she paints; she is a painter

Hola mis amigos! ¿Quieres saber de mi viaje a México y la experiencia de la pintura?  ¿ Sí? Entonces aquí vamos …

San Miguel de Allende is situated in the mountainous region of central Mexico in the state of Guanajuato and has the distinction of being the first municipality to declare independence from Spanish rule. Because of its well-preserved historic center with its baroque and neoclassical colonial architecture, San Miguel has become a haven for artists since the turn of the 20th century. For the past eight years Barry Coombs has accompanied artists here and this year I was fortunate to be one of them. In addition to Barry, our illustrious watercolor instructor, we were 16 painters and 5 non-painters, among whom figured 5 academic PhDs, 1 lawyer, 1 radioactive waste manager, 3 nurses and a mathematics instructor; just to give you an idea of the diversity of the group. Some were accomplished artists, some were just beginning their personal journeys, and some of us were in-between. Since this is my blog I’m going to focus on my own work. (If you’d like to see more of other people’s work see Barry’s Blog.)

In the first few days I had difficulty getting started. At an altitude above 6,400 ft, with the humidity  at 18% and a blazing sun giving temperatures in the 90’s, I found carrying 10 lbs of supplies all too much. Fortunately the hotel was charming. We had our own compound  with swimming pool, restaurant, gardens, spa and even an 18th century bell tower all within a walled enclosure. I had studied that bell tower from a photograph in a previous workshop and showed that study in my last post. I was looking forward to seeing that tower “in person” and there it was through my bedroom window! The challenge was before me. I took my time and added details to the drawing everyday in the same light. (See drawing above.)

The days were generally structured with a similar format, except the day we traveled to Atotonilco. We gathered together as a group at 8 am for a generous breakfast provided by our hotel. Fresh fruit plate with yoghurt and granola, fresh orange juice, eggs in any form with bacon or chorizo, and even oatmeal with banana slices, warm milk, raisins and honey! At 9 am we met with Barry for the day’s demonstration. He provided us with an “approach” for the day and the advice to limit the scope of our paintings to a 5 foot subject and gradually work up to a 15 foot area. In other words, “Don’t try to represent too large an area. Keep the subjects small!”  (Of course, my first two days were disasters because I took on 500 ft subjects which ended up in overwhelming complications.)  Then we would trudge usually UP some hill to our painting destination. On the second day after having spent hours on an impossible composition, I tried to salvage the day with a quick sketch of this monument. We were poised on the 1 and 1/2 foot sidewalk with cars hardly heeding us and donkeys definitely ignoring us. Then the reward for a humbling day’s work was The Critique where you had the pleasure of exposing your soul to the group, with the mitigating addition of a glass of wine and the comforting comments of Barry, who usually managed to extract something positive from each painting.

More about The critique … the critique is the time when you see the work of others in the group. There is a bit of judging and being judged. It is difficult not to compare your work to that of others as much as you know that each person is on his/her own developmental road. Even though some are very accomplished, almost everyone has good days and bad days. If I had had a very bad day I would skulk around hoping that no one would notice that I hadn’t offered a public sacrifice. (This only happened once.) On the other hand when I had a piece that kind of pleased me, I would be happy to show it.

These dancers were done directly with paint without the benefit of drawing first. They elicited minimal comment from the teacher; nevertheless, I liked them because  they are free of over working the paint and are expressive of the moment.

Barry calls the process of painting directly, without drawing out the proportions of the subject first in pencil, “shape reading”. I think almost everyone benefited from this approach because one doesn’t get bogged down with unnecessary details but rather concentrates on the big shapes and their relationship to light and dark. It is a good way of simplifying what you see before you. Also, on that day of “shape reading” I completed this simple little study. It may be my favorite piece.

On the 6th day we left the town for the National Heritage Site, Atotonilco, with its stunning Baroque Sanctuary. (My painting here was not resolved!) In the afternoon we had lunch in the garden of the very nearby La Gruta Hot Springs, bathed and continued to work on our paintings. On Day 7 the demonstration was about arches and dealing with greenery and flowers in the shade. This is my attempt:

On the last painting day the demo was about people. I had a great fun that day because I left all my paraphernalia at the hotel and just set off with my sketch book to one of the central squares. At the end of our last day we had our Final Critique where we had to select three pieces to discuss with the group. I chose the Bell Tower, a piece that had given me trouble, and this street scene that I worked on for 4 days:

The collection of final pieces from the group:

Then we had our final dinner at Berlin Restaurant with margaritas and heated conversation!! A few hours later we left the Posada for the last time at 2:30 am for our ride to the Leon Airport. Even with so many dynamic personalities in this shared experience, I already felt the loss of the group. We were a unique kind of family. I learned from everyone! And, Barry Coombs was again a supreme leader!!