Two Degrees of Separation

It is Saturday here...and was a lovely sunny and warm late summer day. I did various weekend chores and errands. And then painted !

I worked on the first of the first set of three 2-degrees-of-separation paintings I will do. I showed those compositions, which were shown in January 16th's post called Creating New Compositions: http://bluekoistudio.blogspot.com/2010/01/creating-new-compositions.html

These paintings compositions taken from a piece of one of the paintings I have created...which themselves were paintings of a still life. So these new ones are two degrees separated from the original subject, or that is how i think it works !

The first one I did of this set was the sunflowers inspired one. Here is the painting it is taken from.

I have a bit of fine tuning to do on this new composition tomorrow. Then I need to start on another of the series, or if I am very productive, perhaps I can get both of the remainder of this first set underway !

Sunday in Santiago

It was Sunday in Santiago. I was walking off a bad case of jetlag after another delayed flight the previous day turned into night, late night...and got me to my hotel so late I did not get my hoped for "catch up" rest. But how could I sleep away the day ? I missed breakfast due to the late arrival, so I got a strong cafe instead and planned a little outing to go out and get a bit of sunshine and fresh air. At the end of summer on a brilliantly sunny and hot day, the city was not really very busy. People were away on one of the last weekends of summer.

I took the Metro subway train to the centre of the city and into an area I hadn't been before...and had a nice long walk, along some rather quiet side streets. It was definitely feeling like a sleepy Sunday.

After a quiet solitary walk, I began to see people carrying bags of produce. And by and by, I came across a street market, which ran along a street perpendicular to where I had been walking. The market covered about 8 or more blocks of the street. It was a lively surprise on a quiet day.

Many of the market dealers had shaded awnings of black and white cabana stripes over their stalls and also used chalk board style signs for their produce or wares prices. One announced lemons for sale as "juicies". The prices looked not too bad. I love looking at the produce, it was stunning and vibrant. The greens, oranges, and reds are just outstanding. I snapped photos as I walked along the market, up one side then down along the other.

At one very crowded area of this market, I saw this character, a street musician who was singing into a microphone connected to an amp, with his sign thanking his street audience for appreciating his work ! I told him I did, put some coins into his cup...and asked if I could take his snap (he said yes !).

At the end of the market, I found the street sign--Esperanza. That's Hope Street, for you who are not spanish speakers

Summer Afternoons

I have had a long week, working and also recovering from a cold I got when in South America. Took more out of me than I had thought...and blog posts slowed to a halt because of it ! But happy to be back on deck, finally feeling better !

To wrap up South America summer time, check out the ultimate summer refreshing drink. Cold Agua de Coco, aka Coconut Water (for those of you unfamiliar, this is not the same as coconut milk !). This is the real thing, not bottled, no additives or extra ingredients...100% natural. Green coconuts are chilled in a big cooler and when you buy one the guy whacks off the top with a couple swift blows from a sharp knife. You get a straw to put in the hole and then sip the lovely coconut water.

I recall drinking this when I lived in Brazil and it was a lovely thing to enjoy again. A great choice in the hot summery tropics. Cool and refreshing. Not overly sweet (it actually has a bit of a salty flavor), with a texture just slightly thicker than regular water.

More and painting posts coming soon. I am reading some books on principles of color and painting light and shadows. But for now, I head out to enjoy the rest of the Sunday summer's afternoon. Leaving you with a photo of my favorite timber birdcage, and a message to an imaginary bird who has flown off on a little journey, searching for something special (nice trees ? companion bird ? fab nesting materials ?....???). A message also to share with everyone still enjoying late summer vacation, or maybe dreaming of a warmer season to come.