Cacophony Of Color

Cacophony Of Color
Oil  8" x 8"
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This Mexican store front drew my eye each time I walked down this street in Playa del Carmen.  Of course, the first thing I thought of was the Denver Broncos.  But as in all of these Playa paintings, it was the variety of colors.

I looked up the definition of "cacophony" and found:  "an incongruous or chaotic mixture : a striking combination. a cacophony of color." 
I love that definition!  So many of the buildings in this town did have an incongruous mixture.  I don't think that any of my past paintings have been filled with such a combination of color as those done in Playa del Carmen.  I loved painting with such fun color combinations!

Store Front Fiesta

Store Front Fiesta
Oil  8"x8"
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This is another painting from our trip earlier this winter to Playa del Carmen, Mexico.  I loved the colorful buildings.  It was fun walking in neighborhoods with vibrant colors.  As I walk around my neighborhood, I wonder why all of our houses have such muted colors. (Although, it does make for a calmer feeling.)

Taco Stand

Taco Stand
8" x 8"  Oil
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After a few weeks in Playa del Carmen I found myself looking for more colorful buildings, fun streets, and bold colors.  This was really easy once when I walked a few blocks away from our hotel.  I could have stayed in Playa for several more weeks just painting the glorious colors.  These pieces were so much fun to paint!  The colors here in Colorado aren't this bright and I often don't use these colors! I was so glad that I threw in a few different than usual tubes of paint.

No Zoning

No Zoning
8" x 8" oil
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This is another architectural piece from our January in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.  As you find in most Mexican towns and cities, there appears to be no zoning.  We have learned to never walk with out paying very close attention to the sidewalk and eery thing around us!  As you can see here, you might walk into the bent awning, or trip over the raised side walk in front of the counter, or hit your shoulder on the partial arch way.  Sometimes there might be a hole in the sidewalk, a missing manhole in the street, broken curbs, even rebar sticking out of buildings!

It's all part of the Mexican charm!!

Red Road

Red Road
Oil  8"x8"
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During our time in Playa del Carmen in January, I loved painting all of the colorful buildings.  I had thought that most of my paintings would be of the ocean with all of its' beautiful turquoises, palm trees and bougainvillea.  What I found as I walked the streets of Playa were amazingly colorful buildings!  I walked down this block again and again loving all of the reds, oranges, pinks and corals.

Color Is Everywhere

Color Is Everywhere
Oil  8"x8"
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Playa del Carmen does not have an old, colonial center like many Mexican towns.  It originally was a small fishing village which grew as tourism and the Cancun airport grew.  But, even without the "old" there is beauty and color everywhere.  It's people and buildings are filled with happy moments, brightness like the blazing sun, color, vibrancy and intensity.

Each neighborhood is filled with variety.  Every neighborhood is a different outlook of life.  Our hotel, Aventura Mexicana, was on the edge of the tourist area.  When you headed the other direction the neighborhoods became new condos, then colorful Mexican streets.  I loved that this new condo still had colorful, bright walls around it.

Like Mexican towns, each neighborhood in Playa is filled with it's own ethnicity and traditions.  Every neighborhood had a different look, some new, some bright, some needing a bit of help.

Playa Bouganvillea

Playa Bouganvillea
plein air oil. 6” x 8”
$100.00 + $10. S/h
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I love the way old Bouganvillea creep and crawl across walls.  Our hotel in Playa del Carmen is filled with bouganvillea of many colors.  These are right near the door to our room.  Certainly made it easy to paint!

Playa Palm

Playa Palm
Plein air oil. 8” x 6”
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Playa del Carmen, Mexico is a booming, loud, colorful, vibrant Mexican town.  During all but the hot summer months it is filled with tourists from around the world seeking warmth, beautiful water, and fun.  For my husband and me fun entails warm weather, lots of walking, painting and yoga for me, tennis for him.  All of that is here!

I’ll be posting a few paintings from Mexico and more when when we return to Colorado at the end of January.  I admit, posting on small devices is challenging!

We are lucky to have the opportunity to travel.  We are lucky to have a wonderful house sitter.  

