A Journey to Bolivia: part 3: Sucre

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Sucre, the capital, is a restored city of green squares and fine, white, often Beaux-Arts styled buildings.

 I found it difficult to work in the centre of town, however, where everything is a little too "finished" to suit my interests, and took to the outskirts.

 A boy in a street, oil on card, 12.5 x 14.5 cm unavailable

 These, above and below, are rather Japanese influenced.

The city cemetery is very good: well kept and planted and most serene.

 A garden in a cemetery, oil on card, 16 x 15.5 cm - available

It was the Bolivian National day, or perhaps rather week, given the extent of celebrations, with flags hanging all over and no end of brass bands parading the streets. As in other Bolivian cities, there are sellers everywhere. But I felt the general economic level to be generally higher than elsewhere. 

I went above the city and worked there:

 Garages, oil on card, 12.5 x 17 cm - unavailable

This, above, is the sort of collection of broken down buildings and Tom Waits-ian junk that I like, set in a dramatic and unfriendly landscape. Prettier places don`t work so well for me. I think its like seeing the inside of a mechanical clock: so much more interesting, and so much more revealing of the clock`s functioning than the bland finished exterior.

Trees on a mountainside, oil on card, 10.5 x 14.5 cm unavailable

 Farms and smallholdings, the Andes, oil on card, 12.5 x 15.5 cm  unavailable

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A Journey to Bolivia: part 2: Potosi

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These are from Potosi, the extraordinary city high up in the Andes, famous for silver mining, and dominated by a strikingly triangular mountain. The air is thin and the light is sharp and the colours are bright: excellent for painting.

 It`s freezing at night. My Japanese friend became very ill after the twelve hour night bus journey here from Cochabamba, because there was no heating on the bus.

View, oil on card, 13 x 12.5 cm - available

Arch, oil on card, 14.5 x 19 cm   SOLD

As always, it`s enjoyable to wander out to the edges to cities. The centre has been elegantly restored and is given over mainly to tourism and services. The fringes are developing, fairly rapidly, with dense housing, some of it rather basic.

Periphery, oil on card, 10.5 x 15.5 cm

 The Andes seen through a street, oil on card, 15.5 x 18 cm - unavailable

These last two are from the centre, the first very much like Utrillo, I think:

 A street, oil on card, 15.5 x 17.5 cm  - available

 A view showing the barracks, oil on card, 17 x 16.5 cm    SOLD

This last is among the best of the trip.

I`m often seeking a balance between spontaneity of paint application and exactitude, and not always finding it. Sometimes the pictures become overworked, at other times they appear unfinished, or incomplete. I think here I achieve this balance.

These subjective critical qualities are very difficult to put into words. There`s very much a you know you`ve got it right when you feel it`s right aspect to them.

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A Journey to Bolivia: part 1: Santa Cruz and Cochabamba

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I have just returned from a painting trip to Bolivia, a fairly exhausting experience, which took me from Campo Grande in Brazil, across the border at Coumba, then by bus to Santa Cruz and then to Cochabamba, then to Potosi, Sucre and La Paz

Campo Grande is one of the most tedious cities I have ever been too, being more or less flat, extremely spread out, with a highly unimaginative grid plan  and, like a US city, utterly devoted to car users. I did not see a single building of architectural note. 

Santa Cruz, Bolivia, is  better, though it has equally few natural features of interest. It does have, however (as does everywhere I went in Bolivia) innumerable people selling things n the street: food, tissues, drinks, magazines, whatever.  They sometimes have little trolleys, though often they simply squat on the street with their wares laid out in front. Quite how they manage to make enough to survive is beyond me.

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 Santa Cruz, street sellers, oil on card, 12 x 15 cm - available

There is also some distinctive old Spanish architecture, notably one or two storey buildings with eaves that extend onto the street, supported by columns, creating arcades. These provide protection from the elements, and have a certain grace. These buildings have courtyards, some of which, such as the excellent Hostal Colonial, have little gardens.

 Cochabamba, an entry point into the Andes from the East of the country is considerably more fun, with a vast, unruly, street market, a handsome central square and fine Baroque churches.

