Anniversary Celebration

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, watercolor on Arches paper. I painted part of this watercolor a few years ago, and left it, stored it, put it aside, not sure if I liked it. Cleaning up my "old paintings" shelves a few days ago, I found it and "messed up with it" again. I added, subtracted, and ended up with this "Anniversary Celebration". If you like it, it is available for purchase. Send me an email : minnievalero@yahoo.fr

Horton Plaza, Sunday morning sketch, watercolor

HORTON PLAZA, Downtown San Diego, California, Sunday morning sketch, 6x8 in. Photo taken on the bricks of the plaza.

It's so much fun to sketch with the Urban Sketchers group. This is a dedicated, serious group of artists. After two hours of quietly sketching, We take pictures of our work and ourselves. We all learn from each other.
"Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known." -- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Gondola I, watercolor on Italian paper

GONDOLA I, 4x6 in. (10x15 cm.) watercolor on Italian paper, painted on location in Venice a couple of years ago. I love to paint small watercolors wherever I am, wherever I go. It is fun and challenging. Try it! Go out there and do it!

Like Elizabeth Gilbert says in EAT, PRAY, LOVE: "You gotta stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be!"

ROPA TENDIDA, watercolor on Yupo

ROPA TENDIDA, watercolor on Yupo, 20x26 in (51x66 cm.) found a new home yesterday, in La Jolla, California. It was bought at the Juried March Exhibition of the San Diego Watercolor Society.

I painted this watercolor a few years ago, inspired by rooftops and hanging laundry in Lisbon, Portugal. I have "a thing" for rooftops and hanging laundry. Love them! I guess it reminds me of when I was a little girl in Mendoza and Córdoba, in Argentina. There is no nicer smell than the clothes from the line hanging in the sun, is there?

THE GRAND CANYON, watercolor

THE GRAND CANYON, watercolor on Arches paper, 22x15", will be in exhibition at the Ahmed Shawky Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, in March 2016.

Presented on my DAY 3 of the Painter's Challenge! Today I nominate Peni Rubin to the five paintings -five days challenge.

JUNE LAKE LIBRARY, ink and watercolor sketch

JUNE LAKE LIBRARY, ink and watercolor sketch in my sketchbook.
Spending time in the town of June Lake, in northern California, I visited the enchanting thrift shop and the library. The librarian, a lovely lady called Vanisia, was very friendly and welcoming. We talked about watercoloring, sketching, and how you comcentrate and pay so much more attention to details when you have to draw something, than when you are just looking.

VISIT TO MANZANAR, ink and watercolor on sketchbook

VISIT TO MANZANAR, ink and watercolor on sketchbook, 6x6"
About  200 miles north of Los Angeles, on US Route 395, is this Memorial to the Japanese people held prisoners of war here between 1942 and 1945. Men, women, children, old people, even parents of soldiers fighting FOR THE US abroad. How these families managed not only to survive, but to overcome, to make do with what they had, TO MAKE ART! The visitor center is amazing, I was impressed with the stories, the memorabilia, the books, films, photographs.

ANTIBES, South of France, 3 watercolor sketches END OF THE YEAR SPECIAL!

ANTIBES, South of France, three watercolor sketches (6x8") painted plain air.  SPECIAL!! Available for quick purchase before 2015 ends!!!FREE SHIPPING WITHIN USA!!!ALL THREE SKETCHES, matted, $150.- before December 31st !

"Honolulu Bus Stop", watercolor on Arches paper

HONOLULU BUS STOP, watercolor on Arches paper, 5x8"
We had bought the Hop ON-Hop OFF bus tickets, so while we waited for the next bus, I had enough time to quickly do this watercolor at the bus stop. I was sitting in the shade of a building, I think it was a government building, with big columns and a pond with little fish in front. You could see a park on the other side of the street.

HAWAIIAN CHICKENS, watercolor on gray paper

HAWAIIAN CHICKENS, watercolor on gray paper, 7.5x10" (19x25 cm.) Painted during my recent cruise to Hawaii. Why would you paint chickens in Hawaii? you may ask. Well...

It turns out Hawaii is full of chickens running around, particularly in Kauai, and Maui, we saw lots of chickens everywhere! We were told that they are not good to eat since they are very tough, and hard due to what they eat all over the place. So there you have it: Hawaiian chickens!!

NAWILIWILI PORT , watercolor on Arches paper

NAWILIWILI PORT, watercolor on Arches paper, 11x14" (28x35.5 cm)
Painted aboard Princess Cruiseship, during my recent trip to Hawaii, Samoa and Tahiti. This port was fun, beautiful, and convenient,  because the beach is right there, about a block from the port, so you can enjoy the beach and water, then go back to your ship to shower and change.
Nawiliwili is the port in Kauai, one of the islands in the State of Hawaii, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

RAINBOW FALLS SKETCH, ink and watercolor

RAINBOW FALL SKETCH, ink and watercolor in my sketchbook.

