a climb but worth it many times over. The picture was pretty much as you see it now, after about 2 hours work. I hope the excitement I felt while doing it comes across to some extent. We plan to return again soon to Callejon Cruz del Puebla.