and while on that same theme

"Market Day"  8x10 ins. oil on panel

An obvious variation on the same theme as the previous. I may end up doing a larger one of this and probably more of the type but for the moment I'm going to move on to another large landscape for a break.

I've been getting more interested in color as a compositional element. Light was always my first concern up until now. That's still a primary consideration and will continue to be but I always felt that if I ever got that more or less under control I would really like to fully investigate color. Well, it's about time and I'm pretty excited about it. There is lots of color to play with in San Miguel and I'm sure it'll keep me going 'till eternity. Back in art school, oh so many ages ago, I was looking forward to the color class more than any other subject. The teacher killed it for me on the first day with the statement "anybody can make a painting work using dulled down, grayed colors - we are going to use pure, bright hues to make our paintings sing "etc......

Well folks, a hall full of trumpets does not make for a timeless symphony. 

You're going to have to arrange your instruments  in some way .............

As in most aspects of painting, subtlety, balance and rhythm is where the beauty lies in Art. Go for it! and remember the best sailing is on  "the uncharted sea".

Very Fast Food

"Platicando" 16x20 in. oil on canvas

This is a picture of one of the vendors and amiga over near the San Juan de Dios church. She's waiting for the kids to get out of the school next door to the church and she'll sell them a bunch of stuff that is actually pretty bad for them. However, the ninos love the stuff and she, her set up and friends contribute  much appreciated color and charm to the scene. No, it's not a plein air study but it came to life owing to the fact that the camera was at hand on one of our Monday morning outings. The tasteful table cloth and the pea green cart wheel simply blow me away .....................

How Time Flies when you're painting .........

First up, - this mornings plein air. It's not signed and I'll probably do a little work on it but not much. We went back to the San Antonio church and managed to find a new angle or two off the square. Only 4 showed up today as it's really slowing down for this fall's shoulder season but we had a lot of fun and went for lunch and a beer after. While we painted a guy who lives across the calle was watching us from his upstairs window and finally came down to have a word with me. He liked what he saw and told me he was a guitar player. Great! - I love live Spanish guitara when painting outside .....one of the perks of this line of work. So he nipped up and got his guitar, sat down on the curb and picked some of the worst guitar music I've ever heard for the next 30 minutes or so. It was a painful surprise, for when a Mexican tells you he plays guitara you can generally rest assured you are in for some class entertainment. Well ..... I didn't know how to react - didn't want to embarrass the guy. So, I pretended I was REALLY CONCENTRATING to cover for the lack of applause. It was a bit of a tooth gritter. You never know what's going to befall you on the streets of old Mexico.

Below:  some of the new ones I've been working on over the last month. 

"The Corn Seller" 16x20 ins.  oil on panel

"Afternoon Shadows along the Rio Laja"  30x40 ins. oil on canvas

"Evening after the Rain"  20x30 ins.  oil on panel