Timeout for Art – Impromptu Art Class – Museo Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador

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museo bahia de caraquez, Painting Artifacts, Student Art Cllasses, The Mola Series

Opening Inauguration for Legado de Colores

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
― Benjamin Franklin

(Ecuador 2015)  Back in February, I dropped by Museo Bahia de Caraquez and enjoyed reminiscing with the staff about the Mola Series Exhibition the museum sponsored back in 2012.  Ready to work on a new series of museum artifacts, I asked permission to take a few photos.  With a bit of red-tape, the director Sixtina Ureta authorized me to photograph a few of my favorite pieces.  She also told me that my “Spiral” painting in their collection would be included in an upcoming show.

From 2013: Imagine my surprise when the guide at the Bahia de Caraquez Museum told me that my painting was in a new exhibit upstairs!

After a few delays, the museum’s most-recent show opened this morning for the viewing pleasure of a group of students.  I knew there would be students, but I did not realize that they were students of art!    Many wanted their photos taken with me in front of the spiral painting, and we had several laughs – especially when I crouched down with my back against the wall to be the same height as Sixtina.  Several other artists and supporters of the arts attended the formal presentation – it’s always a special honor to witness extranjeros who attend the local events.

There were young artists and older students, so I sat on the floor to be closer in height with the younger ones.

Sixtina discusses the museum’s colorful paintings for the Legado de Colores exposition at Museo Bahia de Caraquez

from 2012 “The Mola Series” – Painting pictured at Portoviejo Museum before it reached its permanent home at Museo Bahia de Caraquez.

“My teacher would like for you to come downstairs,” one student said as the gathering ended.  I followed Sixtina and others down the stairs to a level below the main floor.  A second art event was about to begin!

Each Day Prepares Presents, but We Must Show Up!

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Guayaquil, MAAC Museum, Manta 'Express, meeting new friends, sunset in manta ecuador

Michelle – Sunset at Playa Tarqui/Ecuador

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” Dr. Suess

Click your heels together and get moving! Otherwise you might miss amazing experiences that await you!

About ten years ago while spending a week in the San Juan Del Sur Nicaragua area, I met a perpetually-cheerful university student who became an instant friend.  From New York, multi-talented Michelle was on vacation,  and we shared mutual interests in horseback riding, art and music.  She later spent time with me in Costa Rica, and we’ve kept in close contact over the years.

San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

After coordinating plans via email for her first trip to Ecuador, Michelle arrived in Guayaquil on Saturday night for an 8-day visit.    We spent Sunday morning saying, “Hello-Hola” to the resident reptiles and pigeons at ‘IGUANA PARK’ before touring Guayaquil’s Malecon 2000 area.

Timeout for Art: Playamart Treasures

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adding color to the garden, old items in the garden, Timeout for Art: Playamart Treasures

“Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.”
― Oscar Wilde

Pictured: Random pieces of bamboo, driftood/towel hanger, old bottle painted blue for nosegays, old ruined pan (I was painting and burned the food and the pan!) painted new colors and transformed into planter.

It takes little effort to be creative, but I think that many people say, “I have no talent,” and rarely attempt to create art for the joy of the moment.  They have not given themselves permission to loosen their inhibitions and play!   Have you ever asked, “What am I going to do today?” while wishing some magic genie would pop out of a bottle and transform a boring day into a more-enriching one?

“What are we going to do today?”

Sometimes it’s a fear of being critiqued.  Sometimes it’s fear of failure; sure failure feels pretty horrible, but we learn what NOT to do again!  Sometimes there’s not enough time in the day, but I say, “Basura! If you have time to watch a sitcom or read the newspaper, then you can make time to create something that enhances the quality of your day!’  If someone gives you a negative critique, tell them, “Lisa likes it!”

An old headboard destined for the trash heap now sports new colors and purpose. Does anyone volunteer to help shell the peas? ( I promise not to burn them this time!)

Adding just a touch of color can transform a boring corner of the garden. Go ahead – paint a little bitty something on a scrap of wood and attach it to an old broomstick and place it in your garden – or take an old broomstick and paint it many colors and use it to support a climbing plant.

A slim section of bamboo retrieved from the nearby beach serves as a support for the young thumbergia. Playamart uses material from the beach – and it’s free!

I’m nudging you!  Step into the picture; take a walk on the wild side, and you might find it wasn’t as scary as you thought!

Bridges and Boots

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equinox 2015, rain in manabi march 2015

On the day I was leaving for Quito, Xavier dropped by and said, “Lisa; we’re about to do a little work by the house.”

“Work?”

“Yes;  we’re going to make a little road on the other side of the canal  and build a little puente for you.”

Pelican Drop

Pelican Drop – Rio Jama Ecuador

Hi from Jama/Ecuador! I’m taking a fast timeout while in town getting supplies; we received about half an inch of rain last night – Ya-HOO – and the humid air suggests more rain.

Thank you, everyone, for your kind words and for your feedback/advice; I’m still baffled why the ‘allergy’ seems to be returning – only the allergy tests were normal.  After four days’ solitude at Casa Loca, I was doing fine, but while in town and TALKING to people (!) I realized that my cough was returning. What is my body trying to tell me? “Stay home, stay quiet, watch birds and paint!”

So I’m heading home (internet is too slow there to post) so I will ‘Shut up and paint!’

I hoped to upload a series of shots of this “Pelican Drop,” but the Claro connection is slow here in town as well!

Will be back in town sometime next week.
Z

Mending…

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allergies in Latin America, coughs, snow in mississippi

Once uponce a time in a world far away (Mississippi!), November delivered a nagging cough, and it stayed with me until about March of each year. It arrived with the package of cold weather. Many people scoff and state, “Mississippi doesn’t have cold weather!” – but it does.

Late Februry 2015 – New Albany Mississippi – Photo by Charles Brunetti

Memories of ice storms and snow-swept landscapes marry well with other memories of burst water pipes that matched countless others when temperatures dropped below ten degrees Fahrenheit. I remember Mother awakening me with the words, “Look out your window,” and with joy in my heart I thought, “No school!” as I peered outside and admired the beauty of the snow.  I often caught my horse and rode through snow-covered landscape.

Snapshot Pictorials – Quito, Cayambe, Otavalo Ecuador

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Cayambe Ecuador, Otavalo Ecuador, Quito Ecuador

Otavalo Ecuador

Pictorial: “… feelings presented in a pictorial form.” The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

Sometimes words fail me; the following images illustrate how Life offers precious rewards throughout the day and night. These images represent volumes of memories from the past few days. Enjoy, Z