After the winter I have been eagerly looking forward to the Jacaranda season. I can see my neighbor’s Jacaranda tree while working at my studio desk. What a feast for the eye! Soon the whole town will be painted with splashes of that lovely lilac.
We are now staying in the heart-land of Mexico where the usage of color is taken for granted. As an artist it feels strange to be allured to limited palette of neutral grays, white, black, muted greens, blues, and yellow. My eye and mind seem happiest with the fine balance, enjoyment of the multicolored everyday mixed with the neutral grays and white at home.
That subtlety is quite typical for us ‘Northern people’. Today while doing some artistic research on the web, I came across with lovely paintings by a Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi ( 15 May 1864 — 13 February 1916 ). There is more than meets the eye by looking these lovely, but small jpeg files. I hope one day soon to see the ‘real thing’, and to study them.
‘Haiku #4′ is my homage to black and white photography. Sometimes I miss pulling silver gelatin prints out of the developer at my basement darkroom. Times long gone, but good memories stay with me. Now I cherish the latest technology, and working in my light filled 3rd floor studio, tho nostalgia is in the air.…manual work in white, black, and grey. Oil on canvas.
“February is crazy and March an other bit” is a Spanish proverb that we hear now in San Miguel. The spring has been in the air, but the nights can be still freezing cold, the days blazing hot, and we can be blown away with the winds… well, not me but my laundry that is hanging on laundry line at our third floor azotea.
While keeping an eye on those winds, I have started a new portfolio, ‘Haiku’. I continue explorations with palette knife, oil paint, and small, 6“x 8″ canvas.
It is spring in San Miguel! Would be hard to find a more agreeable climate this time of the year. Cool mornings with bright and sunny days. I see new green growth on neighbor’s jacaranda three. Just wait a month, the three will be in a burst of amazing violet blue gorgeousness.
I have been drawing new sketches of birds to add to my painted Birds portfolio , and on the side learning, and having tremendous fun with iPhone photo apps.
Here I’m in the middle of a sketch of an imaginary blue bird. Ink and water color.
Could not resist of taking a photograph of the same sketch.…yahoo, applications, I’m thrilled now!
I have been also sketching ‘bigger’ birds…small birds on big piece of paper. Those will get to be large mixed media finished drawings when the time is right.
View to my 3rd floor studio balcony.….yeah, birds on the wire 
ink dries faster on the laundry line!
Salted Herring was ‘Gone Fishing’ for a while. Now the blog is getting a face-lift with some fresh ventures. New art is leaving the nest in the form of birds, and more artwork is in the process.…not to forget the photography either. I have been gifted THREE new fantastic tools: two gorgeous, but easy to carry around cameras, one larger with interchangeable lenses, and one fit to the pocket size with super long fixed zoom, plus a mighty iPhone ( thanks again Sam, Cory, and Kalle, love you!). My love with photography is revived!
For the past months I have been painting busily, big and small. My latest Bird Paintings are small in size, but big on textures. They are painted entirely with palette knife for certain abstractness, and definitely for the mighty texture. All oil on canvas.
I have made a pact with myself to update the Salted Herring more frequently. Please be patient.…all takes time. Like it is said “hyvää kannattaa odottaa”, heh, pun intended. I don’t know how the heck it is said in English ( make me wiser, please!), but something like just wait, ‘good things’ are coming…or at least that is the plan.
You know how the birds are.…they can fly freely and fast. This flock is ready to fly from the nest. Let me know what you think!
Till the next time!
Today I made my first Youtube upload. I made a video using some of the still photos I took while wondering through the streets before the actual parade. It seems that I’m more drawn to the preparations than the actual events, both fun for sure.
And quite a parade it is, funky, fun, and loud. Everybody seemed to have a huge smile on their face…think of that, dancing and parading 4 and maybe more hours in the full gear under the scorching Mexican sun. Amazing, isn’t it!
The music.…well, is not loco music just because my ears are tired. I find the lovely music by Poetas de la Guitarra rather soothing after the event.
A couple of weeks ago I sprained my foot while stepping carelessly on a round cobblestone. For a reason San Miguel is called ‘City of the Fallen Women’. I have said good-byes to my heels long time ago.
I’m well healed know, thank goodness, and ready to step on the streets again. It took 262 stairs to climb to this view. Well worth of every step.
The walk down is easy if you have good breaks on your shoes. On the way back to town we met two cute burros at work delivering tierra, garden soil. Don’t know what it is, maybe it is the long ears, that makes me smile.
The Locos Day Parade is an hours long event. The best spots to view the ‘desfile’ were reserved early.
Today, once again, San Miguel celebrated Los Locos, the Crazy People. This carnival dates from the 19th century, when orchard workers danced to give thanks and ask San Pascual Bailón for a prosperous year.
The tradition might be old, but the fashions do change. I share here the latest trend in Loco Shoes.
Greetings from San Francisco. SF is as lovely as always. Days have been sunny most of the time. Winds pick up at 5PM as usual. Air is fresh, food is great, and so are the people : )
Salted Herring is back at work! Sorry about sluggish postings…I have been absorbed into art. More later about that venture. Now I just want to say “hi, hola, moi”.
San Miguel has had an unusually long rainy spell for February. Rain has been pouring not only during the night time, but some days also. I have loved that seasonal ‘spice’ alas change of the weather and chance to take long walks in super fresh air.
Rainy view to Parroquia through my studio window
No long walks through the fields to the organic farm, fields are just too muddy. Good for the plants though. We have been buying eggs from the store… I have started missing the ‘ladies’ for the freshest farm eggs. They are special, both the eggs and the ladies.
Store bought eggs in Mexican egg basket
I have loved cocooning in the evenings at my 3rd floor studio listening the rain and letting my camera catch different kind of scenery over our beautiful town.
Rainy day views
Sun is back.…and so am I.….hasta pronto!
