PUNTA ARENAS, Chile, watercolor

Punta Arenas, Chile, watercolor, 4x6 in.
South America Cruise series # 32

This is the southernmost town in Chile. Clear, organized, calm, we were able to walk around town, use the internet at a cafe, and visit two wonderful museums: Palacio de la Sra. Sara Braun de Nogueira, designed by the French architect Numa Mayer in 1895, who brought European crafstmen and specialist workers. We also visited the Museo Regional de Magallanes, and learned about the rural life and native people of the area. This museum is also located in a beautiful mansion Neoclassic style, also built by a French architect, Antoine Beaulier.

PETROHUE, CHILE, watercolor

Petrohue, Chile, watercolor, 4x6 in.
South America Cruise series # 31

In the language of the original natives of South America, called: Mapudungun, "hue" means place, and "Petro" flies. So "Petrohue" means "the place of flies, according to our guide, Roberto. From Puerto Montt we took a taxi to this area, Petrohue, to see these beautiful waterfalls rumbling down. It was raining, so I painted this watercolor from the pictures I took at the moment. Roberto was  very knowledgeable and explained very well the geography, language, and culture of the area.

CARNIVAL SPLENDOR, FROM PUERTO MONTT, watercolor

Carnival Splendor, from Puerto Montt, Chile, watercolor, 4x6 in.
South America Cruise series # 30

Puerto Montt, the city of roses, it was beautiful to see our cruise ship from shore. Carnival "Splendor" is a new ship, born in 2008, in Italy. We were about 3,000 passengers. Some of us made some friendships aboard, I certainly did with other painters. So much so, that we created our "painters deck", and "painters' corner" on deck 10. People would come over to see our new paints. I painted daily, sometimes for an hour, sometimes for several hours, depending on the day's activity. This watercolor I sketched and painted from shore, sitting at a park bench.

PUERTO VARAS, CHILE, watercolor

Puerto Varas, Chile, watercolor, 9x12 inches
South America Cruise aboard Carnival Splendor series # 29

Puerto Varas is only 16 km. from Puerto Montt, where the cruise ship stopped. Puerto Varas is inside, overlooking Lake Llanquihue, the largest lake in Chile, and one of the largest lakes in South America. It has waves like a sea or ocean, and on the shore there, you cannot see the other side. This town is also called "City of Roses, due to the large variety and quantity of roses planted everywhere. Between 1850 and 1880 the Chilean government asked Germany to send people, families, here, and gave them land, and a few animals to start working the land and establish farms. Today, Puerto Varas and the surrounding area looks like Bavaria, with signs in Spanish. Well cared gardens, beautiful homes, snow capped mountains, rivers and the beautiful lake Llanquihue. What a blessing to have been able to visit this place!

PUERTO MONTT, GERMAN HOUSE, Chile, watercolor

Puerto Montt, German House, Chile, watercolor, 9x12 in.
South America Cruise series # 28

Puerto Montt is set among lakes, fiords, and rivers, and nestled at the foot of snow-capped mountains. Beautiful homes surrounded by parks in an ideal setting were all along the drive to Puerto Varas and Petrohue. We visited the Feria Artesanal Angelmo, an artisan market with Chilean products: woven items of wool and alpaca from Chiloé, the big island off the coast nearby.  Such a beautiful day in that area, I highly recommend visiting Puerto Montt and its surroundings!

PUERTO MONTT, CHILE, watercolor map

Puerto Montt, Chile, watercolor map, 4x6
South America Cruise series #27

Puerto Montt was founded in 1853 during the German colonization of Southern Chile. Gateway to the Archipielago de Chiloé, LLanguihue Lake and Nahuel Huapí on the Argentinian side. Puerto Montt is the second largest salmon producer in the world, considered Salmon Capital of Chile, as it is the hub of the largest salmon aquaculture industry in the world, closely followed by Norway. Fresh salmon is flown daily to world markets. Puerto Montt looks like Bavaria with signs in Spanish. Amazing and beautiful!