Shades Of Blue

Shades Of Blue
oil  11" x 14"
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This painting was done partly plein air and partly in the studio.  With plein air paintings you have to paint quickly and not chase the light and shadows.  But, with all of these elipses the drawing part of the piece took quite a long time.  Consequently, the light and shadows (which I had blocked in) had changed so much after several hours that I knew I needed to stop.  I had taken a picture when I started, so I had my choice of being like Monet and going back to the same spot another day soon after, or heading home and finishing in my studio.  I chose the later.  Being like Monet will have to be another time.

Puerta Numero Dos

Puerta Numero Dos
Oil  8" x 6"
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Paintings From Mexico

This is another of the colorful, fun doors from San Miguel de Allende.  I could paint a big series of these!

And, a few more door photos!

Puerta Numero Uno

Puerta Numero Uno
oil  8" x 6"
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Paintings From Mexico

We spent almost two weeks in San Miguel de Allende this past January.  Friends of ours have moved there permanently and we house sat for them while they went to the beach.  San Miguel, in the state of Guanajuato, is a colonial era city in Mexico's central highlands at an altitude of just over 6,000 feet.  It's known for its baroque Spanish architecture, its thriving art scene, and its population of North American ex-pats.  In the city's historic cobblestoned center is the neo-gothic church Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel.  Its dramatic pink towers rise above the main plaza, El Jardin (the Garden.)  For me the most interesting part of the city's architecture were the old doors of all of the homes.  I loved the colors of the doors and walls, but I really loved peaking into the homes when the doors were opened.  One never knew what amazing home & court yard garden was hidden away.

Here are some of the colorful doors & walls of San Miguel:

Shady Palm & Sea Turtle Rescue

Shady Palm
plein air oil  8" x 6"
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Paintings From Mexico

This is another palm tree from the garden of our hotel in Barra de Potosi, Mexico.  It provided just a little bit of shade where I was able to stand and paint.

Down the beach and road from Barra was the area called Playa Blanca.  Late one afternoon/early evening we went to the Ayoticalli Turtle Rescue Center.  It's run by volunteers who comb the 6 mile stretch of beach at night looking for turtle eggs.  They protect the eggs until they hatch.  Almost every day from 5 - 6 they give a lecture on the preservation of turtles, the plight of the baby turtles and why conservation is important.  Then, everyone at the lecture participates in the release of that day's baby turtles who have recently hatched and are ready for their journey into the ocean.  Of 2,500 babies released, maybe 5 will live to come back to lay eggs on this same beach where they were born.  On average, 1 in 1,000 of the babies that make it to the water survive.

Here are some of the photos we took of our release:

Eggs are carefully collected by volunteers at night preventing them from being eaten by birds and crabs.  They are then buried in this protected, fenced environment until they hatch.  A female turtle lays about 80 - 100 eggs which she buries in the sand before returning to the sea.  Turtles have an incubation period of about 2 months.

New born babies are carefully removed from under the inverted and cut plastic bottles (seen in the sand in the first picture) where they were buried.  That days' new borns are put into a bucket, then each visitor is given one baby which we carried to the shore in a tiny plastic bowl.

Once at the shore, we released all of the babies and watched as they made their way to the ocean.  Sea turtles are born with the instinct to move toward the brightest direction.  On a natural beach, this direction is the light of the open horizon.  Sea turtles (those few who survive) can live 40 - 60 years.

Just A Light Breeze

Just A Light Breeze

plein air oil  8" x 6"

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Paintings from Mexico

This piece was done in the garden of our hotel in Barra de Potosi, Mexico.  I was very close to the palm so it created a wonderful view looking up.  Palm trees have so many colors in the fronds:  many shades of green, yellow, and oranges as they start to fade away.  

The picture below is actually from a different hotel, but I thought the palms looked like they were also blowing just a bit in the ocean breeze.

Down The Street

Down The Street
8" x 6" oil
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Paintings from Mexico

This house was right down the street from our hotel in Barra de Potosi, a little fishing/beach town about 20 minutes south of Zihuatanejo.  (I posted a few other pieces from there in February.)  We walked by this wall every day on the way to the store or the beach.  I loved how there are flowers every where in Mexico.  A beautiful, colorful benefit of living in a warm climate.

Only the main street in Barra de Potosi is paved.

Here's the above scene from the other direction.

