Update on Peaches

I haven't updated my peaches painting on my blog, purposely because I feel that the fact that part of it is in grey scale and part is colored, can confuse the viewer a bit.

This has been a most interesting, intense task. It has been painting literally, inch by inch as Michael Newberry has taught me in the Mentor Program. Doing big studies of difficult areas in pastel or graphite, following my pastel color studies and also doing thumbnail sketches from the set up from different angles. I have to be honest and say I didn't see the sense in doing so much, but I did it and have found that these are tools a realist artist should not work without.

At the moment the Peaches and tissue paper are still in grisaille and the casted shadows on the platter might not make much sense, but once the peaches and tissue paper are colored and the light put in its place I think everything will fall into place. I plan to go a little faster now but still can't possibly know when I will finish it. I imagine there will be a tweaking stage at the end, but what is ahead of me will be done with great pleasure.

Xavier de Richemont in our city

Our city of San Luis Potosi has been one of the chosen cities where Xavier de Richemont has mounted one of his brillaint night light installations on the Cathedral of the city and the Church of El Carmen, both 18th century buildings. The light installation is accompanied by gorgeous classical music and all of the lights of the Historical Center are turned off except those street lamps that so beautifully illuminate our very Mexican Barroque and Neo-Classical architecture.

The light installation last 15 minutes and has constant design changes on the light stone facade of both churches. His play with color is spectacular, making the churches look like they are painted of Gold, Indian Red, and other folkloric colors of Mexico. Starting with climbing designs of plants, that look like shadows from the bottom right corner, creeping along until the whole building is decorated. On the Carmen Church, he displayes Mexican religious paintings of the 17th and 18th century, while changing the colors in all of the stone carved barroque decorations of the church. One of the most emotive moments for natives of this country, is the moment in which the image of our Lady of Guadalupe Mexico's patron, appears and the music is suddenly turned to Mariachi music.

Unfortuanetly I did not have a video camera or my camera with me but these marvelous photographs have been taken by, Jadmarin and gdiazdeleon.

I just had to show this one off!

This is my 16 month old grandaughter, Sofia. She has quite a personality and at her young age has her preferences so very well established. Sofia is very feminine, dainty, delicate but at the same time has a tremendous love for nature and animals. She prefers a stuffed animal to a doll any day, and although when in a store she goes to the perfume counter to stare and examine so carefully and with much interest, all of the perfume bottles. She adores this cowgirl hat my husband bought for her almost as much as she love her baby blanket. Now it is the glasses, so this is the official costume in her house all day long, for now!

I have finished my platter on my peaches painting I think, but I would like to post a picture of the painting when it is complete. I am thoroughly enjoying the part I am working on now and next are the peaches so the color will be more intense and last will be the tissue paper. That part will probably be the toughest of the whole painting for me. I hope to post an update very soon

Plein Air Workshop in Mexico

I was hoping to have an update on my peaches painting to be able to post on my blog . I am working on the platter and have almost finished that part except for some details but it needs supervision from Michael Newberry before I feel that, that part is finished. I hope to post something by the end of next week. This is a slow process but a very pleasureable one.


Michael Newberry will be giving a Plein Air Workshop on our ranch here in San Luis Potosì in August. I am so excited about this an looking forward to it immensly. Plein Air is a technique I have never tried so I am hoping that after that workshop I will have work to post very often. There are six people signed up and of those I have met four, so it will be so very exciting to see them again, and meet the other artists that have signed up. San Luis is a perfect place to do Plein Air and the climate is gorgeous at that time of the year.


I have no pictures of art to post so I will post a little of what goes on in our city on Good Friday, the Friday before Easter. I found a video on You Tube of our Silent Procession that is very blurry, but the essence of this procession is clearly felt in this video together with some of our beautiful architecture and colors. Although, I know it can be a little impressive to those that don't quite understand that the religious celebrations of Mexico´s indigenous communities, incorporate the European heritage and give it a special syncretism thus, making it a unique and picturesque interpretation of the Holy Week traditions.


Mexico is nearly 90 percent Catholic, so this religious holiday takes on a special meaning that the entire community shares and participates in. All of Mexico celebrates Semana Santa, but certain cities and villages are better known for celebrating the holiday. In San Luis Potosí, residents stage a silent procession on Good Friday in which local brotherhoods march, carrying giant images of Christ's last moments.

Procesion del Silencio

Rubber Tree Leaf

I love the colors and shapes different plants and leaves take on when they dry. In spite of this meaning the end of their life some continue being beautiful, always. It is the case of the huge Rubber Tree leaves that when still hanging from the tree have such an exuberant green to them and their shape is completely smooth, with very little curvature to them at all. A friend of mine puts them in vases and makes lovely arrangements. She shared some of them with me and I was dying to do a pastel of one, but in my desire to use my new amber bottle I had bought for a Still Life, I picked the wrong color of paper and ended up having to put in the bright red surface so that both would show up. We never cease to learn from our mistakes, do we.

Pastel Poms

I can't believe it has taken me so long to post something on my blog. I did this one almost about a month ago but I have been working on my painting and other things that I haven't had a chance to post. My life seems to be go,go, go lately with the construction of our much smaller house than the one we sold on our ranch two years ago. It is coming along and I will post some pictures as soon as it is finished.

Peaches WIP

A very happy New Year to everyone and I am sorry for taking forever to post something on my blog. I hope this year is treating you all well an that many blessing and good things will come your way.

I have very slowly been applying the color to my grisaille and I must say this is a most fascinating process. In the last update that I sent to Michael Newberry, he asked me to do a little assignment for him before we had our next session. This assignment was to go to each side of my set up and draw the still life from that angle, one on the right of it an one on the left of it. It took my brain a while to assimilate why it was he wanted me to do this but when it was explained to me, I found that it is an incredible tool. The cloth on the left side of my painting is too close to us so the assignment was for me to be able to estimate the distance from my point of view when painting that part of the piece and this is done by making a quick sketch in perspective, viewing it from each side. My next step is to correct the cloth in the painting by pushing it back.