Secretos

Secretos, watercolor on Yupo, 11x9" (28x23cm.) was inspired by watching my grandaughters talk to each other on their way to school. Girls and secrets, seem to go together. Secretos, acuarela on papel Yupo, no absorbente. Esta acuarela fue inspirada al ver a mis nietas hablar entre ellas al ir a la escuela. Ninas y secretos, parecen ir tan bien juntos.


Salvador Dali kept painting women with drawers, it was his representation of women and their secrets. This was one of his constant themes: women with drawers, where their secrets were hidden. Salvador Dali pintaba mucho a mujeres con cajones, fue su manera de representar mujeres y sus secretos. Este fue uno de sus temas constante: mujeres con cajones saliendo de sus cuerpos, donde sus secretos estaban escondidos.

Promenade

Promenade, oil, 22x28"(55x70cm.) a fun view of a side street in Little Italy, San Diego. You can see it in person, at Petrini's Restaurant, in Little Italy, San Diego, California.

I've recently read THE SHAPE OF CONTENT by Ben Shahn. He talks about Spiritual Energy as being the primary force in art. He also mentions non-conformity as a basic pre-condition of art. He claims that the degree of non-conformity present and tolerated in a society might be looked upon as a symptom of its state of health.

View from the Trocadero

View From The Trocadero, watercolor, 7x5" (17x12cm.) painted "alla prima",(in one sitting) and "plein aire" right there in the gardens overlooking the Eiffel Tower, in the Spring 2009. It was fun! View from the Trocadero, acuarela pintada "alla prima" (de una sola vez), y en "plein aire" alli mismo en los jardines que dan sobre la Torre Eiffel, en la primavera del 2009.

Going back to William Turner: his sketchbooks, now at the British Museum, tell us about his character. He was very methodical. At the start of the 19th C. London was as much an attraction for artists as Paris would be 100 years later. Fashion dictated that the landscape painters should seek in nature not truth but drama. Turner's favorite emotion was exaltation, and his favorite word was "sublime". Essentially, Turner tried to elevate the status of landscape painting to place it on a plane with the grandeur of noble poetry. Volviendo a William Turner: sus cuadernos, que ahora estan en el Museo Britanico, nos dicen de su personalidad. Era muy metodico. Al principio del siglo XIX, London era tanta atraccion para los artistas, como lo fue Paris 100 anos mas tarde. La moda dictaba que los pintores de paisajes debian buscar en la naturaleza no la verdad, sino el drama. La emocion favorita de Turner era la exaltacion, y su palabra favorita era "sublime". Esencialmente, Turner trato de elevar el estatus de la pintura de paisaje al mismo plano que la grandiosidad de una noble poesia.

Ghislaine

Ghislaine, watercolor, 5x7" (12x17cm.) Ghislaine and I painted together in Paris last Spring. She's a lovely and generous woman, and was very helpful and patient with me, and my poor French. Ghislaine, acuarela. Ghislaine y yo pintabamos juntas en Paris la primavera pasada. Ella es una mujer generosa y fue muy paciente conmigo y mi pobre dominio de la lengua francesa.

Turner, his genious, and his world :(1775-1851) One hundred and fifty years ago, at the time of painting by classical formulas, Turner used or ignored them at will. He's today's artist's kindred spirit. Many of his works follow traditional rules of clarity, balance, perspective. But in his greatest achievements he abandoned these rules, intuitively pursuing paths that later became the road to Modern Art. He took air, light, earth, water, wind and fire and gave them to us on a platter, on a canvas. Turner, su genio y su mundo (1775-1851). Hace ciento cincuenta anos, en la epoca de painturas que debian seguir un formula clasica, Turner ignoraba las reglas y formulas. El es el espiritu gemelo del artista de hoy. Muchos de sus trabajos siguieron reglas de claridad, balance, perspectiva. Pero en sus obras mas grandiosas el abandono las reglas, siguiendo pasos intuitivos que luego llegaron a crear el camino para el Arte Moderno. Turner tomo aire, luz, tierra, agua, viento y fuego y nos los dio a nosotros servido en un plato, o en una tela.

