Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Baja wall mural 4/12


Today's posting is about the mural Danny and Linda Peterson asked me to paint on the wall of their casita in Los Barriles, Baja Sur this winter. We talked about what they had in mind and I did a small watercolor after measuring the wall. Danny particularly wanted a tall coco palm and Linda loves Bird of Paradise flowers. Mexican style pots were part of the plan. After we agreed upon the basic design Linda and I went to town to pick up the paint. We wanted 5 cans and the store had enough base for 3. They promised to have more base in two days and they did. This is a small town! I made "patterns' of the vases to be sure we had a visually pleasing size that fit together. I painted the big vase first, then added the Bird of Paradise. Next I did the middle vase and leaves for the flowers. Filling the small pot with flowers was a fun effort, using red and yellow for the flowers and adding little leaves in green. The end pot was a challenge because we wanted a mottled look... a big sponge did the trick and I added some painted walking sticks to complete the total vase part of the mural. I was able to paint the trunk of the coco tree while standing on the floor under the palapa. However, to finish the fronds, Danny found a tall ladder for me to stand on. It worked great and gave me great access to the span of wall. This was my first big outdoor wall mural and I had a great time doing it. Murals are common here in Los Barriles; there is only one neon sign in the whole town that I can think of. The Petersons mural is under their palapa and not in direct sunlight. It should last a long time! One of my goals for this winter was to do much more painting than I have winters passed. And I have done a lot of paintings this winter; this project, while a different medium (acrylic waterbased paints) and much bigger, was still painting in it's best sense of the word. To make a plan, a drawing and execute it is the basis of any painting - well, I think it is most of the time anyway. I hope you are planning and executing your own plan for fun and satisfaction! Happy Trails.....





Saturday, April 7, 2012

Baja current events 4/7/12



Well, in the last few weeks we have just been enjoying the 'everyday' here in Los Barriles. We've been trying out the various "hot dog" stands which only open up after dark. One is at "Three Dog Corner"; a more elaborate affair that also serves stuffed potatoes, gigantic burritos and barbq steak. The photo here shows a stand in the person's yard; nice hot dogs, w/ cooked onions, peppers and the usual condiments. We also tried a stand that parks in a space across the street from the local grammer school. He had hot dogs wrapped in bacon, with good toppings too. We stood on the curb that night. April 1st was a big art show on the grounds of the Hotel Las Palmas. We started out early as we knew it was going to be a very warm day and managed to get in some good shopping! In the center of the show was a large stage where a young lady performed with guitar while we were there. There was also a large food pavillion for the weary shoppers so they could refuel and carry on. I have included a shot of Roger on "our" beach; we have kayaked from this beach as well as further south on the 'sandier' beaches. Wave action has really erroded much of the beach we used last year. Rocks have appeared where we never saw them before. Last night (Friday 4/6) the Petersons and Roger and I took a free shuttle to El Cardonal, about 20 miles, to the Mar & Tierra restaurant for their seafood buffet. So glad someone else was driving that road! The food was great, lobster, scallops, shrimp in a creamy cheese sauce, steamed veggies, salad and dessert. A huge orange moon came up over the water while we finished our desserts; as you can see from the photos, we were outside and the evening was perfect. I have been working on a mural at the Petersons casita and will have a blog with photos when it is finished. Danny is working on some sort of contraption so I can reach the top of the wall! More to come... another great week in Los Barrilesl, Baja Sur. Happy trails....
P.S, I have put up my paintings on the website www.Pinterest.com if you'd like to take a look.