Mexico City, Quatro De Mayo

"Tourist" imples that one "tours", moves about, see lots of things; mostly the things everyone is suppoed to see. I do that, but I don't feel I have arrived at a place until I have sat in one spot for two to four hours. Yes, doing art forces me to do this, but I am always pleasantly surprised at how profound that simple act is.

You feel the rhythm of a place, see the usual characters. You keep noticing new details. You watch weather change and shadows crawl. You become a part of a place, not just a passer by.

Parks and Cafe's are great for this. Anywhere it is socially acceptable for humans to hang out. This is the second drawing that I have done at the Saint Panderia Cafe. They’re geting to know me there, and haven;t run me off yet.

The Orange Squeezers - The only way to have OJ

I showed the juice vendors the drawing. They seemed mildly amused.

We are awash in infinite information. A drawing allows me to parse it out: How the crates stack., the curb design, “S” curve of the legs, how palm fronds lie in a frozen radiant explosion, umbrella design, the manual juicer mechansim and the posture needed to operate it. Sky wires, and architectural detail, street textures….Lighting is not the thing dominantly communicated in this drawing, it is more how things are built/designer/put together. Understanding the structure of things.

THE TREES ARE WINNING

I didn't expect to feel like I was communing with nature while in a city of 22 miliion people. But everytime I walk out our door, I feel like I am in a jungle.. The variety of exotic trees and plants is remarkable. "It must just be in this neighborhood", I thought, but as we have walked about for miles, it seems to be all pervasive, at least in this 1/10 of the city. Many of the streets are shaded by tall tropical trees....that are winning, in my estimation. And here's the proof:

Buen Dia!

While here in Mexico City, I am taking this opportunity to catch up on a few artful events that occured this Spring in the thick of School and everything else……

PLEIN AIR WORKSHOP

I ran a plein air painting workshop through Vashon Center for the Arts on two Saturdays, 22nd and 29th of April, 2023. Eight students of all levels participated. I think we were all surprised at the level that was achieved. I wish I had pictures, but I was too busy running all over the place. Dockton park is a fantastic place for plein air painting. I may do another workshop series in the fall.

RESIDENCY AT THE LODGE AT ST. EDWARD PARK

The 2nd Annual! It was only one weekend (instead of three weekends like last Spring) but I made the best of it by doing a smaller version of the Grand Hallway Gallery….(if anyone wants me to finish this, let me know), and some live watercolor portraits at the opening of my Eurpoean Travelogue Show at teh Lodge. I think it appropriate that the Travelogue show is …traveling.

ART CAR!

I painted this flat profile cutout of a ‘57 Chevy in our livingroom for my daughter Louisa’s debut burlesque perfromance at Seattle Moisture Festival Burlesque Show. She hit it out of the Park! (And the car looked preetty good too). I was cranky when painting it, because I rarely do set painting anymore. It’s a whole different technique than oils, but once you know how to ride a bike….

When you are a person like me who finds simple things fascinating, it is easy to be overwhlemed by a city as amazing as Mexico CIty. With a population of 22 million and incredible museums and parks and architecture and food and people, i had to take a break and draw this simple scene at Saint Panderia, a cafe in the Colonia Hipodromo neighborhood that we are staying in .

The world is a whirlwind of activity, and doing art is a technique I use to get it to stop. To consciously appreciate something before it mixes with everything else. Photos do that to be sure, but a drawn or painted image glues a series of moments into a cohesive whole. It also makes the scene mine. I own it in a way that I don’t get when taking a photo. I allow places people and things to possess me, so that I can possess them. That sounds a bit creepy, and maybe it is.

Me taking a pic of Giacomo taking a pic of the central column fountain that holds up that giant roof structure all by itself. Quite an amazing spot..

THE MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Fantastic and Overwhelming - the cultural richness preserved and celebrated is astounding. The U.S. does not have this level of ancient cultural appreciation. There was a cultural white washing that took place, made easier by there not being too many giant stone pyramids hanging about. But in Mexico, The Olmec, Teotihuacan, Toltec, Aztec, Zapotec, Mixtec, and the Maya all made sure that their legacies were written in stone.

That’s all for this morning! I have so much more to share: Public art and murals. Trees taking over the streets. A dog walking super hero. The incidental charm of funky electrical wiring…. but that will be for another day. Thank you for coming along! Buen dia!

Coincidentally, the last item on my checklist before our trip to Colombia (today) was to finish this painting of the Columbia Gorge. Cobbled together from a few photo references. I always wanted to paint the gorge. I will do it on site next time, starting early in the morn to avoid the afternoon winds. See you in Mexico City!

Oil on Canvas. 3’x3’

Hello Art & Travel Blog Follower! I have not been posting much lately, but am starting up again in preparation for my upcoming trip to Mexico City & Colombia. Leaving in a few days! On May 1st! With my son Giacomo! More on that later!

In the meantime, I am catching up on stuff that needs to be chronicled before it slips into oblivion; and I start with the image below:

A digital painting of a proposed Dog Park at Misty Isle Farms on Vashon.

