PARC D'ARGELES-GAZOST, FRANCE, watercolor alla prima

Parc d'Argeles-Gazost, France, watercolor, 4x10 in.

Just walking around Argeles-Gazost, I stopped and sat for a while at the beautiful park, did this little watercolor, and continued my walk. Happiness is enjoying the small things in life. The birds are flying south from the Pyrénées to the north coast of Africa. Autumn is changing the dress on the trees, every day the greens are more yellowish and orange.

We are hanging the show today, at the Bibliotheque d'Argeles-Gazost. The new exhibition starts tomorrow: "Le Mystere de l'Eau/Agua/Water". They are mostly watercolors of water scenes in Sweden, Italy and France, with two pastel portraits, two women.

SAINT SAVIN, watercolor

Saint Savin, Haute Pyrénées, France, watercolor

Saint Savin is a very cute little town, on a hill, with a beautiful XIIIth C. church. There is a river down below. On the other side of the river is Hautacam, another beautiful hill with gorgeous views of the valley. In between all these lovely places, is my mechanic's garage. When I took the car for some work the other day, I had to wait for  about an hour. I walked to the river, sat down, and painted a couple of small watercolors. This is one of them.

FRENCH MARKET II, watercolor

French Market II, watercolor, 5x7 in.

I travel. I travel a lot. I'm trying to follow Woody Allen's advice. He has said: "It's not that I am afraid of death, but I prefer not to be there when she arrives. " And this is what I am trying to do!

FOREVER MINE, acrylic

Forever Mine, acrylic, 20x13 in.
Painted after an original watercolor I did 6 years ago, when my daughter Evelyn came home from the hospital with her new baby, and sat in front of a window. The light was beautiful, the baby was beautiful, and so was my daughter's expression of absolute love.

Our acrylic workshop in Cauterets, France,  is going well. We are painting a lot, and having fun. The beauty of acrylic, is how fast it dries. The tragedy of acrylic is how fast it dries.

MELANCOLIA, acrylic

Melancolia, tango dancers series, acrylic , 30x22 in.

I believe that studying and painting from life is very important, actually essential, to being a good artist. I promote art education through teaching, lecturing, doing demonstrations, and publications through my blog and books. I truly believe that passing along information and what I've learned from my own observation and experience is my obligation to generations of artists to come.

FANTASMAS DEL PASADO, acrylic

Fantasmas del Pasado, acrylic, 30x22 in. available for purchase.
Title based on the lyrics of an Argentinian tango.

The Power of Notan. It gets at the essential spirit of a composition, it's pattern and design, through a strict black and white dark-light arrangement. NOTAN is a Japanese word that translates as dark-light harmony. It refers to the arrangement of light and dark patterns that serve as a foundation of a composition. And now.....there is an app for your iphone or ipad for it!! I just got it, it's great!

FEELING GOOD, acrylic

Feeling Good, acrylic on canvas, 28x22 in. On display and available for purchase at the Wyndham Hotel Restaurant in downtown San Diego, California, USA.

Starting Monday, September 23, I will be teaching a three day acrylic workshop at the beautiful Club House in Cauterets, France. A couple of spaces are still available. Contact: minnievalero@yahoo.fr or by phone: (+33) 07.81.96.24.15.

LA INSPIRACION EXISTE, PERO DEBE ENCONTRARTE TRABAJANDO. Pablo Picasso

INSPIRATION EXISTS, BUT IT MUST FIND YOU WORKING.  Pablo Picasso

THE MASTER AT WORK, pastel

The Master at Work, pastel, 12x9 in.
This is a pastel painting of internationally known DJ Dan DeLeon, who can often be seen playing at the best night clubs in San Diego, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, in California, or in Shanghai, Singapore, Brazilia, or Barcelona, as his music takes him.

It was not love that Paul Gauguin searched in Tahiti, but paradise. He found in such luxurious vegetation, an explosion of colors...and the absence of temptation.
---It is a land, --he assured his friends-- where there are no snakes and no apples. For that reason, the women there are not dangerous. 

from Les Mots les Plus Drôles de L'Histoire, by Bernadette de Castelbajac.

