Just completed ........

"Afterglow" 24x36ins. oil on canvas

Well, I just couldn't resist seeing if one couldn't squeeze a little more out of that photo of the parroquia. Some might find the alterations a little interesting. I'm pretty happy with this one (it was a major challenge) and we'll be hanging it in the gallery at #1 Pila Seca first opportunity.

Views of the town from our rooftop terrace ...........................................................................................................

- Our Place and the view to the North -
"Las Monjas" Iglesia in the background.....

- Looking west, down the hill and over the plains toward Guanajuato -
The owl palm is just out of the frame to the left

- Looking East up the hill to the Parroquia -

There is a barn owl that lives in a palm tree about 100 yards south (down the hill) from us and he/she comes out about a half hour after sunset. It often flies around with a "buddy" during the night and now and then they fly around the Parroquia steeple. They're huge and bright white in the city lights at night but all the same, not a soul we have mentioned it to has ever seen them. When the two of them are together and they fly over our terrace, they make a sound like very loud crickets. The first time I heard that, I thought the aliens had landed.

A few new paintings...........

"Barranca Fountain" 12x9in. oil on panel

"Sunday Afternoon at the Jardin" 9x12in. oil on panel

Morning After the Rain "Reicker's Ranch" oil on panel
SOLD

Here are a couple of plein air studies from the last 2 outings with Donna's class - "Sunday Afternoon at the Jardin" and "Barranca Fountain" Also I finally completed a 14x18 started at Reicker's horse farm many months ago......... a little worked over by now but it's got the feel of the place I think. I like plein air painting the best and as time goes by I'm finding I can get them closer to a satisfying completion, right there on location. I sometimes think I should do nothing but plein air but somehow things find a way to get me stuck in the studio again. I suppose I would miss doing large elaborate things now and then, anyway. But I'm not complaining - things are going well for us and the weather has been beautiful this "winter". I see I claimed I was going to post some views from our deck last time. O.K. - I'll dip into the files and see what we have.

A couple of views of Donna's new studio/classroom/gallery. We're still hanging paintings and generally getting things arranged. - Not too fond of the pink fireplace but understand, ........ the whole room was pink when we moved in! Ugh. The landlords didn't want us to paint over it but we made it a "make or brake" rental issue and they folded (regana dientes, - as the say down here). The whole casa is very beautiful and I'll post some more pics from our rooftop, soon. - maybe today .... I seem to be in that 'ol bloggin mood, somehow.

The Parroquia from Umaran
18x14 in. oil on panel

The Old Gas Pump 14x18 in. oil
SOLD

Reicker's Ranch 9x12 in. oil

SOLD

Oh, - I just remembered. This is supposed to be about painting pictures, - isn't it? O.K. -Here are some more I've done lately. We've had a print made of "Morning Light" and a few of our other most popular things from the past couple of years ................. I'll maybe post a few of those too.

New Paintings

SOLD

This painting "Over the Rooftops" is actually done from our new rooftop terrace in centro San Miguel. Yes, that's right - we moved yet again! The countryside was nice but all we seemed to be doing was heading downtown repeatedly over some very bumpy roads. First we broke an essential suspension part on the car ( which was very hard to replace ) followed by the electrics rattling loose on our trusty moto. Enough is enough and we're happy to be back 2 blocks from the Jardin and Parroquia. The new place is great and we both have a nice studio to paint in. We plan to be here for some time but then ........ you never know for sure, - do you? I haven't posted for almost 3 months now as things have been wildly, unusually, crazy/busy. I wont go into the details here but rest assured the"road of life" has been pretty lumpy too. My oh My there are some nutty people who end up in San Miguel de Allende!

Anyway, things have settled down in the nicest way and we're getting back to some serious painting. We've been selling a few things through the new gallery (Izamal) on Mesones and we're busily getting Donna's Studio/Gallery ready for a hopefully active winter season. Her studio is in a spacious 350 year old casa with high boveda ceiling, capped with an ancient cupula. It's perfect for her art classes - it's got big colonial era"bulls eye" windows, high up on the street side for natural light. It also stays warm even over these cold winter nights because the walls are over 2 feet thick and solid. Also, because our studios and apartment are all in the same location we get to see more of each other during the day, which is a definite plus for us (even after 40 years!). I'll post some pictures of the new place soon. We have a barn owl living in a palm tree about 100 yards from us and every night after the sunset has faded over Guanajuato he/she flies out over the town. It sometimes flies a few loops around the Parroquia towers - we haven't spoken to anyone who has noticed it - they probably think it's an oversize night flying pigeon. It's got a friend too and you sometimes see them in the middle of the night chasing around. Then, when there's a glimmer of dawn in the eastern sky ................. it's back into the rustling palms for the day. - what a life. 'Course you gotta have a taste for rats and pussycats, I guess.

SOLD

The painting is of "ten ten pie", a popular outdoor corner cafe in the heart of San Miguel de Allende. It was painted entirely on location about a year ago.The Amazon ad is for a new book by John Scherber which aims to council people on the joys and pitfalls of retirement in our little town south of the border. It's a compilation of interviews with folks who have already made the move .... more or (sometimes) less successfully. It's a small but representative sampling and the book is full of insight - an interesting read.
"Ten ten pie" is, by the way, the term that the Mexicans apply to the snack they have between breakfast and the main meal (comida- at about 2 pm.) of the day.