CATEDRAL, SEVILLA, watercolor sketch

CATEDRAL, SEVILLA, watercolor sketch, painted on location - plein air- while visiting my daughter Gabriela in Sevilla, a few years ago. It is a very small watercolor sketch, probably 4 or 5 inches long, and 2 inches wide. The view is from an archway nearby, I think it was from El Patio de los Naranjos,  I am not sure. Sevilla, Spain, beautiful city. The Cathedral is gorgeous inside and out. Go visit!

TERRAZAS DE MARBELLA I, watercolor sketch

TERRAZAS DE MARBELLA I, watercolor sketch, 4x4

Marbella is a beautiful and elegant town on the South of Spain, where Dali sculptures grace the downtown plaza leading from the gorgeous beach to the lovely Old Town shops, bars and restaurants area. This is a sketch of a quite villa of condominiums nearby.

To get to Marbella, you can fly into Malaga, and visit the several Picasso museums in Malaga, since he was born there.  His native house in front of the plaza is one of the museums.

BACKYARD VIEW, ink and watercolor sketch in journal

BACKYARD VIEW, ink and watercolor sketch in journal. Painted plain-air, sitting in front of the window with a cup of coffee, after finishing the book: THE NAKED TRUTH, AND PERSONAL VISION, by Barlett H. Hayes Jr.
"The Arts are man's protest to accepting the world at its face value. ...... Within each straight-away the road seems clear, but the memory of earlier directions warns that the view never can be the same for all people."   Just like in life... I loved this book.

STARBUCKS IN PRAGUE, watercolor sketch

STARBUCKS IN PRAGUE, watercolor sketch.
On a particularly cold morning, it felt so good to get into a Starbucks, order hot chocolate and a piece of carrot cake, and warm up for a while!

ANA MENDIETA at Rudolfinum Gallery, Prague. watercolor sketch

ANA MENDIETA exhibition at Rudolfinum Gallery, Prague. watercolor sketch in my travel journal.
There you have it: a piece of the beautiful old building where the Rudolfinum Gallery of Contemporary Art is located, top left of the page. Then, bottom right, is my watercolor sketch of a photograph  Ana Mendieta  had taken of herself, covered in glue (not tar?) and feathers over her naked body, face and hair. Only her pubic hair and part of a breast are showing through the feathers. She also filmed herself naked and totally covered with "blood" as if she had been raped and murdered, while her friends called to the scene panicked and called the police. Ana Mendieta had an obsession with nature, blood, fire. She died very young, under suspicious circumstances.

NATIONAL THEATRE, PRAGUE, watercolor sketch from the 2nd balcony

NATIONAL THEATRE, PRAGUE, watercolor sketch from the 2nd balcony, in my art notebook.
Beautiful architecture, gold rooftop and ceilings, built at the end of the XIX C. In spite of financial difficulties, it has kept its reputation for wonderful programs of opera, ballet, and dramatic arts.

All operas are sub-titled in English. Prices are between 100 and 1200 Kč ( between $5- $60 US dollars). I went to see The Bartered Bride, comic opera by Bdrich Smetana, the founding work of Czech opera. It was beautiful and fun!

SEVILLA, Rio Guadalquivir, watercolor sketch in art notebook

SEVILLA, RIO GUADALQUIVIR, watercolor sketch in art-notebook.
Beautiful river in Sevilla, Spain, where two clubs on the river allow people to do canoeing, kayaking, and other water sports. La Torre del Oro, where once the Spanish conquerors deposited the gold they brought from the Americas, stands still, watching time go by...
I painted this sketch while navigating in a turist cruise along the river at sunset.

Unica Mirando Al Mar, watercolor sketch

UNICA MIRANDO AL MAR, watercolor sketch in my art-notebook. This is the title of a novel by Fernando Contreras Castro, published in 2009, which depicts the hard life of homeless people in Costa Rica. It is an ironic denunciation of the courts. Unica is the only support for hope in the garbage dump area where the homeless have made their precarious home. She saves lives...up to a point. Excellent short story.

As usual, I wrote a summary and commentary of the novel, with a ink and watercolor sketch in my art-notebook.

ACARREANDO CAÑA, COSTA RICA, watercolor sketch

ACARREANDO CAÑA, COSTA RICA, watercolor sketch, 5x7"

Costa Rica, a country without army. In 1948, Jose Figueres Ferrer lead the army, and started a fight to defend universal suffrage, and achieve a profound change in the political model of Costa Rica. A few months later, as head of the Junta, he dictated many political reforms, which transformed the country. Among them, he took away his own military status, and abolished the army in the country. This was unique in the world, becoming the only general in the world to resign in this manner, and Costa Rica the first country in the world without an army. Costa Rica transformed military expenses in investments on social causes: literacy, universal health coverage, electricity and communications.