(All mistakes are mine, thanks to the new WP Block Editor!)

“Real artists are CONTENDING with the unknown, and they’re possessed by it – they have a personality trait – openess – that makes them do that and they can’t even help it – and I’ve had lots of creative people in my clinical practice and I can tell you the worst thing for creative people is to not be creative, cause they just die.. because it’s – it’s – it’s like maybe you’re a tree with a few major branches, you know, that’s your personality …. open people have to be creative…” Jordan Peterson

The quote comes from Jordan Peterson’s very insightful talk, “Why You Need Art in Your Life” where he also states to his audience, “Buy a damned piece of art!”

Reconciling to the not-too-pure air of the city, I’ve taken some time off in respect to my pulmonary system. I’ve also been busy, but have enjoyed a marathon of reading (real books in hand!) and watching videos like the one below. There’s been a trip to Quito (fast but rewarding) and several events in Portoviejo (next post) and of course working on art when my energy levels have been strongest. When you have time, enjoy this presentation – ‘Why art?’ Peterson made me laugh many times, and any artist or anyone close to an artist will laugh as well. It might help one better understand an artist!


“…If you’re a creative person you’re like a fruit tree that’s bearing fruit, you can suppress it but it’s very bad for you – the creative people I’ve worked with – if they are not creative they’re miserable – they have to do it.. there’s real joy and pleasure in it and psychological utility…” Jordan Peterson


Artists need more Jordan Petersons speaking up for them!

“In writing, you must kill all your darlings.”
― William Faulkner

And with few qualms, I did — kill a few darlings of art!

Tannins in lumber can play sadistic jokes on an artist; even when those boards have been prepped – and prepped again before painting, the art might darken and discolor over time. Back in July a carpenter and his assistant helped with the beginning stages of the kitchen. Using remnants of remnants from Casa Loca, the maestro surely wished to be working with new materials, but with patience he grasped the proposed ‘stage one’ and began piecing together the kitchen.

After he and his assistant left for the day, I worked through the night to prep then paint the counters and back splash, then applied one coat of finish to protect the art from ‘construction damage.’ Workers can be quite brutal with artwork, and we managed to finish the second day of work with only a few ‘golpes’ to the counters. After two days of work, the project was weaned into my hands. For the next few week I fine-tuned the art, merging the horizontal surface design with the wall area, then applied more coats of protective finish.

  • (Image from an old post)

About a month later those mean ‘ole tannins began to seep toward the surface – even though most of those boards were 20 or so years old! Working on a bathroom makeover, I had stumbled upon a new material option which responded well to artistic details.

Perhaps we should peer around the corner to what was perhaps the most-forlorn bathroom I’d ever encountered! This slide show speaks for itself, but if anyone has questions I’ll be glad to give a tutorial. (I hope to find the slide-show option!)

Now back to the kitchen!

Mixing a water-based acrylic sealer with grout for ceramic tiles, I began a cosmetic makeover to those art-staining boards. Hoping that the grout and sealer would prevent another tannin attack, I filled the gaps between the boards and plugged random holes, raised lower depressions, smoothed the transition from sink to the boards while attempting to save the main design of the fish.

Sorry, the colors are not true!

Ha. At some point, those darlings were sacrificed!

New darlings replaced the old ones!

During the counter makeover, another project advanced. A bit like patting one’s head while rubbing the stomach, I rotated between projects.

Hmmm, looks like a sea of fish swimming against the current!

Retrieved from a state of limbo, the shrimp painting (below) also found a place in the kitchen. It’s waiting for a final session of attention but seems happy to be out of solitary confinement!

With continued hurdles of this new WordPress format, I’ll finish with a slideshow and hope that it works. Thanks dear Linda for your help, and next time on line I’ll try to outsmart this new Block editor that was forced on unsuspecting users like me!

  • There’s one ‘Happy Fish’ near the cooking area, and sorry this is not a slide show; I cannot find the option to remove this from the post!

Remember that ‘other’ piece of art? Did anyone guess that it was originally fingerprint-sensitive platinum in color?

A ‘happy’ refrigerator in a happy kitchen! It’s a joy to work in this space!

For those of you in Ecuador, this is the product used on the bathroom floor and mixed ‘in’ the paints as well as the final clear (non yellowing\) finish in both areas.

(Bought in the ‘cement products’ area of Kywi.)

Closing with a splash of Christmas red from the equator:

Chocolate is as lovely in its natural state as it is when in culinary form!

(And now the ‘Publish’ prompt turns opaque and just sits there! Bah-humbug to Block Editor!) I’ll schedule this to publish in five minutes and hope that it works! Z