VALPARAISO II, CHILE, watercolor

Valparaiso II, Chile, watercolor, 9x12 in.
South America Cruise series # 26

Valparaiso is an awesome town! Colorful, escalating up the mountain, full of little corners and hidden places, twists and turns, and with "elevators" or "inclined trolleys" to take you up and down. One is represented in this painting. I have talked about them in a previous blog. The highlight of my visit to Valparaiso was Pablo Neruda's house, for me. Amazing!!! He collected all kinds of objects he called them "juguetes" or toys. Look at this poem:

"En mi casa he reunido juguetes pequeños y grandes, sin los cuales no podria vivir. El niño que no juega no es niño, pero el hombre que no juega perdió para siempre al niño que vivía en el y que le hara mucha falta."
"In my house I have gathered toys big and small, without which I could not live. The boy that does not play is not a boy, but the man who does not play has forever lost the boy that lived inside him, and whom he will greatly miss." -------------------------Pablo Neruda, "Botellas y Mascarones"

OCEAN VIEW FROM 'LA SEBASTIANA', watercolor

Ocean View from La Sebastiana, watercolor, 4x6
South American Cruise series # 25

Dime, la rosa esta desnuda o solo tiene ese vestido?
(Tell me, is the rose naked, or it only has that one dress?)

Como agradecer a las nubes esa abundancia fugitiva?
(How can I thank the clouds for their fugitive abundance?)

A quien le sonrie el arroz con infinitos dientes blancos?
(Who is the rice smiling to, with infinite white teeth?)
(from Pablo Neruda, Libro de las Preguntas.)
del LIBRO DE LAS PREGUNTAS , Pablo Neruda

ONE VIEW FROM LA SEBASTIANA, watercolor

One View from La Sebastiana, watercolor, 4x6 in.
South America Cruise series # 24

"Yo construi la casa.
La hice primero de aire.
Luego subi en el aire la bandera
y la deje colgada
del firmamento, de la estrella, de
la claridad y de la oscuridad. "
Pablo Neruda en su poema a su casa, La Sebastiana

"I built the house.
I first made it out of air.
Then I raised the flag in the air
and left it hanging
from the sky, from the star, from
clarity and obscurity."
From Pablo Neruda's poem to his house, La Sebastiana

LA SEBASTIANA, watercolor

La Sebastiana, watercolor, 4x6
South American Cruise series # 23

This is a quick watercolor sketch I started in front of "La Sebastiana", Pablo Neruda's house in Valparaiso, Chile. He had three houses in Chile, each one more beautiful and original than the next. La Sebastiana is full of his collections, colorful glasses, pictures of boats, ships, a merry -go-round hand-made original horse, a gorgeous bar with a sign "PABLO EST ICI", originally shaped windows with bottles of different colors collection, and a life size photograph of Walt Whitman. He said that when the movers were bringing in some of the pictures and things, one man asked him if that was his father. "Yes", he responded, "spiritually he is."

VALPARAISO, CHILE, watercolor

Valparaiso, Chile, watercolor, 4x6in
South American Cruise series # 22

Valparaiso is the main port of Chile, beautiful and colorful city of hills coming down almost to the water. A series of inclined "elevators", or funiculars, carry people from the lower level to the higher levels, next to never ending stairs. You choose! I would say the hight of these hills might be like walking 6 or 7 floors of stairs, maybe more. Originally there were about 30 of these elevators, the size of a bus or tramway, but now only 14 are still working. The city is vibrant with a strong international market, beautiful beaches, modern shopping malls.

ARICA III, CHILE, watercolor

Arica III, Chile, watercolor, 4x6 in.
South American Cruise, watercolor journal # 21

The taxi in Arica took us all along the coast, to see the big salmon plants, where they extract the Omega 3 from the salmon, to process and sell it all over the world. I believe they said  it was the largest processing plant in the world for Omega 3. What do you know! We also went into the dry countryside to see some hieroglyphs and marks left by the ancient inhabitants of the area. Not as famous as the "Nazca lines", though. Those were too far from Arica and our ship to make it in a couple of hours. We visited a fabulous Museum of Anthropology, sponsored by the University. Modern , very well equipped, and up to date with the latest discoveries of ancient people of the area, including many mommies dated over 5000 years old;  a real surprise in such a desolate area.

ARICA II, CHILE

Arica II, Chile, watercolor, 4x6
South America Cruise series # 20

Waiting to catch a taxi, standing in the corner in front of this awesome hill, I just HAD to draw it. So with my very fine pen, I drew what I saw on my watercolor paper, while my husband and friends tried to hail a taxi. My drawing done, the taxi arrived, and we went to visit some of the marks on the rocks, from the ancient inhabitants of the area. Later I put some color on the drawing...and listo! La montaña de Arica!

Don't forget to come SUNDAY, APRIL 14TH, TO THE RECEPTION AT GALLERY 21, SPANISH VILLAGE ART CENTER, BALBOA PARK, SAN DIEGO. 3:00-7:00PM. If you must, call in sick at work, ditch school, walk a hundred miles, and come see the show! Then, buy some paintings!

