Minnie Valero: COLLIOURE II, FRANCE, watercolor on Arches

Minnie Valero: COLLIOURE II, FRANCE, watercolor on Arches: COLLIOURE II, FRANCE, watercolor on Arches paper, 7x5 in. Collioure is the extreme South of France, next to the border with Spain. Actua...

COLLIOURE II, FRANCE, watercolor on Arches

COLLIOURE II, FRANCE, watercolor on Arches paper, 7x5 in.
Collioure is the extreme South of France, next to the border with Spain. Actually, it is the very last town in France where the train goes. Matisse took the train to the very last station in France, and started painting there. Later his friend Derain came over, too, they started painting the beach red, and using strong colors, plus black lines, and....voilá! Fauvism was created!

Anyway, here I was in Collioure, enjoying the beautiful light, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, the boats, the lighthouse, and the beautiful and colorful town.

SUNRISE AT MISSION BAY II, SAN DIEGO, acrylic on canvas

Sunrise at Mission Bay II, San Diego, acrylic on canvas, 14x14 in.
This painting is recent, and part of my new series of San Diego scenes, acrylic on canvas.

This "painting San Diego" I'm doing lately,  reminds me of Gianfranco Baruchello, an Italian artist whose work was exhibited at the Biennale di Venezia this year. He is 89 years old, was a friend of Marcel Duchamp and Italo Calvino. These friendships introduced him to the notion that art is a form of faith in the ability to transmute everyday objects and activities into something greater. 

SUNRISE AT MISSION BAY, acrylic on canvas

Sunrise at Mission Bay, acrylic on canvas, 14x14 in.  I am working on a series of acrylic on canvas paintings of San Diego, in a fast, impressionism/realism/ style of my own development. This is one of them.

Plein Air painting did not begin with the Impressionists. Camille Corot (1796-1875) used to paint outdoors, in front of the subject, like his "Waterfall at Terni", from 1826. The invention of the oil tubes of paint, made it very practical to carry outdoors without having to mix the paint in your studio.  In 1897, Claude Monet said: "There is only one master here: Corot. We are nothing compared to him." Typical of Corot's Italian oil sketches are the small format and the use of paper as a surface.

NORRFÄLLSVIKEN BAY II, Sweden, watercolor

Norrfälsviken Bay II, Sweden, watercolor, 11x15 in. juried in for: REFLECTIONS, part of the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild Exhibition to take place at Gallery 21, Balboa Park, from January 2 to the 13. The opening reception will be on January 5, 3-5pm.

"A painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness, some fantasy. When you always make your meaning perfectly plain you end up boring people."       ---Edgar Degas

SMOOTH SOUNDS, acrylic on canvas, jazz series

Smooth Sounds, acrylic on canvas, 36x24 in. one of the jazz series at the restaurant of Inn at the Park, Spruce and 5th St., near Balboa Park, San Diego, California. Go have a drink, and tell the friendly and lovely bartender Jersey, that I sent you!

In Creating Depth, an article by Cindy Sorley-Kelchinger, she says that being a self-taught artist is freeing in many ways, since there are no rules to slow you down, and you have the fun of finding out what you like and what you don't, on your own. That's what I did, I chose my instructors, in California and France, and learned from the best!

FEELING GOOD, acrylic on canvas

Feeling Good, 28x22 in., acrylic on canvas. In exhibition and for sale at the Main Restaurant of Inn at the Park, a lovely hotel near Balboa Park, in San Diego, California, at 525 Spruce Street. During December 2013 you can see my work  in  different places in San Diego, two restaurants: Petrini's and Inn at the Park just mentioned, and also at the following galleries: Watercolor Society, Women's Museum of California, Kettner Arts, San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park, and on line at the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild. Enjoy! Share with a friend!

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe." ---John Muir

LE PONT NEUF, TOULOUSE, watercolor

Le Pont Neuf, Toulouse, watercolor, 14x20". Painted on location in Toulouse, France, about two months ago, this watercolor is in exhibition and for sale at the San Diego Watercolor Society during the month of December. This is in San Diego, California.

Tonight, at the reception,  I noticed a couple standing in front of my painting, so I approached them. They surprised me by telling me not only that they had recently been in Toulouse, but also in the area of the Pyrenees where I live part of the year, including Cauterets! They are bikers, and have biked up the mountains from Lourdes, to Cauterets. This is a feat that only expert bikers can achieve!

A LA ESCUELA, PANAMA, pastel

A la Escuela, Panama, 16x12 pastel painting, you can see it and purchase it at Kettner Arts Studio and Galery, 1772 Kettner Street, San Diego, California.

The Chinese painter and poet Sou Zhi (1035-1101) believed that painting and poetry were one and the same. Each painting becomes a symphony. Zhang Can, painter from the Tang dynasty (618-907) said: "The imitation of nature, the exterior form, is not the essential thing. The essence is born from the source that resides in the heart of the painter."

VILLEM'S BOAT, watercolor

Villem's Boat, watercolor, 12x9 in, painted during the South America cruise aboard Carnival "Splendor", from Los Angeles around Cape Horn, to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Look at the preview and buy  the book of watercolors from the trip: LOOKING FORWARD, here at Blurb:

http://blur.by/1bmi8fi

I visited LACMA's (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)  Calder exhibition this week. Very small, compared to Calder's exhibition at the Musee Pompidou in Paris a couple of years ago. The Pompidou had several floors of Calder's contraptions, while LACMA had just a few of them in a big room, so I was disappointed, but still, Calder is Calder, and it was fun to see them.