More of San Miguel, then Ratindra Das Watercolor Workshop

These final pages in this particular journal book travel thru our final day in San Miguel de Allende and then into the learning experience with Ratindra Das' Watercolor Workshop in Ajijic, Mexico.

The time spent in San Miguel was even more rich amplified by fascinating new acquaintances and beautiful architecture. The charming La Maison del Bosque, our place of lodging, offered both breakfast and dinners served right there in a cozy dining room. When we took advantage of the evening meal, we savored not only the food but the pleasure of mixing with diverse guests also staying there. One couple in particular enriched my experience there ... their business cards reside in the top left corner of my page. A delightful couple that lead an annual retreat here in San Miguel (and have for 15 years) working around spirit expansion and awakening the individual. I wanted to take their retreat!! But on to our day around and about San Miguel. Numerous are the churches here, but one I found most beautiful was the Oratorio de San Felipe Neri Church out of the main square but, glorious in it's glowing coral and yellow hues for this artist! But this city offers a plethora of picturesque structures ~ I just couldn't paint nor photo fast enough.

My opposite journal page is in honor of a wonderful gentle man and refreshing artist, Ratindra Das (www.RatindraDas.net). I knew I was at home in his workshop when he opens saying he doesn't want us to take everything he says as an absolute ... that it is what works for him and to just try what he suggests and keep it if it works for you! His soft sense of humor complimented his passion for mixing pure pigments right out of the tube ~ and the brilliance that came from that made us aim to replicate. But few of us in the workshop mimicked accurately. He was a master and he showed us his entire process, from sketchbooks, to transfer to completion of painting. Here, I've caught him in his beginning stages of painting, still looking back at his sketchbook in his left hand. I love that I've captured him visually, sort of in this dance with the women in one of Efren Gonzales' large oil paintings. I have to admit that I've simplified Efren's image some to keep the focus and interest mainly on Ratindra. I saved the class notes and materials list in an envelope here to the right. But it all brings back many fond memories of the two days spent in the Efren Gonzales Art Center under the tutelage of Ratindra.

Stay tuned for more from my Mexico journal pages ...

From Ajijic Art Show to San Miguel de Allende . . .

These journal pages cover some mileage . . . we visually trek from the lakeside Mexico town of Ajijic, over a six hour drive to the mountain city of San Miguel de Allende. So, come along . . .

I'd seen great advertising for this show from nearly the time we arrived in the Lake Chapala, Mexico area. There were magazine ads, street banners and then, mention at that local artist's club meeting too ~ for the "Art + Ajijic" Show. So when the dates finally arrived, I was anxious. Now I knew it was at the soccer field and everyone kept directing us just to this particular street crossing, but darned if we could find it. We were on foot and it was getting a tad frustrating, until I saw a flow of people and some vendors set up outside. The tented area was huge, probably 100 feet square, with 10 x 10 foot spaces for the artists running both directions and a food/drink hub in the center (yes, a vodka sampling booth!) Entry required $50 pecos, giving me entrance, a drawing for a piece of art (by the participating artists, this was a required donation, I later learned) and a quality color program. It listed the artist, their bio and a sample of their work. As I traveled thru the maze of creativity, I picked up several business cards from my favorite artists. Displaying all these cards so I can turn some of them over, yet keep them all together was perplexing . . . the solution came as I noticed the dangling blue thread (from the previous page where I tied the receipt into the page). How about I just knot them together and let them add some motion to this page? Tah-Dah!! I was most impressed with the polished presentation here under this giant tent, calculating how I could be a part of this in the future. But, having access to the artist's viewpoint when I next visited the art club, I heard the fellow who organized the entire show, was showing scoundrel characteristics . . . like not paying the artists. Hummmm . . . more to consider.

For quite awhile, we'd planned to travel to San Miguel. Our reservations were all in order and we had only to sludge thru southern Guadalajara and swing east and then up into the higher mountains. Our lodging for the two night stay was Ruth Hyba's "La Mansion del Bosque" just down Calle Aldama, walking distance from the main square. The charming stacked adobe like cluster of rooms offered many intriguing little shelves. This was my very favorite nook, a narrow shelf featuring an earthenware kneeling woman diligently working of some chore. I loved how the light bounced off her bottom and onto the wall ~ delicious colors! The next day we poked around the mosaic of rolling streets and I finally settled on this scene in the main plaza to sit and sketch. This was the only plein air sketch I was able to complete during our trip. But I'm happy with the richness of color glow. The final illustration from San Miguel is from one of the streets we usually took to reach our lodging. But on one of the final late afternoons we were there, our pathway caught the late sun setting off to the west (the right in the image) which set the opposite side of this street on fire with sunlight, just setting aglow this opposite side of the street and it's buildings.

