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Showing posts from March, 2016

Buenos Aires Picture the 6th

Avenida Libertador Plaza Rosedal, Buenos Aires  11"x14"oil on mounted linen Wide avenues are a plenty in BA. They act like large arteries that keep people moving and the city alive. This one was one of the more formal and cleaner ones. "Avenida Libertador"is the perfect name for it, as there are many public heroic monuments dotting the many miles it snakes through. It is where most of the foreign embassies are. Great parks in this area as well.

Buenos Aires Pictures the 5th

Santa Fe y Plaza Italia Buenos Aires  11"x 14" oil on mounted linen Walking was my passion in this city. I have a travel rule which is gargantuan to stick to if you are part of a large group. Luckily most of my time in Buenos Aires was alone or with my wife and two boys.  The rule is that as often as possible to walk with a loose sense of a destination. I allow myself to be open and as nimble as the proverbial leaf floating in the wind. My practical side too performs its eye roll to this rule. I recognize its indulgence and its plain selfishness. If you only have a short time in a place, does it not make sense to hit up all the photo ops that the places are for? I would like to argue that you get less from this goal oriented action. That just being is more enriching than looking at a pic from a vacation, months later or if at all. That the stress and speed in which one rushes to the destination takes away from the joy of observing. During my MFA studies some years ago I

Buenos Aires picture the 4th

A Tourist walk through San Telmo, Buenos Aires  14"x11" oil on mounted linen panel Buenos Aires is a bustling metropolis. As I mentioned before one of my greatest joys was to walk around its many neighborhoods. There are 48 to be exact. We did a pretty good job walking many of them. Barrios (another word for neighborhood) have their distinct feel. San Telmo was unique in that it had an "old world" feel mixed with a "hipster"sensibility. I found cool "artisanal cervesas" pubs next to traditional "parillada" restaurants. Heck, a ton of single gear bicycles chained everywhere and near amazing "choripan" kiosks. What? Is Brooklyn or Shoreditch infecting all parts of the world? The architecture here is fascinating.

Buenos Aires picture the 3rd

Family Crossing Buenos Aires   11" x 14" oil on mounted linen lin I bought a Garmin Vivofit walking tracker before going to Buenos Aires.  I wanted to be sure to get in my "healthy" 10k steps a day. I knew that keeping a healthy eating plan was going to be difficult in the land of meat and ice cream and pizza....and empanadas...and wine...oh! and dulce de leche! Walking we did! 10k steps a day was a warm up to what a typical day was like exploring BA's various neighborhoods. I found it a refreshing change to what my life is like in South Florida: a cup of coffee usually requires a drive. I also found interesting the sharp angles of light that seem to be everywhere. Major cities with their high buildings will create these shapes of light. In this painting I am attempting to combine these ideas.

The Buenos Aires Pictures. The second

 Feria en Plaza Francia, Recoleta  oil on canvas paper 9.5" x 13" There are quite a few "ferias" around Buenos Aires on the weekends. Ferias are outdoor markets that stretch around a large area. There are all sorts of handmade things one can buy like flutes,rings, to "choripans" (sausage sandwiches) all the while with a ton of live entertainment on rolling hills. This plaza, although, known for the great big feria is really known as the local of Buenos Aires's most famous cemetery. The famed Eva Peron's final resting spot is here. Below is a pic of me painting this one.

The Buenos Aires pictures. This is the first painting I did there. More to come

Temperley Buenos Aires 11"x14" oil on mounted linen On the outskirts of the center of Buenos Aires are interesting towns that feel very lived in. Visiting Temperley, although very foreign to me, felt familiar. It reminded me, slightly, of Union City, New Jersey, where I lived a few years when I was a pre teen. The streets in both places are worn and cracked, stray dogs roaming around, graffiti(not the "cool" kind that is famous now a days) older cars still functioning and people that just feel so darn neighborly to me. A place sometimes just has a way in presenting itself to me that makes me want to capture it. I believe it was a mixture of this familiarity and the loving hospitality I was experiencing from a part of my wife's family. I was staring at this corner the morning after a night of gorging on an incredible "parrillada" and several glasses of Fernet and Coke. This area felt very much like home to me. I can not wait to visit again.