Only You

ONLY YOU

watercolor on Yupo, 20x26"

Juried in at the San Diego Watercolor Society  "Match Made in Heaven" show

February 1st-29, 2012

Reception: Friday, February 3rd, 5:00-8:00pm. Come for the art, stay for the wine!

Carcassonne apres midi

Carcassonne apres-midi, watercolor, 12x16, available.  Today I received this picture of me painting this watercolor in 2008, sitting on a wall in front of the Castle of Carcassonne, in the south of France. I had no idea my friend had taken  this picture, so I enjoyed the surprise today, four years later!

Caravaggio's Prophet

Caravaggio's Prophet, watercolor, 7x5" Available. When I was in Rome for two weeks a couple of years ago, I completed a sketchbook of watercolors done in museums, on the street, at a bar, at the bookstore, etc. This is one of the small watercolors, after Caravaggio. Enjoy!

Balboa Park, series I

Balboa Park, series I, watercolor, 6x9". Available. In exhibition at Gallery 21, Spanish Village, Balboa Park, San Diego, California. Reception is tomorrow Saturday January 28th, 4:00-7:00pm. YOU ARE INVITED! TU EST INVITEE!!!  ESTAS INVITADA!!!"
"Politicians and diapers should be changed often" -- George Bernard Shaw

Balancing the Future

Balancing the Future, pastel on swede board, 27x20" (68x50cm.) Available. This painting is on exhibition at the San Diego Art Institute, in the House of Charm, Balboa Park, San Diego, California. Reception is tomorrow Friday, January 27th, from 6:00-8:00pm. You are invited, hope to see you there!
Tu est bienvenue!! Espero verte manana alli!

Brazil Bras

Brazil Bras, watercolor, 7x5" (17x12cm.) Available.  Painted in Manaus, Brazil, where I was visiting after a transatlantic cruise a couple of years ago. I recently found this watercolor in my sketchbook. It was really funny to see so many brassieres, different colors, shapes and sizes, sold on the sidewalk. Every three shops, it seemed, was selling bras. Why?

Balboa Park, series I

Balboa Park, series I, watercolor, 6x9" (15x23cm.), available.

This watercolor has just been accepted at the 37th annual juried "SMALL IMAGE SHOW" at Gallery 21, Spanish Village, Balboa Park, San Diego, California. Reception January 28th, 4:00-8:00pm.

The wavelength of warm colors is longer, so you see them sooner than the shorter wavelength "cool" colors. Knowledge of color temperature gives you control over your painting.

Isn't that cool? Well....I mean....enjoy!

Paris, Eiffel Tower V

Paris, Eiffel Tower V, oil on canvas, 12x9, available.
If you would like to see the originals of my work, here is where you can at this moment:
--La Jolla Art Association, La Jolla, California.
--San Diego Watercolor Society, San Diego, California.
--Gallery 21, Spanish Village, San Diego, California.
--San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, California.
--Petrini's Restaurant, San Diego, California.
--Agence Bordenave, Cauterets, France.
More shows coming up soon, I'm always updating my website:www.minnievaleroart.com
Thank you so much for your interest and support!

Paris, Eiffel Tower III

Paris, Eiffel Tower III, oil, 12x9, available.
I've just finished reading Madeleine Chapsal"s UNE FEMME HEUREUSE, (A Happy Woman). It's the story of Clotilde, a woman in her thirties who decides to divorce her husband to try to live alone and independent. Along the road of getting to know herself, Clotilde discovers freedom and happiness.
"It's good to feel desired, isn't it? --her best friend asks her. To realize that she's desired, therefore desirable, was good for her. It made her beautiful."

Paris, Eiffel Tour II

Paris, Eiffel Tower II, (2012-002) oil on canvas, 12x9, (30x23cm.) Available.
Paris, the city of dreams, the city of light, the city of art, wine and cheese, coffee and watching people walk by, the Metro, Montparnasse, Montmartre, the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay....painters on the street, tourists on the streets, people to get you on the streets: "Madam, is this gold ring yours?" I was asked many times one day...it seems that different people kept finding on the ground a gold ring that could have been mine???
Paris, I miss you always when I'm not with you. I love you when I'm with you.

Dreamer

Dreamer, pastel pencil, 40x30cm.(16x12")  $700
I have published this painting before.  I'm repeating it, to celebrate  the Award of Excellence obtained today from the San Diego Portrait Society. I'm happy.
I recently visited the studio of La Jolla oil painter Sebastian Capella. He had signs all over saying : "Observe more...paint less", "Paint by masses", "Squint", and "Stay longer in the preliminary stages". Great advice!!! I wish I could always remember to do that!

Zapatos

Zapatos, pastel,16x20", available.
In the South of France, the walls of certain caves are painted with images of animals. In Lascaux there are 364 images of horses. While they painted they ate deer meat. There are no pictures of deer, why? In this era, painters learned from other painters, the technique and style. They copied their masters...for thousands of years without creating something new....why?

Hope

Hope, pastel portrait 20x16". Available.
This portrait has been selected by the Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition for the poster advertising their campaign against Human Trafficking. The poster will be for sale and I will be signing it at the Freedom Breakfast at the Center for Civic Engagement, San Diego Foundation Building, San Diego, California,  next Wednesday January 11th.

Silver Lake II

Silver Lake II, inkwash 4x6.
Did you know? Giovanni Bellini (1431-1516) introduced the oil techniques in Venice in the 1470s. He brought them from Holland, where the Dutch first thought of mixing oil with the color pigments. Soon the use of fabric or canvas for support, was also adopted in Venice, and the school of Venice was on its way to compete with the Racionalism of Florence.

Silver Lake, California

Silver Lake, California, inkwash, 4x6. This lake was totally frozen, enough for us to ice-skate and tennis-shoes skate on the lake. We were a family group of three generations playing on the frozen lake, with only two pairs of skates, so we took turns using them. The rest of us "skated" on our tennis shoes, it was very beautiful and fun! About once a year I force myself to do only value sketches for a while. A lot to be learned by concentrating on value sketches.

February at Balboa Park

February at Balboa Park, watercolor, 5x7" (12x17cm.) Sold last week at San Diego Art Institute, Balboa Park, San Diego, California.
Sinesthisia means that you "see" sounds and you "hear" colors. You paint to music because you hear the colors. I actually do. It's fantastic!

Goddess

Goddess, mixed media, 26x20" (65x50cm.) Available. "Goddess" has just been accepted in the January juried exhibition of the San Diego Watercolor Society. Opening Reception is Friday January 6, 2012, from 5-8pm. You are invited! Come for the art, stay for the wine. San Diego Watercolor Society is at the NTC Promenade, San Diego, California.
"A woman's place is at the top", mountain climber and PhD in Biology Arlene Blum.

Mammoth Village III

Mammoth Village III, inkwash plain-air, 4x6", available.
"From the age of six to fourteen I took violin lessons but had no luck with my teachers, for whom music did not transcend mechanical practicing. I really began to learn after I had fallen in love with Mozart's sonatas. The attempt to reproduce their singular grace compelled me to improve my technique. I believe, on the whole, that love is a better teacher than sense of duty." --- Albert Einstein