For a more detailed photo tour of San Miguel please check out my previous entry: http://elainefrenett.blogspot.com/2010/12/our-san-miguel-de-allende-adventure.html

Our San Miguel de Allende Adventure

This was a tangent we'd both been very looking forward to ~ our trip to San Miguel de Allende! We had reservations for two evenings at Ruth Hyba's "La Mansion del Bosque" just down Calle Aldama from the main square. Our drive there was another gallant attempt at following the GPS with varied results. My favorite was in southern Guadalajara when we were being led to the main Highway 15. Our "girlfriend" on the GPS took us down some industrial neighborhood streets and on her map, said turn right after the underpass to enter the highway. Little did our "girsfriend" know that we were faced with green, extensive scaffolding filling up the entire passage under the overpass. And we turned around, madly searching for an alternate "recalculation".

Aside from those tales of lost wandering, we arrive in San Miguel (as we learned the locals call it) around 3:30pm. Ruth's charming adobe structures have warm sienna/coral colors (depending upon the light of the day) and intriguing pockets at every turn swarming with lush blossoming plants. Shadows were already growing long and many streets were exhibiting stricking shadows and color contrasts. As soon as we could get registered and in our room, we put on our tennies and hit the lovely cobble-stoned streets.

The lodging arrangement furnished breakfast and lunch in group style if you choose. So we took a brief trek thru the winding ways. We toured the central plaza with it's elegant pink cathedral functioning as the hub of the city. With unorganized (at least American organization) streets moving out from the tree-ed square we discovered cozy doorways leading into quaint, richly decored restaurants or coffee houses. In the main plaza we checked out a gallery, the owner of which we met who was from Missouri and very kind, offering many suggestions for this town he loved. The artwork he had was eclectic, my favorite . . . t'was difficult to pick between 1) these small villages, carved, stamped out and then painted to represent various Mexican villages, then mounted and framed - or - 2) the large format exquisite figurative work (done by 3 generations of one classical painting family, the newest generation now moving a bit toward looseness and expression).

We arrived back just in time for dinner being served at the "La Mansion del Bosque". Around the family-style table we enjoyed Ruth, of course (who had come from Pittsburg, PA - I think - to take an art class, fell in love with her Mexican husband and lived out the rest of her life in San Miguel), her daughter, Elena and son, and then, an intriguing couple from Sedona. For thirteen years they have been bringing their retreat groups for vision, dreams and process work to this very place. Eduardo and Kim filled the room with laughter and serendipitious stories that had transpired over the San Miguel years. I was fasciniated - and most of you know my love affair with Sedona and the Southwest. Following a tasteful dinner of light salad, delicately prepared Talapia, a squash (which we thought was cacti and were in heaven), then, pumpkin pie for dessert, we waddled out into the cold evening for Cody's walk.

Next day was our full day in fascinating San Miguel. I made my request to finally have a chance to sketch in my journal and just "be", which "my boys" agreed to, knowing they'd follow, then, take off on their own. I found myself stopping nearlly each block appreciating the small sculptures either nested in their concave shelves or braving it on the rooftop cornices. The scene I'd envisioned painting didn't work - as I learned, in the sun I was scalded and in the shade, frozen. After much wandering, I landed in the Centro Square, sketching this sundrenced wall with local silhouettes (I was relocating continually along the edge of the sun). We treked up and down many streets later, discovering the lovely library of San Miguel that winds it's book shelved walls thru a cafe, then into this courtyard with murals above the shelves. I wanted to move into the library!! Eventually, we wind our way back to our room as the sun began to cast glowing bounced light against shadowed walls. Roland had researched the restaurants in town who served the best "Chile en Nagades", hoping to replicate his meal in Tlaquepaque (see previous post).

The three of us cozy into a big room at "Bugambillia" where they light the big open fireplace just next to us. The patio room we could see off to our right glowed warm crimson as animated families chattered. How romantic! There's like an excitement as we wait for the delivery of our special meals . . . then, tah-da . . . well, it didn't live up to the advertisements nor the drum roll. In fact, Roland didn't like his "Chile en Nagades" wondering even if there was something bad in the mixture . Disappointed, we still, enjoyed the holiday feeling dancing in the streets and we wandered, peering in windows active with diners or tourists in shops. Then, we nest into our room (after Roland takes an 'alka-seltzer'), resting up for our departure the next morn.

I'd hoped to see our Sedona friends once more before we left, but said our early g'byes and headed homeward. Our plans were to travel just west to Guanajuato, which we'd even programmed into our GPS, but, seems the GPS didn't like the road between San Miguel and Guanajuato, and took us way south again. From that route we'd have to again travel a distance north and decided just to aim homeward to Lake Chapala.

But, do you think that trips discoveries are over . . . tune in for a brief stop in Tonola.