Suburban gardens; miniaturism

 Suburban gardens, oil on card, 8.6 x 10.2 cm - discarded

On miniaturism: someof additional points to yesterday's post:

1. When you paint miiature you can combine colours which on a larger scale would jarr. For this reason, painting small is not a good thing for novices, because they need to learn the full effects of colour combinations. Ditto for other aesthetic elements

2. The miniature has assications with the keepsake, the aide memoire: ergo, its nostolgic feel.

3. Things are made interesting merely by being small: they invite peering

From Taubate

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A view of Taubate from concrete Jesus, oil on card, 12;6 x 10.4cm  - available

From Taubate, a city that sprawls somewhat shapelessly across a valley. It has little of distinction, but in a way that makes it likeable, lending it a fairly laid-back atmosphere.

They have placed the usual ubiquitous Jesus overlooking the city. His head, usefully, has an arial transmitter sticking out of it: I painted from just below him.

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This concludes the paintings done during my big July trip. I think the next big trip will be to Chile and Argentina.

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Yet another lonely filling station

Yet another lonely filling station, oil on card, 11 x 12 cm - discarded

From near here, but painted from behind, where the swamp is.

When I get my car I shall do more of these. The filling stations round here often serve as a locus for the communities: at the back of this one are a bar, a barbers, a dry cleaners and video shop. You can drink yourself merry before driving on. Wonderful.

Sunset, Praia Mole; Chile; Rio

Sunset, Praia Mole, oil on card, 9.6 x 12 cm  SOLD

Very Turnerish picture: does the obvious beauty of such a subject and the fact that it is such a staple of populist art make it a no go area for painters? One might respond: no, it depends on your capacity for interpretation.

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Today I shall try to get a guide book on Chile and make more pochade carriers for Rio, where I'll go at the end of September to paint and court galleries.

A tree behind a wall; South American trip

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A tree behind a wall, oil on card, 10.6 x8.5 cm   - available

A soft little painting.

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Apparantly Bolivia is very rainy between April and March. Ergo, for my January trip, I'm thinking of flying to Chile then coming back to Brazil via Bariloche and Buenos Aires.

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São José dos Campos: Burle Marx Municipal Park with the Olivo Gomes residence

Burle Marx Municipal Park with the Olivo Gomes Residence: oil on card, 11 x 9.5 cm  SOLD

This beautiful park is well worth visiting, along with the Gomes Residence, in what is otherwise a somewhat undistinguished city (though it does contain a huge number of funny little small businesses on the way from the centre from the bus station): diminutive diners and tiny shops painted in bright colours where they repair clothes or rennovate car tyres.

I fear this side of Brasil will one day completely dissappear, as it virtually has in the UK, replaced by identikit shopping malls and chain stores.

Many thanks to Larry for taking me here.

A rainy day

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A rainy day, oil on card, 9 x 12.1 cm (damaged and discarded)

Bucketing down, hard even to leave the apartment for a minute without getting soaked. I painted in the grounds of UDSC.

 

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