One of THE MONUMENTS MEN's paintings: Cardinal Potier Gesvres, ink and watercolor

One of THE MONUMENTS MEN found paintings: Cardinal Potier Gesvres by Pompeo Batoni, 1758,  ink and watercolor sketch in my art-notebook.  I painted this quickly, standing in front of the original oil at the San Diego Museum of Art.

This is one of two paintings lawfully bought by the San Diego Museum of Art, in exhibition at the moment, which were once stolen and placed in salt mines by the Nazis during WWII. The movie: THE MONUMENTS MEN, just opened last week, tells the story of this terrible event, where thousands of paintings, sculptures, and other art objects had been confiscated and stolen by the Nazis, placed in underground mines, with the ulterior motive of creating a super-museum. "The Monuments Men", were a group of men and women who risked and sometimes lost their lives, protecting, searching and finding many of the art pieces.

Self-portrait on Green Paper

Self-portrait on Green Paper, crayons on paper, 10x8. Available
Quick sketch in front of a mirror, done at the San Diego Museum of Art in 2010. They had a table set up for children to play with crayons. I happened to find a green paper around, and decided to do this quick sketch of myself. I enjoy challenging myself to draw or paint with anything I find. I remember an anecdote I once read about Picasso, that he would move to a new house, then walk around the neighborhood, enter any store where he could buy materials to write, draw or paint with, go home and try his new materials. At the Picasso museum in Paris, I saw a painting he did on a kitchen towel!

Winter at Balboa Park

Winter at Balboa Park, 2009, watercolor, 5x7". Available.
Balboa Park, in the city of San Diego, California, is the "largest urban park in the world" I read this morning at the San Diego History Museum. Size matters, I know, but beauty matters more, and Balboa Park is beautiful! My little watercolor from a few years ago, painted on location at the main fountain in front of the Museum of Art says nothing compared to the beauty of this park, its gardens, buildings and museums.
In Google Chrome, to read my blog in another language:
1. Right click-------a box appears
2. Click on "translate this page to..."----a dialogue box appears on top of your screen
3. Click on the desired language you want to translate ---magic!