CATEDRAL SAN MARCOS, watercolor

Catedral San Marcos, Chile, watercolor, 9x12 in.
South American Cruise series # 19

Beautiful church in a small town, Arica, in the north of Chile, but so close to the border with Peru, that the town used to belong to Peru some years ago. This "Catedral" was designed and built in France by Gustav Eiffel, then brought piece by piece to this town, and re-built here by Eiffel employees. What a surprise, very unexpected sight!

ARICA, CHILE, watercolor

Arica, Chile, watercolor, 12x9 in.
South American Cruise watercolor series # 18

South on the Pacific Ocean, our next port was Arica, in the border between Peru and Chile. Arica used to belong to Peru, now it belongs to Chile. Very dry area of the world, Arica has brown hills with some  ancient hieroglyphics, very interesting. This painting is also in exhibition at FROM THE END OF THE WORLD show at Gallery 21, Spanish Village Art Center, San Diego, California, till April 22nd. My paintings are exhibited together with Doreen Mellen's ceramics. Come see our work! Come to our Artists'  Reception on Sunday April 14th, from 3:00-7:00 pm. You are invited!

MIRAFLORES, watercolor

Miraflores, watercolor, 4x6 in.
South America Cruise watercolor collection # 17

Continuing with my watercolors done during the cruise. This one, while walking around Lima, and into the Cathedral, driven by our friends Amparo and Eduardo Velarde. They kindly picked us up at the port of Callao, and drove us around town! We had a wonderful experience, and got to taste delicious Pisco Sours in several bars of Lima! Miraflores is a beautiful section of Lima, with high rise buildings, modern shopping centers, colorful and fun.

A MEDIA LUZ, tango, watercolor, acrylic

A Media Luz, tango in watercolor and acrylic, 30x22

Exhibition of my paintings FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, Argentina and South America, starting tomorrow April 9 till the 22nd. In conjunction with Doreen Mellen's elegant ceramics, she's from Australia, another country FROM THE END OF THE WORLD. Our artists' Reception is next Sunday, April 14th, from 3:00-7:00pm.

Where? Gallery 21, Spanish Village Art Center, Balboa Park, San Diego, California. Come one and all!

EL PATIO DE LA MOROCHA, watercolor and acrylic

El Patio de la Morocha, watercolor and acrylic, 30x22 in.

One of the Tango series for exhibition at the show: FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, at Gallery 21, Spanish Village Art Center, Balboa Park, San Diego, California. Exhibition goes from April 9 to April 22, 2013. The Reception is on Sunday, April 14, 3:00-7:00 pm.

I am exhibiting my Tango series, and the watercolors done in my recent trip to South America. Doreen Mellen, ceramist from Australia, shares the gallery with me, showing her beautiful collection of white ceramics, "usable art" as she calls it. Do what you must: ditch work, miss school, whatever, and come see our show. Two weeks only! don't miss it!

CATEDRAL DE LIMA, PERU, watercolor

Catedral de Lima, Peru, watercolor, 12x9 in
South American Cruise # 16

Continuing with  my publishing of paintings done aboard Carnival Splendor while traveling south on the Pacific Ocean towards....the end of the world!! When we stopped in Lima, our friends Amparo and Eduardo graciously picked us up and drove us around town, ending with a fabulous lunch at the Club Regatta.

Heard today, at La Jolla Art Association, from Rodger Heglar, artist: "There is nothing sadder than a dry brush."

PARA TI, LIMEÑA, watercolor

Para Ti, Limeña, watercolor, 9x12 in.
South American Cruise paintings # 15

While traveling in this cruise, I usually painted in the morning and early afternoon, and read in the evening. One interesting book I read at this time was The Element, by Ken Robinson, Ph.D. Some highlights I liked:
"Fear keeps you down." He recommends we read Susan Jeffer's Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway. Because...we know that "it's NOT what happens to us that determines our lives. It's what we make of what happens! "
"Research and experience show that lucky people often make their luck because of their attitudes."he says. I couldn't agree more: Your attitude determines your altitude!

HAMACAS SUDAMERICANAS, watercolor

Hamacas Sudamericanas, Ecuador, watercolor, 9x12 in
South American Cruise series # 14

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep".
                                                                                                               ----Scott Adams
"Anytime you blame others and complain about your situation, you are choosing to be a victim. By playing the victim role you are putting yourself in an ineffective and weak position. It is virtually impossible to allow incredible miracles to enter your life when you chose to remain in this negative mental state."                                                                                         ----Sonia Recotti

Now go paint!!!!