Painted during Dr. Sharon Faff's conference about Hawaii, the big island, aboard Crown Princess cruiseship. I love to write comments, a summary of something she said, and sketch some of the slides/photographs she was showing during her explanations. One of the best thing of Princess Cruises is the lectures on board, by excellent experts, who are well informed and fun.

WAIMEA CANYON, Kawaii, watercolor on gray paper

WAIMEA CANYON, Kawaii, 7.5x10 "(19x25 cm.) watercolor on gray paper

TECHNIQUE: As I like to experiment with different surfaces, this watercolor was painted on gray paper, its surface intended for pencil, crayon and pastels. I challenged myself to see how I could work it with watercolor. I had to use white gouache for the whites, since the surface was gray, but it worked, as you can see! This is one of the paintings in my large Carnet de Voyage, created by Alvaro Castagnet. Alvaro is a fantastic watercolorist from Uruguay.

PRAHA TOWER, Prague, Czech Republic, watercolor on Arches paper

PRAHA TOWER, Prague, Czech Republic, 14x11", watercolor on Arches paper. Accepted for exhibition at San Diego Watercolor Society, December 2-26. Artists reception on Friday, December 4, 2015, from 5:00-9:00pm. You are invited!!! Wine and hors d'oeuvres served.

The San Diego Watercolor Society has more than 700 international members, including the most prestigious watercolorists in North,  Central and South America, Asia, and Europe. The address is: 2825 Dewey Rd., # 105,  (Liberty Station) in San Diego, California 92106.

WORLD'S LARGEST BANYAN TREE, watercolor on Arches paper

WORLD'S LARGEST BANYAN TREE, 7.5x11 watercolor on Arches paper. Maui, Hawaii, October 2015. The day we visited this tree, near the port, they had an art festival. Here I represented just a few of the many branches and trunks and branches and trunks growing up and coming back down occupying an area bigger than a tennis court, all under the tree!!!!

PACIFIC SUNRISE, watercolor on Arches paper

PACIFIC SUNRISE, 7.5x10" watercolor on Arches paper, painted aboard Crown Princess, cruising the Pacific toward Hawaii, Samoa and Tahiti, three weeks ago.

On our way from Los Angeles to Hawaii, we were sailing west, then south to Samoa, then east from Samoa to Tahiti, and finally north-east from Tahiti back to Los Angeles. It was confusing at first, due to my ignorance of the exact location of the South Pacific islands. So we bought an inflatable globe, to be able to follow our own ocean path with the globe in our hands. The first few weeks I got up very early to enjoy the Pacific sunrise from the ship. Then I got lazy and just enjoyed the sunset, ha ha!

MOOREA, TAHITIAN HOUSE, watercolor on Arches paper

MOOREA, TAHITIAN HOUSE, 7.5x10" , watercolor on Arches paper.

Open houses, with decks and straw rooftops are common in Samoa and Tahiti. Just floor, wooden columns and the straw roof, no walls, are called "Fale", in the original language of the islands. They are perfect for a warm weather year-round, with occasional daily warm showers. That's why they hang the clothes under the roof-top. No insects or poisonous snakes, warm air and warm water, fruits and flowers all around you, what else do you want????? Paradise!!!!!

Basket Weaver in Papeete, Tahiti, watercolor on Arches

BASKET WEAVER IN PAPEETE, TAHITI, 7.5x10" watercolor on Arches paper.

The skill and speed of this woman, weaving hats, baskets, flower crowns, was impressive to watch. Papeete is a big town, capital of Tahiti in French Polynesia. People here speak Tahitian and French. They use the French Francs as currency. It is interesting that they are not used in France any more, only here. So the French government makes the Francs especially for them. They are French, but the pictures on the bills are of Tahitian people. Very cool!

PRAHA, CHARLES BRIDGE, watercolor

PRAHA, CHARLES BRIDGE, watercolor on Arches paper, 11x14 in.
Tonight, at the San Diego Law Library, this is one of my paintings in exhibition for the fundraiser LAW LIBRARY WITKIN AWARD, for people in legal practices and services.

I painted this watercolor in November 2014, while in Prague, Czech Republic, where I was having an exhibition at the Latin Art Gallery, and teaching a couple of watercolor workshops. Prague is a beautiful city!

ROPA TENDIDA, watercolor on Yupo

ROPA TENDIDA, watercolor on Yupo, 20x26 in. (51x66 cm.)
This watercolor is from a few years ago. It has been juried into the San Diego Watercolor Society a couple of years ago, then Gallery 21 in Baboa Park, and now into the Point Loma Credit Union watercolor exhibition. You can see it there until November 21st. There will be a reception on October 20th, 3-5 pm. You are all invited!!!!
Yupo is a material used as "paper" for watercolors, but it is actually not paper, it is 100% polypropylene. Since it does not absorb water or the pigment we use, the water and pigment just "sit there" until it dries by evaporation. The color stays much stronger on the surface due to lack of absorption, and it is relatively easy to take away pigment and leave the white of the surface in certain parts with a cotton Q-tip, or a wet brush.