I loved this wall of flowers near the entrance to town.  Maybe a future painting!

Saturday Market

Saturday Market
8" x 6" oil
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Paintings from Mexico

One of the fun and interesting things to do in Oaxaca, and in many Mexican towns, is to visit the markets.  While in Oaxaca we went to many of the local and nearby village markets.  This woman was selling flowers at the Oaxaca Saturday Organic Market.  There were booths of flowers, crafts and clothes.  But my favorite booths were the food.  You could have fresh baked goods for breakfast as well as incredible tacos for lunch.

Here are a few photos from the Organic market:

Garden Wall

Garden Wall
plein air oil  6" x 8"
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Paintings from Mexico

This wall was at the church across the street from our hotel in Oaxaca.  I love plein air painting.  I love being out of doors.  But, it has its' challenges:  wind, sun, rain, snow, snakes, bears, bugs, heat, cold, etc.  With this painting I had a new encounter, a funeral.  One afternoon I noticed the beautiful shadows on the garden wall of the church and decided to paint there the next day.  However, when I arrived a funeral was just beginning.  I didn't want to be disrespectful, so decided I'd come back the next afternoon.  That day was beautiful, warm and sunny.  No sooner did I get the piece blocked in than clouds appeared from nowhere.  There was no longer light and shadow.  This little piece required a third session!

Here are some of the beautiful garden walls of Oaxaca.  Maybe some of these might be future paintings.

Roof Top Terrace

Roof Top Terrace
plein air oil  6" x 8"
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Paintings from Mexico

There was a beautiful, sunny roof top terrace on our hotel in Oaxaca, Mexico.  Additionally, there was a covered area with hammocks that was wonderful for afternoon siestas.   Breakfast was eaten at a long, communal table where guests would visit and share stories of their travels and vacations.

Oaxaca is my favorite city in Mexico.  There aren't as many foreigners as in some other towns.  There is still enough old culture that it feels like you're in Mexico.  16 different languages are spoken in the state of Oaxaca.  In the surrounding villages, and often in the city of Oaxaca, you'll hear indigenous people speaking and when you stop and listen, you realize that they're not speaking Spanish.

Front Wall

Front Wall
Paintings From Mexico
oil  6" x 6"
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My husband and I just got back from spending the winter in Mexico.  We love Mexico; we've been there many times.  The last two winters we spent part of each winter there, but this year we decided to stay for the whole winter.  While the winters in Colorado aren't bad compared to many other parts of the country, they're long.  We had a wonderful time!  I posted a few paintings recently.  I'll keep posting more.

We spent a month in mountain colonial towns where the weather was cool, i.e:  you needed a jacket.  The other two months were spent in warm towns, with a few weeks on different beaches.  One thing I loved about the warm weather was all of the flowers.  They were every where:  in gardens, parks, windows and on walls.  This is from a street in Oaxaca, which was my favorite place from the trip.

Morning Light

Morning Light
plein air oil  6" x 6"
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paintings from Mexico

Sold paintings will be sent in early April.  I apologize for the inconvenience.

Sometimes you end up somewhere not because you want to be there, but because you have to stop there to get where you're going.  That was the case here.  This morning plein air piece was done from the balcony of our hotel in Acapulco.  I loved the way the light was shining on the hotels on the main beach.  Acapulco has a bad name due to so many problems.  But, for tourists, it seemed pretty safe.  We stopped there when going further south to the state of Oaxaca.

Flora

Flora
plein air oil  6" x 6"
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All paintings sold in March will be sent in early April.  I apologize for the inconvenience.

This flower was in the garden of our hotel in Barra de Potosi, Mexico.  I kept wanting to paint it a bold orange, but it was a peach flower, so I stuck with what I saw.

Barra de Potosi is a small fishing village about 20 minutes south of Zihuatanejo on the Pacific coast.  The town is about 6 square blocks of dirt streets with a few hotels, a few small restaurants, a few tourists.  Interestingly, on the weekends many busses come filled with people from Mexico City (about 3 hours away) who want to spend the day at the beach.  For days I couldn't figure out why there were so many restaurants along the beach and lagoon, and why they all had so many tables when there were maybe 6-8 people at each location.  I later found out.  The town is very quiet and peaceful during the week.