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."