Always when I travel to a new destination, I feel the unfamiliar and the uncertainty of what to paint or sketch. The light is different here, airy and fragile. The colours are tints of purple, thalo, pinks with hits of venetian red, the yellows are creamy white with shots of cadmium orange.
I resort to the old standby, “paint what is familiar”. The second floor of our hotel has a small shrine with the Virgin Mary portrait, a small pedestal with baby Jesus in the arms of Saint Anthony, sea shells and a large bouquet of fresh Calla lilies. It is cool and sheltered from the sun, my kind of place for today.
I start with a quick sketch but quickly realize I need to have my own Calla lilies. The” floristeria” shop is nearby. But before paying, the salesclerk shows me a variety of white and orange lilies on his cell phone. He is telling me without a word the Calla lily is not a lily but belongs to the Araceae plant family. Here they grow naturally in the marshland of Oaxaca, purifying the soil and retaining the moisture of the wetlands.
How did the lilly get here? Juno, the ancient Roman goddess is breast feeding her son, Hercules. She decides to express a little extra. First the droplets form the milkway and then fell on the earth to give us the beautiful Calla lilly.
Shrine for Virgin Mary, watercolour, 2018
Early morning, I decide the stone statue La Musica del Mar is a my kind of subject matter – quiet, serene, and reliable.
La Musica del Mar, watercolour, 2017
We come for the sun, beaches, culture and food. Puerto Escondido is all of these plus beautiful sketching and painting spots.
I like comments on my blogs but maybe there is a reason why I get so few and often none
Let me know.