Upcoming Plein Air Painting Workshop Feb. 24th.-Mar. 2nd. 2012

"Back from the Market" 11x15in. watercolor Donna Dickson

"Reflections in Glass" 8x6in. oil Donna Dickson

"Blanca's Patio" 14x18in. watercolor Donna Dickson

"En el Mercado" 9x12in. oil Donna Dickson

Just to let people know that my fellow artist and wife Donna is giving a Plein Air painting workshop here in San Miguel de Allende the week of Feb. 24th. to Mar. 2nd. 2012. She is the best teacher of oils and watercolors in town and her workshop promises to be rewarding, exciting and fun. She knows all the best places to paint and dine and the best hotel choices in town.
If you're interested, check out the details here:

Workshop Details

.....A Couple of New Ones.........

"Callejon Cruz del Pueblo" 28x22ins. oil on canvas
I always love painting on this calle - no traffic! -it's always quiet and beautiful and the folks who live up there all seem to understand what we're doing. A hard climb to get up there without benefit of taxi but worth it. All you can hear is a distant, white, city noise, overlayed by bird song. I think this painting kind of sums up what I feel about the place.

"Across the Rio Laja" 24x36ins. oil on canvas
This scene is right where the Rio Laja spills into the Presa Allende. The town is actually quite nearby but you'd never know it from over the other side of the river, - another quiet, enchanting place. I was trying very hard to get the air and the passing cloud shadows happening in this one.

View from the "Luna Bar" atop the new Rosewood complex

San Miguel Vista 22x28 ins. oil on canvas
This was a commissioned piece I just finished for Robert and Debbie Burns, done from the Luna Bar on the roof of the new Rosewood complex. The challenge was to say as much as I could about a typical late summer evening with the picture featuring the Parroquia (of course) and those omnipresent summertime thunderheads for background. It's always kind of a toss-up at this time of year as to whether the sun will actually set on a clear horizon, - this particular evening it's going to be too close to call .....................

While on the subject of Light ................

"Ex Veritate Lux" oil on canvas 30x40 ins.
...........don't ask why. It's remotely possible that you could bump up against an individual that sincerely feels that visual statements like this have at least some therapeutic value - if only for the painter. Well.... given the boat we're all in, it felt like trying to bail the Titanic with a teacup.
For the dead language challenged (like myself) the title means "From Truth ....... Light".
In case you hadn't noticed, in our present world it's "From Lies ........ Darkness".
You're going to need more than good luck to come out on the bright side of this one.
But ............. now for something a little lighter -

"Centro San Miguel" 9x12 in. oil on panel SOLD
It remains to be great fun to throw color and light at a little board in the streets of San Miguel. Our new studio/gallery is on the upper floor of the yellow building. I think we've got the best view in town!

"En los Portales" oil on panel 14x14 ins.
Yes - more color and light ................ it's what it's all about. Much more fun than the dark stuff.
Maybe if we all just ignore the dark stuff it'll go away???????
I would suggest that you go for a mix! - it has more resonance - yin/yang - places you on an actual planet, in the middle of an actual universe. You might even begin to see where the leaks in the hull really are ........ yes, - it's possible you could be looking in the wrong direction, friends.

"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!