Paris, Eiffel Tower I

Paris, Eiffel Tower I, oil on canvas, 12x9 in, available, contact me.
This is one of three oil paintings in exhibition now at La Jolla Art Association Gallery, La Jolla, California. The Opening Reception is Friday 21st, from 6:30-8:00 pm. You are all invited! I hope to see you there!

I love to walk in Paris and find hidden, interesting views of the Eiffel Tower. I have sketched that tower at all times of the day, from a hundred different places. Here is another view! Enjoy! I usually sketch in pencil, pens, and watercolors, filling up many travel journals with my value sketches and watercolors. Then sometimes I do a larger painting in my studio.

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.

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.