La Fille d'Elise, pastel portrait

La Fille d'Elise, pastel portrait, 16x24 in.
Completed last month, and brought to the town of Sireix, in the French Pyrénées, for her parents.  This young woman died very young, soon after her baby son was born. Her parents were happy with the portrait.

Before you start a painting, in whatever medium you are using, watercolor, pastel, acrylic or oil, you must first consider the composition. Where will you place your subject? What will be your most important area in the painting? Cold or warm colors? How will you arrange the different shapes? There is a lot to consider before you pick up the brush or the piece of chalk, or the pencil. Usually, when you start painting, the painting is already done in your head.

CARNIVAL SPLENDOR, FROM PUERTO MONTT, watercolor

Carnival Splendor, from Puerto Montt, Chile, watercolor, 4x6 in.
South America Cruise series # 30

Puerto Montt, the city of roses, it was beautiful to see our cruise ship from shore. Carnival "Splendor" is a new ship, born in 2008, in Italy. We were about 3,000 passengers. Some of us made some friendships aboard, I certainly did with other painters. So much so, that we created our "painters deck", and "painters' corner" on deck 10. People would come over to see our new paints. I painted daily, sometimes for an hour, sometimes for several hours, depending on the day's activity. This watercolor I sketched and painted from shore, sitting at a park bench.

View de Cauterets

View de Cauterets, watercolor, 15x10 cm. Available: 40 Euros or $60 US. This is a ski resort town, a thermal waters town, a mountain town, a hiking and beautiful waterfalls town, a trees-changing-colors in October town, come over and see what I mean! Cauterets is 30 km. south of Lourdes, in the French Pyrenees, between Pau and Toulouse, bigger cities. I walk around here and paint. I'm happy here.
Vista de Cauterets, acuarela, disponible. Esta es una ciudad de esqui, ciudad de aguas termales, de montana, de cataratas preciosas, un ciudad donde los arboles cambian de color en octubre, vengan a ver lo que quiero decir! Cauterets esta a 30 km. al sur de Lourdes, en los Pirineos franceses, entre Pau y Toulouse, ciudades grandes. Por aqui camino y pinto. Aqui soy feliz.

Good Book

Good Book, watercolor, 6x4" (15x10cm.) Not available. This is my husband reading a book in my daughter's garden. Quick sketches of people around you are a great way to "keep the hand warm", like Sorolla recommended. I paint little watercolor sketches in the train, the plane, the car while somebody else drives, the airport, parks, gardens, restaurants, etc. Very good practice.
Good Book, acuarela. No disponible. Este es mi esposo leyendo un libro en el jardin de mi hija. Croquis rapidos de gente a tu alrededor es una buena manera de "mantener la mano caliente", como recomendaba Sorolla. Yo pinto pequenas acuarelas en el tren, el avion, el auto mientras otro conduce, en el aeropuerto, parques, jardines, restaurantes, etc. Muy buena practica.

Chateau Saint Marie

Chateau Saint Marie, watercolor, 20x30cm. Available: 180 Euros, or $270 US.
Green is good for you: Use all your yellows, and mix each one with each of your blues, ONE AT A TIME, watch the humidity level for a good gradation. You'll be amazed at the variety of greens you get, and much prettier than green from the tube.
Chateau Saint Marie, acuarela, disponible.
El Verde te hace bien: Usa todos tus amarillos, y combinalos con cada uno de tus azules, UNO POR VEZ. Cuidado con el nivel de humedad para una buena mezcla. Te sorprendera la variedad de verdes que obtienes, y mucho mas bonitos que verde del tubo de pintura.

A Media Luz

A Media Luz, acrylique sur Aquarius paper, 75x55cm., 30x22in. Available: 545 Euros or  815 $US. This painting is in exhibition at the Bibliotheque Municipale de Argeles-Gazost, France, at the moment, till Monday August 22.

Under the slogan: "liberty, fraternity, and equality", the French Revolution marks the beginning of the Contemporary Age. The main contributor to Neoclassic painting was Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825), who started the concept of "artist committed to a cause".

A Media Luz, acrilico sobre papel Aquarius. Esta pintura esta en este momento en exhibicion en la Bibliotheque Municipale de Argeles-Gazost, Francia, hasta el lunes 22 de agosto.

Bajo el lema de "igualdad, libertad, fraternidad", la Revolucion Francesa marca el comienzo de la Edad Contemporanea. El principal contribuyente a la pintura Neoclasica fue Jacques-Louis David, quien comenzo el concepto de "artista comprometido".

Passage du Havre

Passage du Havre, watercolor, 4x6" (10x15 cm.) This "passage", across from the Gare St. Lazare in Paris, is a shopping center gallery, with a small garden where people can go have lunch, or just sit and rest their feet for a while. Simple and lovely.
I recently read this phrase by Robert Kennedy: "There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why...I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"

Passage du Havre, acuarela. Este "passage" al frente de la Gare St. Lazare en Paris, es una galeria con negocios, y un pequeno jardin donde la gente puede ir a comer su sandwich, o simplemente sentarse a descansar sus pies por un rato. Simple y encantador.

