Cartagena Photo-Op
Cartagena Photo-Op
This Carmen Miranda inspired woman made her living outside the market in Cartagena posing for paid photos. She appeared to do a very brisk business.
In 2001 Andres Pastrana, the President of Columbia, wrote a piece in the Los Angeles Times in which he decried the message that movies such as Clear and Present Danger, Proof of Life, and Blow gave of Colombia. He maintained that the situation in this South American country is not as simple as Hollywood presents it. In the movies the boy gets the girl, good triumphs over evil, and the cowboy rides off into the sunset. The drug wars that have torn Colombian society are real.
Petropolis
Petropolis
This town in the mountains above Rio is interlaced with canals and rivers which aid the cool effect so enjoyed in this alpine community.
If the venerable Sunday Times of London says "Brazil is Buzzing", who am I to argue. "More than beach bums … why Rio and São Paulo could soon rival Milan and Paris", its headline continues. We will never know just how in, how incredibly hot Rio is, as we opted instead to visit the cool Petrópolis, an alpine retreat that is much different in flavour than the beaches of Ipanema populated by dental-floss-sized swim wear.
Dancing With A Gaucho
Dancing with a Gaucho
Retired gauchos (cowboys) were assigned to dance with the ladies from our bus tour. It was clear that these ranch visits are a well established tourist activity.
As a small child, the only personal knowledge that I had with Argentina was visits to our church of furloughed missionaries who sang the exotic wonders of this distant land. Exotic and distant are the key words here. I heard about maté, gauchos and the pampas. It was all very exciting. I couldn't envision a land where people lived ordinary lives.
Marrakech Market
Marrakech Market
I was most interested in this small painting to convey a sense of the crowds and the confusion that is the atmosphere in the market place.
Hanging on the studio wall above my computer is a pencil drawing by the late Terence Cuneo of child beggars in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. For many years, he followed in his father's footsteps working for the London Illustrated News, producing drawings and paintings from lands distant and exotic for a readership living in the sceptred isle.
Welcome Band, Costa Rica
Welcome Band, Costa Rica
Many ports present live music of some type. In Costa Rica we had an assemblage that played apparently traditional music of that country. I have experienced, and sometimes enjoyed, steel bands, brass bands, bagpipes, marimba ensembles and Dixieland bands. I would be interested to know who employs these port musicians. Their competence varies as does their presentations. God Bless the Chambers of Commerce.
Bands suggest a sense of occasion. From the apparently sleepy group of musicians, performing on auto pilot in Costa Rica, who had been hired to entertain the bus traveller queuing for lunch, to the energetic Mariachi band, strolling while playing, in the Mexican silver mining town of Taxco, the music of bands, either stationary or mobile, lifts the spirit.
Riverside Trees, Costa Rica
Riverside Trees, Costa Rica
After over thirty-five years, sensitivity to visual opportunity has become instinctive for me so when our open river boat in tropical Costa Rica slid past the jungle shores, I could hardly contain myself. Monkeys and sloths gawked from the tightly packed vegetation. Crocodiles and water birds went about their daily routines. Thatched houses stood stork-like on skinny legs along the edge of the smoothly flowing river. Everywhere I looked I saw opportunities for paintings.
"Oh, artists always think that they see beauty when there is nothing there," puffed my Aunt when she saw my painting of a trough in the corner of their farm field. She believed, as many do, that the subject is the concern of a painting rather than the visual poetry of that topic.
Market Vendors, Senegal
Market Vendors, Senegal
As a regular customer at the Waterloo Farmers Market, I couldn’t help but contrast ‘my market’ to the ladies who gather in the village square to sell their meager supply of fruits and vegetables. This produce must come from gardens that are watered by hand because the blazing temperature in Sub-Sahara Africa would burn out a garden in a thrice. Obviously the bright patches of eye delighting colour also provide a strong contrast to the somber colours of the Mennonites with which I am so familiar. See also: Image #2619 Attendant, Senegal and Image #2620 Laundresses, Senegal.
Senegal is the tragically impoverished country on the extreme west of Africa that was the exit point for many slaves on their way to America and the Caribbean. Just south of the Sahara desert, this land, a former French colony, bakes in temperatures in the 30's Celsius range. Strong winds from the interior hurl sand and plastic debris everywhere. In a country where life is so harsh, there is no money for trivials like sanitation or garbage collection. There are, however, 350 miles of beautiful white sand beaches.
Beached Boats, Acapulco
Beached Boats, Acapulco
I am lured by the once brightly painted boats that line the beach in Acapulco. The fishermen are applying C.P.R. to their wooden crafts which appear to suffer from terminal neglect. These boats contrast in my memory to the incandescently-coloured, beautifully-maintained boats that I envied along the shoreline in Percé, Quebec. The Mexican boats seem to blend with the murky colours of the smog-laden harbour, and the casual attention of their owners echo the lazy surf that gently massages the sand.
I am lured by the once brightly painted boats with their peeling paint that line the soft sands in Acapulco. The fishermen are applying C.P.R. to their wooden crafts which appear to suffer from terminal neglect. The Mexican crafts seem to blend with the murky colours of the smog-laden harbour, and the casual attention of their owners echos the lazy surf that gently massages the shore. These boats contrast in my memory to the incandescently-coloured, maniacally-maintained boats that I envied along the shoreline in Percé, Quebec.
Downtown, Oranjested, Aruba
Downtown, Oranjested, Aruba
Unfortunately, much of the old Dutch-style architecture is vanishing from the heart of this Caribbean capital. I am strongly opposed to the trend of placeless architecture. A sense of place, a context, or a reference to local history creates a particularness that keeps urbanscapes from looking the same. I think Cleveland should look different than London or Marseille. In a quickly changing society, distinctive architecture helps to ground us.
Unfortunately, much of the old Dutch-style architecture is vanishing from the heart of this Caribbean capital, replaced with soulless glass and steel boxes. I am strongly opposed to the trend of placeless architecture. A sense of place, a context, or a reference to local history creates a particularness that keeps urbanscapes from all looking the same. I think Cleveland should look different than London or Marseille. In a quickly evolving society, distinctive architecture helps to ground us.
Mid Morning at the Government Docks
Mid-Morning at the Government Docks
Bermuda, which is really the top of a volcano, is home to an uncountable number of boats. One day in April, almost at the end of a month-long painting holiday, my art dealer invited us to take a day trip on the water in her eighteen-foot boat. We left the government docks behind the Princess Hotel in Hamilton and proceeded to circumnavigate the island.
Bermuda, this crescent-shaped island which is really the top of a volcano, is home to an uncountable number of boats. People who live there are right-headed enough to get out on the water whenever possible. It is not unusual for a business appointment to be altered because one or the other of the intended participants is "out on his boat".