AMANDA AND ADAM, pastel

Amanda and Adam, pastel portraits, 12x9 in
This was a commissioned portrait of her children, by their mother, in Wilhelmina, Sweden. When the  whole family visited my studio in Saxnäs, the children were so well behaved, loving and kind, that it was a pleasure to work on their portraits afterwards. I also see them as an example of bilingualism, they are growing up bilingual in Swedish and Spanish. I believe we should all raise our children bilingual in any two languages, as long they are two.

PASTEL WORKSHOP starts tomorrow Tuesday, September 17, in Cauterets, France. Three days, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, three hours each day:  2:30-5:30 pm.  To register, send me an email or call me to my French mobile phone: 07.81.96.24.15. There are two places available.

LA PIU SUGGESTIVA, watercolor

La Piu Suggestiva, watercolor, 15x22 in.
The original is a horizontal painting, bigger and wider than  this photo. It is hanging in the show at the Bibliotheque de Cauterets, France, and I don't have access to the original photograph at the moment. It was painted in Perugia, Italy, this summer.

When Marilyn Monroe registered as a blood donor, and she was asked what blood type she had, her answer was: "the passionate type".

GONDOLA III, watercolor

Gondola III, watercolor, 9x6 in

Always clever, the American painter and sculptor Alexander Calder, better known for his "mobiles" (1898-1976), answered in a dry and serious tone to a rich art collector who requested a "mobile" made in gold:
"Yes, I will do it in gold if you want,  but I will paint it in black!"

VENEZIA IV, watercolor

Venezia IV, watercolor, 6x9 in

When I was in Venice a month ago for the Biennale, I did a series of small watercolors for fun. It was so hard to choose a few things among the hundreds of details and thousands of people around!

Edgar Degas was well known for his honest -to the point of  rude- comments. At the time when telephones started invading private homes, Degas wanted nothing to do with the new fashion. When one of his friends was surprised at this attitude, Degas asked him:
--Then you do have one of those contraptions?
--Of course!
--Then...when we ring you, you obey and go for it?

PONT DE L'AMITIE, watercolor on Yupo

Pont de l'Amitié, watercolor on Yupo, 26x20 in., (66x51 cm.) this watercolor is in exhibition and for sale at the show "LE MYSTERE DE L'EAU" Bibliotheque de Cauterets, France.

"Ours is a culture based on excess, on overproduction, the result is a steady loss of sharpness in our sensory experience...what is important now is to recover our senses. We must learn to see more, to hear more, to feel more..."                                                ----  Susan Sontag

LA PLAGE, BREST, FRANCE, watercolor

La Plage, Brest, France, watercolor, 6x9 in. Now in exhibition and for sale at the Bibliotheque de Cauterets, France.

You probably already know this, so this is only a reminder: the three primary colors are.... very good! red, blue and yellow. And the three secondary colors? Excellent! : orange, violet, and green! And the tertiary colors? a little help: red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet. Now the complementary colors: red/green, blue/orange, and yellow/violet. Always remember the complementary colors are at OPPOSITE ends on the color wheel.  Complementary colors are very important, and it is useful to place them close to one another, to make that area brighter and more intense. Remember the colors you use can affect the mood or feelings about a subject.
HAPPY PAINTING!!!

FRIEND AND FOE, France, watercolor

Friend and Foe, France, watercolor 15x11 in.

The area of the Pyrénées, in South West France, where I live a few months a year, is blessed by beautiful mountains, and heavenly waterfalls. This Spring 2013, the combination of a particularly heave snow fall in the winter, and a heavy Spring storm at the moment the snow was melting, contributed to springs, rivulets and rivers overflowing their beds, dangerously threatening urban dwellings, and in some cases even carrying houses and personal items downstream.  Water can "Friend and Foe" indeed.

This painting is in exhibit at the Bibliotheque de Cauterets, Haute Pyrénées, France, during the month of September. Opening Reception, Vernissage, is Friday, September 6, 6:00 pm.

ROLLING STONES, France, watercolor

Rolling Stones, France, watercolor, 18x24 in

This painting will be in the show at the Bibliotheque de Cauterets, South West France, starting next Tuesday, September 3rd, going on till September 30th. Come see the show!

Will Gompertz, in WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?: 150 years of Modern Art in the Blink of An Eye, says that the problem we face with a new work of art is one of comprehension. He says that art is like a game, and you need to know the rules and regulations. I find this comparison quite clever. There is also a chart at the beginning, that spans from 1870 to today. It's colorful and comprehensive, it has helped me understand some of the relationships between and among the different "isms" during the 20th Century.