These next was painted from the Colina San Sebastian, looking towards the Bus Terminal:

A view of Cochabamba, oil on card, 16 x 17.5 cm    SOLD

Entrance to a street, Cochabamba, oil on card, 16.5 x 17 cm  unavailable

Houses, Cochabamba, oil on card, 13 x 16 cm- unavailable

 A mountain, on which stands a concrete Jesus, overlooks the city:

 Cochabamba, hillside 3, oil on card, 15 x 13.5 cm  - available

Cochabamba, hillside 2, 17.5 x 17 cm - unavailable

Here is a section of the elegant square, looking North:

Central Square, Cochabamba, oil on card, 15 x 17.5 cm  available

This has some small spots

And finally, a tree, painted near Cochabamba`s rather dismal little river:

Tree, Cochabamba, oil on card, 14 x 15.5 cm

Tree, Cochabamba, oil on card, 14 x 15.5 cm - unavailable

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Thanks to Cristina, Brazillian Medical student for help crossing the border.

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Aguas Mornas

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 Aguas Mornas: houses and farms, oil on card, 19 x 16.5 cm  SOLD

Aguas Mornas: trees on a hillside, oil on card, 15.5 x 17.5 cm -  -unavailable

Two from the interior: the last most likely before I begin my trip on Thursday to Bolivia.

The cup is over, and things are returning to normal. Thank goodness.



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Bolivia

Bolivia, from Dorling Kindersley`s Atlas

The itinerary for my Bolivian expedition is as follows: fly to Campo Grande in Mato Grosso, Brazil, then bus to Corumba. Then  train to Santa Cruz. Then bus to Sucre, Potosi and La Paz, in which three cities I will spend the majority of my time. I return from La Paz taking the bus and stopping at Cochabamba, and on to Santa Cruz. I take the train from Santa Cruz to Corumba, before getting the bus over to Campo Grande.

This is far more places than, ideally, I would wish to stop at, but given the size of Bolivia and the slowness of buses, I think it is better to break up my journeys. It is unfortunate that the more interesting parts of Bolivia are the furthest away.

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I am overjoyed to be moving again. The last months here have bored me stiff. This is a tedious little city- or rather, collection of suburbs- whose inhabitants seem to believe that going to shopping malls is the most diverting activity imaginable.

It has been rained considerably too, making me housebound, and I am not really constructed for domesticity. I wish I had planned the year better to avoid the World Cup, and the heat of January too.  Next year I will travel through January and February.

A little trip to Alfredo Wagner

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 Alfredo Wagner river, oil on card, 15 x 18.5 cm -  available

 Alfredo Wagner, lane, oil on card, 14 x 14.5 cm   unavailable

 Alfredo Wagner small town nearby, oil on card 16.5 x 18 cm   SOLD

I`m ashamed to say that I can`t remember the name of this small town, and can`t find it on the map either.

 Alfredo Wagner, a residential area, oil on card 16 x 18.5 cm - unavailable

 Alfredo Wagner, houses by the river, oil on card, 13.5 x 18.5 cm    SOLD

Araucaria tree, Near Alfredo Wagner, oil on card, 17 x 17.5 cm    SOLD

Paintings from a recent  trip into the Catarinense Mountains.

 Alfredo Wagner is not a bad place to base oneself for a short trip, if coming in from Florianopolis. True, it isn`t terribly interesting in itself, but the surroundings are splendid,  with quite a fairy-tale atmosphere to me.

I like the people of the mountains. They strike me as an industrious bunch, working in their small-holdings right up to the moment Friday`s world cup match began. They have that cheerfulness you often find in hard-working people. They keep their towns tidy, and you can see the townspeople sweeping the roads in the mornings. 

They are conservative places but they are not dour. They had  the national flag on display all over the place, though I suspect many must privately regard much of the rest of Brazil with considerable disdain. I wouldn`t blame them if they did.

Flowers, First of July

Flowers, First of July, 12.5 x 13.5 cm    |SOLD