Tango `a Tarbes

Tango `a Tarbes, watercolor, in my 7x9"journal (17x22cm.) This watercolor comes with its own story. Read on:Tango en Tarbes, acuarela. Esta acuarela viene con su propia historia. Leanla:

The city of Tarbes is close to the Pyrenees, in the South of France. They hold a Tango Festival every summer in August. Last year, my husband and I went one evening to Tarbes. We walked around and stopped at this restaurant/bar for a drink. Musicians were playing and singing, people were dancing tango in the streets. While we were having a drink at Le Carrillon, I did this quick watercolor sketch. Two months went by, I had almost forgotten this evening, and had done many watercolor sketches in my notebook. One day in October, I was with a friend in another town in France, when she introduces me to her friend, Roberto. Roberto is amused that I am originally from Argentina, because, he says, he loves tango music. In fact, he tells me he plays the guitar and sings tangos. Actually, he continues, he played at the Tarbes Tango Festival in August, at Le Carrillon. I was quiet for a moment, then dig out my notebook from my purse, and show him this watercolor, done two months before! Roberto is the man with the white hat, I had painted him two months before meeting him. La ciudad de Tarbes esta cerca de los Pirineos, en el sur de Francia. Ellos celebran un Festival de Tango todos los veranos en agosto. El ano pasado, mi esposo y yo fuimos una noche a Tarbes. Caminamos por la ciudad y paramos a tomar algo en este restaurant/bar. Habia musicos y gente bailando en la calle. Mientras tomamos algo alli, llamado Le Carrillon, yo hice esta acuarela en mi cuaderno. Pasaron dos meses, yo casi me habia olvidado de esta noche, y habia pintado muchas acuarelas en mi cuaderno. Un dia en octubre, estaba yo en otra ciudad de Francia con una amiga, y ella me presento a su amigo Roberto. Roberto estaba muy interesado en saber que yo era originalmente de Argentina, porque, segun el, amaba el tango. En realidad, me seguia contando Roberto, el toca la guitarra, canta, y hasta actuo con su grupo en el Festival de Tango de Tarbes dos meses antes, tocando en Le Carrillon. Yo lo mire callada por un momento, saque de mi bolso mi cuaderno de acuarelas, y le mostre esta pintura, hecha dos meses antes! Roberto es el hombre en el sombrero blanco, yo lo habia pintado dos meses antes de conocerlo.

Annie's home in Giverny

Annie's home in Giverny, watercolor sketch, 7x9" (17x22cm.), done early morning, from the porch of my friend Annie's beautiful house in Giverny. La casa de Annie en Giverny, acuarela pintada en la manana temprano, desde el porch de la bellisima casa de mi amiga Annie en Giverny.

Annie Harrau is a talented artist, a beautiful woman, and a generous soul. She invited me to her amazing home in Giverny for a few days last Spring, 2009. That weekend, we painted together at the "Fete des Impressionistes" de Giverny, where she won a well deserved First Prize. Annie Harrau es una artista talentosa, una hermosa mujer, y un alma generosa. Ella me invito a su increible casa en Giverny por unos dias la primavera pasada, en el 2009. Ese fin de semana pintamos juntas en el Festival de Impresionistas de Giverny, donde ella gano el muy merecido Primer Premio.

Park behind the Paris apartment

This quick watercolor sketch from my notebook "Park behind the Paris apartment", reflects some of my lazy afternoons in Paris last Spring. Sometimes I would just walk around the neighborhood in the 17th arrondissment, and do little watercolor sketches of the neighborhood. This is one of them. Even the wire of the notebook is there!Esta acuarela de mis cuadernos, llamada "Parque detras del departamento de Paris" refleja algunas de las tardes tranquilas que pase en Paris la primavera pasada. Solia caminar por el barrio, en el arrondissment 17, and pintar rapidamente escenas del barrio. Esta es una de ellas. Hasta el alambre del cuaderno esta aqui!

I'm enjoying this sharing of my sketches with my Blog readers. I've just completed three months of Blogging, and it's been such a pleasure to look at what painting will I share tonight, and what story or comment will I expand on! Only nine more months to go! I want to thank my readers for being there. As Emily Dickinson wrote: "This is my letter to the world, who never wrote to me." Estoy disfrutando mucho compartir mis dibujos y pinturas con los lectores de mi Blog. Acabo de completar tres meses de blogging todos los dias, y ha sido un placer buscar que pintura voy a compartir esta noche, y que comentario hare. Solo nueve meses mas para completar mi ano prometido! Quiero agradecer a mis lectores por interesarse por mis pinturas y escritos. Como escribio Emily Dickinson: "Esta es mi carta al mundo, que nunca me escribio a mi."