The Kensington Armory/Town Hall is the site of my third show over Labor Day weekend. The hours are noon to 4 pm Saturday and Sunday, and 9:30 am to 4:30 pm on Labor Day. There will be a public reception Saturday evening from 6:00-7:30 pm.
For this exhibit, I plan to hang four framed paintings and show 10-12 matted originals and possibly prints of recent iPad images in a nearby rack. The slide show below gives a sense of these works — but they look much better ‘in person’. Come see them!
We had beautiful days in Vinales, sunrise to sunset. I took lots of photos and, while waiting for evening activities, made a couple more paintings. A gouache of the valley below our balcony (the black paper didn’t photograph well):
‘Gauzy’ gouache of the valley beneath our balcony.
and a watercolor of a lone palm tree presiding over the pool (painted happily with a Mojito at my elbow):
A proud palm by the pool at Los Jazmines,Vinales.
Here are a few more photos in and around Los Jazmines Hotel, made primarily to fix the place and its beauties in my memories:
Early sunrise at Los Jazmines.
Tobacco barn underway in the valley.
The cozy cafe-bar in the hotel.
We DID drink coffee in addition to plentiful Mojitos!
Pink hotel and blue pool made a cool combo.
A casual evening around the pool.
We sigh and snap a photo of our last Vinales sunset.
We pass a ‘colorful’ mural en route to the morning bus.
Goodbye, Vinales! Goodbye, Los Jazmines! On to Havana!
For the next cultural-artistic adventure, we bused to nearby Vinales town and hiked to a small tobacco farm out on the valley floor.
Our first glimpse of the farm.
The farmer’s wife brews coffee.
In the thatched kitchen — an outbuilding, so as to minimize the risk of fire — we enjoyed a complimentary coffee brewed by the farmer’s wife from beans grown and roasted by the family.
As we sat around with some of the best coffee we’ve ever had, her husband demonstrated his cigar-rolling technique. It was interesting to learn that each farm family uses its own secret recipe to ferment its 10% share of the annual tobacco crop.
We were able to persuade the farmer to move his table outside and demo his technique again — this time, we painted. Another wonderful local subject!
The farmer turns model for the afternoon.
I was grateful to snag a small chair and a sliver of shade for our painting session. Here’s the watercolor I made.
The tobacco farmer with background bull.
With a cohort of fellow artists from the Yellow Barn and several family members (including my hubby), I just completed an extremely interesting and fruitful trip to Cuba. We planned to interact with Cuban artists; paint Cuban people, land and cityscapes; soak up the culture; and leave behind art supplies and other items that could be useful.
We began in Pinar del Rio, in western Cuba, exploring the Vinales Valley, with its mysterious mogotes, and other environs. Here is the spectacular view from our little balcony immediately upon arrival.
Vinales Valley, with Mogotes in the Distance
And a photo of fellow artists, also soaking up the beauty.
All Enjoy the Spectacular View
And an ipad sketch I immediately began (using ArtRage3).
iPad Sketch of Vinales Valley
I’m learned much and received a lot of encouragement from several talented teachers at the Yellow Barn Studio and Gallery, located at the Glen Echo Park in Glen Echo, MD (right across the street from Bethesda). I’d like to introduce them over the next few postings, in chronological order.
Jordan Bruns is the current artist-in-residence, occupying the second and third floors of the Chatauqua Tower, as well as Yellow Barn manager. He paints and draws large scale quasi-architectural images that are abstract, yet grounded in familiar geometric shapes.
Here is one of his paintings:
Reveille, mixed media paint on panel, 36x48"
And here’s the first one that I did in my first class with him:
Apples, Jar, Pitcher and Plate