Hace poco lei la frase siguiente, de Robert Kennedy: "Hay quienes ven las cosas como estan, y  preguntan por que....yo sueno con cosas que nunca existieron y pregunto por que no?"

Hotel Amadeus

Hotel Amadeus, watercolor 21x14 cm. Walking in downtown Sevilla, Spain, there are many narrow streets with views like this or similar. I enjoy immensely walking and painting in and around Sevilla.
There is something "culinary" about all painting. Whistler referred to his ground colors as his "sauces". An acquaintance recalled seeing his paintings out to dry, set along a wall to "bake in the sun".

Hotel Amadeus, acuarela. Caminando por el centro de Sevilla, Espana, uno encuentra muchas calles muy angostas con vistas como esta o similares. Yo disfruto enormemente de caminar y pintar en Sevilla.

Hay algo "de cocina" en pintura. Whistler solia referirse a sus colores mezclados o molidos como sus "salsas". Un conocido recuerda ver sus pinturas secandose afuera, ubicadas a lo largo de una pared "cocinandose al sol".

Espana: Santiago de Compostela

Espana: Santiago de Compostela, la Catedral. This is a little watercolor from my travel journal, this last trip I did a couple of weeks ago. Santiago de Compostela is famous since the IXth C., when the "remains" of the Apostol Santiago were found. Churches, walking groups, and of course hotels and restaurants to welcome them followed. Today is a very pretty city full of tourists of all kinds, not only religious. See previous posts for map of places visited in this trip.
Otra acuarela de mi cuaderno de viajes, este ultimo hecho hace un par de semanas. Santiago de Compostela es famoso desde el siglo IX, cuando se encontraron los "restos" del Apostol Santiago. Iglesias, peregrinajes, y por supuesto hoteles y restaurantes siguieron aumentando, a medida que mas gente iba a visitar el lugar. Hoy es una hermosa ciudad, llena de turistas de todo tipo, no solamente religioso. Vean las publicaciones anteriores para ver el mapa de los lugares visitados en este viaje.

Voyage en Espagne II

Voyage en Espagne II, from my travel journal. Here you can see the complete trip, which we did in 6 days, from Cauterets in France, to the "end of the land", in Spain. More about this later. We stopped first in San Sebastian, and from there we went inland, through Burgos, Leon, and stopped in Ourense. Ourense is a beautiful city of more than 100,000 inhabitants on the Mino river. Its name refers to the golden sands of the river. There is a XIIIth C. Roman bridge, and thermal waters. It's a typical stop before Santiago de Compostela for the travelers/walkers to the famous site.
Viaje a Espana II, acuarela en mi cuaderno de viajes. Aqui pueden ver el viaje completo que hicimos en 6 dias, desde Cauterets, France, hasta el "fin de la tierra", en Espana. Mas sobre esto luego. Paramos primero en San Sebastian, y de alli fuimos tierra adentro, a traves de Burgos, Leon, y paramos en Ourense. Ourense es una hermosa ciudad de mas de 100.000 habitantes a orillas del rio Minio. Su nombre se refiere a las arenas doradas del rio. Hay un puente romano del siglo XIII, y aguas termales como gran atractivo. Es la parada tipica de los caminantes a Santiago de Compostela.

Together

Together, acrylic on canvas, 7x5" (18x13cm.) Now available at Gallery Without Borders, Hillcrest, San Diego, California.
"Juntos" , ahora esta disponible en la Galeria Sin Fronteras, en Hillcrest, San Diego, California.

Goya used ambiguous titles, like his painting of three religious friars taking a bowl of soup, he called "They are hot", and it could be interpreted for the soup or the monks!
Goya usaba titulos ambiguos, como su pintura de los tres monjes tomando sopa titulada: "Estan Caliente", que se puede interpretar por los platos de sopa o por los monjes!

The Sketchbook Project : page 10

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The Sketchbook Project, page 10. watercolor. This is the last sketch of My First Life: Habia Una Vez...in Argentina.

Proyecto Cuaderno de Dibujo, pagina 10, acuarela. Este es el ultimo dibujo de Mi Primera Vida: Habia Una Vez...en Argentina.

Outside: Argentina , country of pampas and politics. With four children, Immigrant Visa into the USA but still no jobs there, my husband and I decided to say "farewell" to our native country. "Don't Cry for me....Argentina...the truth is...we never left you..."
Inside: We left parents, siblings and friends. We left jobs, and pieces of our hearts.

Exterior: Argentina, pais de pampas y politica. Con cuatro hijos, la visa de immigrante pero todavia sin trabajo alli, mi esposo y yo decidimos decir "Adios" a nuestro pais nativo. "No llores por mi.......Argentina....la verdad es......que nunca te dejamos..."

Interior: Dejamos a nuestros padres,nuestros  hermanos y nuestros amigos. Dejamos nuestros trabajos, y pedazos de nuestro corazon.