LIBRERIA LA PUERTA, San Ramon, Costa Rica

Libreria LA PUERTA, San Ramon, Costa Rica. I walked in with curiosity, walked out an hour later in awe. A tiny garage-like hole in the wall. A smiling woman with no formal education, surrounded by books in several languages, and walls filled with poetry hand-written by customers and visitors. Diana, the owner, is a poet and holds regular meetings there with poets, writers, musicians. Her world keeps expanding. She's a savior of souls.

I was so impressed with her simplicity, lack of formal education and role models in her life, yet SHE LOVES TO READ! When she was younger, her family thought she was crazy to prefer to spend time with books instead of talking, or doing something else. She didn't have cards for her bookstore. So I painted this small watercolor, and had cards made with it, and gave them to her. The original watercolor is also in her bookstore. When you go to San Ramon, visit Libreria LA PUERTA, diagonal from Cafe Delicias.

PUNTARENAS FROM THE BALCONY, watercolor on Arches

PUNTARENAS FROM THE BALCONY, watercolor on Arches paper, 9x12 in.

Costa Rica was a wonderful experience! I spent five weeks in San Ramon, traveled to Volcan Poas, Tortuguero, San Jose, Puntarenas, walked to and from downtown San Ramon daily, made friends, ate rice and beans plus a host of delicious treats, laughed, painted in watercolors and pastels, had a solo show: PURA VIDA! at the Museo San Ramon, Universidad de Costa Rica, and most of all: I met the most wonderful people in the world! Costa Rica is good for your health!

RELAXING IN SAN RAMON, COSTA RICA, watercolor

RELAXING IN SAN RAMON, COSTA RICA, watercolor, 5x7 "

I've just finished reading Tracy Chevalier's FALLING ANGELS and I liked it very much. It's the story of two young girls' friendship, and their mothers, and their families, at the beginning of the 20th Century in England. The story is told all in the first person, each chapter changes the person, and the point of view. It's the time of the suffragettes, even Mrs. Pankhurst appears! Very interesting, and Ms. Chevalier achieves a "grave success", pun intended, as many of the girls' meetings and much of the story happens...in the town cemetery.

TORTILLAS DE QUESO, COSTA RICA, watercolor

TORTILLAS DE QUESO, COSTA RICA, watercolor, 5x7 "
In the Agriculture Fair in San Ramon, Costa Rica, this young lady was making the dough, the tortillas, flipping them, adding the cheese, flipping and placing them on a plate, all with an incredible speed, efficiency and perfection. A man standing nearby collected the money. She did all the work.

"There is a power-force more powerful than steam, electricity and atomic energy: will power." -- Albert Einstein