Ezequiel after Michelangelo, watercolor

Ezequiel after Michelangelo, watercolor, 11x8, available.  The last time I was in the Vatican, I sat on the cold marble floor with my head turned up very uncomfortably, and sketched several of the Sistine Chapel characters. I later used some watercolor on the sketches. The guards did not  allow photographing.

"The more I paint, the freer I feel. It's good not to fall in the routine. In painting, I search more than anything to be honest, to advance in an authentic fashion." Agnes Guillon.

Chemin de Cascades

Chemin de Cascades, watercolor, 10x5" (25x12cm.) available. Painted on location, in the French Pyrenees.
The French poet Rimbaud, wrote in 1886: "I've  tended cables from church tower to church tower; garlands from window to window; gold chains from star to star, and I dance..." This is what art does for me.

Balboa Park, San Diego, watercolor

Balboa Park, San Diego, watercolor plein-air, 4x6" (10x15 cm.) 2007-005, sold.
Be present in the landscape. You must observe, not just look. Observe and see. See the color of light. As the story goes, Monet could tell what time of the day it was, by just observing a white wall for several minutes. Concentrate on the color of light, and see how one day is different from the previous day.

Back to School in Croatia, watercolor

Back to School in Croatia, watercolor, 4x6 (10x15cm.) painted on location, in the rain! I was there with Les Rats des Champs, a plein air painting group based in Paris. They travel to different locations often in and around Paris, and a few times a year they go farther away for a week or two. This time we stayed for a couple of weeks in several cities in Croatia. The first few days it rained, quite heavily at times, so it was quite challenging to keep our commitment: we paint outdoors rain or shine, snow or wind, 9 am till...sometimes almost 9pm! It was fun! I made a couple of larger paintings, and many small ones, since the weather was not too conducive to large set-ups till the last few days. Croatia is a beautiful country!!

Crossing the Tebere in Rome, watercolor

Crossing the Tebere in Rome, watercolor, 4x6" (10x15cm.) Available. Painted plein air, from the bridge, stopping from a walk from the Vatican (in the distance) to downtown Rome, Italy.
"Art is an experience, not an object"----Robert Motherwell.
"A successful painting integrates everything, all the parts belong to the whole." ---Robert Dicker

El Vendedor de Canastos, watercolor, San Miguel de Allende

El Vendedor de Canastos, watercolor, 6x4" (15x10cm.) painted in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, at the downtown plaza, a few years ago. Available!
La Jolla Art Association Gallery, at 8100 Paseo del Ocaso, La Jolla, California, is where we are having a Juried Watercolor Show, very successful. The reception was last Friday, during one of those rare thunderstorms in San Diego, with lots of rain and wind. Still, we had an awesome reception, tons of people came over the gallery for appetizers, champagne, and wonderful art. As a juror, I like to select not only the best paintings, but also a good representation of new artists, who are working hard and deserve a pat on the back, to steer them in the right direction. Come see the show, we're on till Sunday, April 22nd, 2012, at La Jolla Art Association Juried Watercolor Show. Don't miss it!

Marche de Vendredi, watercolor on Arches paper

Marche de Vendredi, France. watercolor on Arches paper, 30x22" (75x55cm.) Available. Juried in at the San Diego Watercolor Society, April 2012 Show, in exhibition at their gallery in the NTC Promenade, San Diego, California.
"Art is creation; therefore, life itself at its fullest...Art is an eternal force like ethics, like revolution, like the very totality of the universe." Lajos Kassak, Hungarian artist, in his Picture Architecture essay in the MA (Today) Hungarian publication, 1922.

Ma Chambre `a Chantilly,France. watercolor sketch

Ma Chambre `a Chantilly, France.  watercolor sketch, 4x6" (10x15cm.) available.
Tonight I attended a chat/conference by Ted Nuttall, great artist of watercolor portraits, at the San Diego Watercolor Society's April meeting. Ted Nuttall talked about his painting, his life, his emotions and inspirations. He said we must paint subjects that move us, only then, we can move others with our paintings. He quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Light is the first of painters. There is no object that light will not make beautiful." I strive to do that. Thank you Ted Nuttall!

No Regrets, transparent watercolor on Arches

NO REGRETS, transparent watercolor on Arches paper, 30x22", available.
This is one of the watercolors in exhibition and for sale at La Jolla Art Association Gallery, at the Open Juried Watercolor Show, April 9-22, in La Jolla, California. I was the juror for that show, and have three watercolors representing me there. It's is a good show, come see it, and buy some art.  Please also come to the Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony on Friday, April 13th, from 5:00-7:00 pm. The address is 8100 Paseo del Ocaso, La Jolla Shores, San Diego, California. You are invited, hope to see you there!

Lumiere de Saint Savin, pastel

Lumiere de Saint Savin, pastel on suede board, 40x30cm. (16x12"), available.
The Church of Saint Savin, near Lourdes, in the South of France, was built in the XIIIth Century. It's fairly small and has many original and beautiful features, including wood sculpted beams. Visitors from all over the world come here, and enjoy the Church, its museum, and the lovely town of Saint Savin. I'll be there this summer painting plein air, and teaching pastel and watercolor workshops in nearby Cauterets.

Paris, Eiffel Tower IV, oil on canvas board

Paris, Eiffel Tower IV, oil on canvas board, 12x9, available.
I was recently reading about the great watercolorist George James, who lately paints only on Yupo. James draws constantly, filling sketchbooks for reference. He draws the arrangements of figures, then blocks in the dark and light patterns with a light value. Then he establishes the middle value, moving toward darkness and complexity.  He says that watercolor lives in the real world, unlike the timeless world of oil painting in which endless revision is possible.

Lo Importante es el Camino, acrylic on canvas

Lo Importante es el Camino, acrylic on canvas, 81x81cm. Painted plein air in the town of Fromista, Spain, last summer, and exhibited in Fromista's gallery.  This is the Church of Fromista, which is in the center of town. For this painting, I included a couple of views around town, on the left, we see the Pyrenees mountains from where hundred of pilgrims come following the path "camino" of Santiago de Compostela, and under the church I placed the small river that runs nearby. A good section of the road is along that lovely river. Fromista is one of the key towns along the road to Santiago de Compostela. The interesting fact about this pilmigrage, is that it was started for religious reasons, but today people of all faiths, and people of no faith, do it as an exploration of themselves, as a trip within. The path is what's important, really, not the arrival.

Natalie Reading, watercolor sketch

Natalie Reading, watercolor in my sketchbook, 5x7.
Mission Federal Art Walk San Diego, will take place Saturday and Sunday, April 28th and 29th. Come one! Come All! My booth is  number 752, on Fir Street, between Kettner and India streets. I'll have some watercolors, some pastels and some oils. Small, medium and large, for all budgets. There will be music, dance, good food, and the most important thing in the world: ART. See you there!