Up Your Alley

Up Your Alley
plein air oil  12" x 9"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

This alley is the 5th painting from the South Park Plein Air Arts Celebration in Fairplay, CO earlier this month.  I had also spotted this location when I was scouting on the first evening in town.  I loved the shadows in the alley and the bits of light on the rickety, old fence.  The wobbly, old out buildings created fun shapes & shadows.

Again, a little bit of artistic license was used.  I found the leaves of the trees to the left of the buildings in the back yard a bit distracting.  I preferred the simplicity of the mountains as a back ground.  It created one more interesting shape instead of a mess of leaves.  I often do a pencil sketch before beginning a painting.  This helps me plan the composition.  It was as I was scribbling in the leaves in the sketch that I knew they would be distracting.

Puerta Numero Uno

Puerta Numero Uno
oil  8" x 6"
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$100.00 + $10. s/h
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:

Down The Street

Down The Street
8" x 6" oil
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$100.00 + $10. s/h
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!

Mexican Roof

Mexican Roof
Oil  6" x 6"
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$100.00 + $10. s/h

Day 14 of 30

Once again I'm participating in the 30 in 30 painting challenge i.e.:  paint 30 paintings in 30 days.  I'm not able to paint every day for 30 days in January, but I'm going to paint as much as I can.  My theme for this challenge is "Paintings From Mexico."  My husband and I love Mexico, we've been there many times and we'll be there much of this winter (we are so lucky to have the most wonderful house sitter), thus, my theme.  I'll post as often as I can.  When I don't have new paintings from Mexico I'm going to throw in some oldies but goodies on my blog.  But, to stick with the challenge I'll only post the new ones on the challenge blog.  Enjoy!

All paintings sold will be mailed in April.  I apologize for the big delay and inconvenience.

These are roof tops from Puerta Vallarta.  I have to say that we love Puerta Vallarta.  While the beaches are not spectacular, the town is wonderful.  It's a combination of old Mexico and tourism.  The town in filled with ex-pats who seem to blend easily with the Mexicans.  It's a wonderful place.  Great weather, lots to do, interesting architecture, quaint.  I can't say enough about it!