The Sheep Dog Classic is not being held this year, but the most beloved field on Vashon Island remains thanks to it being purchased by King County. How will it be used in the future?

I was commissioned by Vashon’s Sheep Dog Classic Organization to paint what it would look like if it was fenced for a Dog Park. So here it is (above).

I have painted this field a couple times before, so I used those paintings and a few photos as reference to help come up with this image. DIgital painting shares many of the same sensibilities used in traditional painting:

The above was commision by Kate Ettinger in 2022. (Oil on Canvas)

This is one of my first sold paintings (bought by former Vashon Hardward Restauranteur Melinda Powers). Painted in 2016? (Oil on canvas)

There is something incredibly immediate and honest about watercolor, which matched perfectly with the model’s first time modeling ever.

The gestural flow of the brush is perfect for the figure. It can both encompass line and shape simultaneously.

Above I used some watercolor pencil for some finer line. I was timid with watercolor when I tried it in Europe and some in Mexico. Well…not that timid. But I can see it blossoming into a medium that I experience more freedom with. I plan on taking it with me on my upcoming Mexico and Colombia trip. I think the tropics and watercolor will be a good blend.

Medium: Pixels!

HOPE FOR THE PLANET

If there is anything we humans need to figure out (if there is to be a future) it's how to produce high quality food efficiently while simultaneously creating rather than destroying habitat.

That is why I was honored when Mike Spranger and Gretchen Aro asked me to create an illustration for their new business www.PacificSeaFarms.com A Kelp Farm that will be off the Soutwestern tip of Vashon, and up and running in a year.

I can create imagery pretty quickly, but this took me months, because I really dug into researching the subject and I learned these things:

-Kelp farming requires no fertilizer or water imput.

-Kelp is a high protein food product, and adaptable to many uses.

-It has been found to actually improve the ecology of an area rather than degrade it.

-It has minimal visual impact.

-It poses no threat to large marine mammals.

-The kelp farming industry is growing, and just like alternative energy, is good news for the sustainability of life on this planet.

Vashon Island likes to think of itself as being innovative and ecologically minded. Well here is Vashon doing that. I find that incredibly inspiring.

At my 2nd Opening of my Eurpean Travelogue in Paint show this past First Friday, I did watercolor portraits of anyone who could sit still for 10 minutes. It was a blast!!! So freeing. No time to mess around or overwork.

With my setup….and the shot of bourbon.

Above is Mik, who was my last portrait of the night, after about 3 shots of bourbon that the gallery owner, Jayne, kept plying me with. Mik is a fellow physical performer who I have known for….over 30 years. Crazy.

Dear Travelblog reader….and artistic confidant-

Last night was the Opening of the show at Caffe Vino Olio on Vashon island…..and a windstorm!!! But those who braved the elements enjoyed warm conversation and warm mulled wine and the visual heat of Spain and Portugal that shone through the paintings.

(If you are reading this through email, click on the Original Post link below to see the video)

All these paintings and drawings….lugged through airports and trains while packed in a discombobulated rucksack, scattered in various states of unfinish for months, came together as one long, beautiful well framed story. It was a joy to behold: My journey’s vision come together in one place, one place that captures so many places. It is a visual tale worth retelling.

It was wonderful to watch each person slowly progressing from painting to painting; taking the journey. It is different from many art shows, where people are often judging the art on it’s artistic merit or just the impact it has on them. This show has the layered meaning of taking you on a journey; showing you places that connect chronologically, that maybe you have been to before, where the light changes with each painting, with colors that tickle the eyes like exotic spices.

I may sound overly romantic here….but this is the effect these paintings have on me. Each painting is a delectable dish of sensations and associations. And each one has a distinctly different flavor.

Michael Meade, Islander, friend and reknowned mythologist, stayed ‘til the end of the opening helping me to finish the last of the wine. I always look forward to our conversations about life, the world and philosophy, with many laughs mixed in. He mentioned that the ultimate goal of art is to “Make whole”. That a person’s level of engagement with an art piece is determined by the sense of wholeness they feel when looking at it.

Well this whole show makes me whole. Like a treasure trove of precious jewels, there is vast wealth to be shared.

Thank you Jayne Northon of Caffe Vino Olio! The best Opening Host on the Island bar none. Her parents are artists. She gets it, and weaves a warm web of love that makes everyone want to hang out.

The show goes through December. I hope you get to see the show in person. If you do, let me know which painting brings you the closest to wholeness. I love learning what touches people.

Huge thanks to Carolyn Candy for being the first to buy a piece from the show. It is sales from this show that will make the next incredible journey possible: Mexico City and Colombia…..the most ecologically diverse country in the world.

Hello dear blog readers! Many of you went on the journey with me this past summer. We toured Spain, Portugal and the Nederlands, and much of the art I did along the way happened because I knew I had an audience to share it with….You. You are a big reason this show is even happening right now. If you’re around this next Friday, I would love to share stories and remenise about our travels at the Opening.

Happy Fall and Future Adventures!