A visit to northern Peru -part four- Cajabamba

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Cajabamba is a pretty town, nestling in some fine hills, perfect for painting. People there seem to do more or less what they like and the place has a pleasant, unhurried air. I could happily have spent a few more days here. 

Cajabamba, small houses behind a ravine, oil on card, 14 x 15.4 cm  -unavailable

 Cajabamba, outskirts, oil on card, 16 x 18 cm  -available

Cajabamba, a view, 18 x 15 cm  - available

Cajabamba: fields west from the town, oil on card, 13.5 x 16 cm - availalle




These two -above and below- seem to me to be among the finest of the trip. They're fluent and confident, and seem to me very much of the place they depict.

Cajabamba: fields, oil on card, 12.5 x 15.5 cm - available

Cajabamba: fields, a little house, oil on card, 18 x 18.5 cm -  -unavailable

The mountains near Cajabamba, oil on card, 17.2 x 15 cm - available

Hills, Cajabamba, oil on card, 15 x 13.7 cm - unavailable 

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A visit to northern Peru- part three- Banos del Inca, Cajamarca

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I took the bus up into he Andes to Cajamarca. But because of Carnaval I couldn't find a place in the centre at first so I stayed down in a resort called Banos del Inca, notable for hot springs and soft hills. 

I worked quite happily and this set of pictures is very good, I think, often much influenced by Cezanne.

 A hill, Banos del Inca, Cajamarca, oil on card, 15.5 x 17.2 cm - unavailable

 A hillside, Banos del Inca, Cajamarca, oil on card, 15.7 x 17 cm - available

A bridge, Banos del Inca, Cajamarca, oil on card, 13.5 x 17 cm  unavailable

 A view towards a river, Banos del Inca, Cajamarca

 oil on card, 15.5 x 17.2 cm - available

 Street before Carnival, Banos del Inca, Cajamarca, oil on card, 14 x 16 cm - available

Somewhere near Banos del Inca, Cajamarca, oil on card, 13 x 16 cm- unavailale

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A visit to northern Peru- part two- Trujillo

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It was very hot and dusty in Trujillo which is visited mainly for the archaeological ruins close by, though it has nice Spanish architecture and a handsome central square.

 There was something about the place that made me feel heavy and slightly depressed and I am glad I was only there for a few days. I heard later from a taxi-driver that the city is overrun by criminal gangs and extortion racketeers and drug traffickers. 

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Trujillo, view from the Wanka Hotel, oil on card, 12.5 x 14 cm  - sold

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A visit to northern Peru- next year's itinerary and- part one - Lima

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Well that`s clear: Peru in Summer is pleasant and a good place to go painting, except when it rains which it hardly did when I was there. So next time I will go there  for six weeks, cutting out Trujillo, and doing to the following-

Fly to Lima
Fly to Chiclayo 
Visit Lambayeque
Take the bus from Chiclayo to Chachapoyas
Stay in Chachapoyas Backpackers 
Visit Gopta waterfall.
Return: route uncertain.

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Lima is a a big smelly place  and it is a place where I spent a week. I stayed in Miraflores, which is good for shopping and eating but rather easy-wipe clean and lacking a certain specificity. I mean, you could be just about anywhere that is reasonable pleasant.

So almost all my work was done in the centre which is a lot more interesting both architecturally and in terms of general atmosphere, with people selling all manner of stuff all over the place. I especially enjoyed the less touristy bits near the bullring and around Chinatown. They are quite filthy and full of odd things to see. 

Lima: Monserrat, oil on card, 13 x 16.5 cm  - available

Lima, Barrio Altos, oil on card, 13 x 16 cm unavailable

Lima: la Victoria, oil on card, 12.8 x 13.2 cm - unavailable

Lima: Callao, oil on card, 13.5 x 15.5 cm  - available

Lima: Rimac, oil on card, 14 x 17.5 cm   - available

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My portable palette

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Like the pochade carriers, the palettes close so they can be transported without making a mess.

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Three framed pochades

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Framed- Hamlet on the way to Russia, oil on card, 15 x 18 cm  SOLD

Framed- Moçambique, forest oil on card, 13.5 x 12.5 cm    SOLD

Praia Mole- headland, August oil on card, 12.5 x 11 cm  NOT FOR SALE

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Getting ready for Peru

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Carriers. 

All are now double carriers. The double carriers save considerable space but there is always the worry that the pictures on one side will mar that on the opposite.  But on longer trips such as the one coming the pictures can dry superficially between destinations on the itinerary.

Double carrier

I've been quite inactive here. It's too hot to do much except daydream, so I'm very keen to get going.

I'm scoring off the days to Saturday when I fly to Peru. I worry about one thing or another- rain, crime, the general hassle, getting ripped off and so forth, but at worst it will be a break from here. 

Before a departure I always find a surge in anxieties, which often focus around some petty matter- fear of houseplants dying, insects invading the house, the car being damaged etc.

But when I start packing and I have filtered down everything into the little kit I need to do some work and get by for a month I realise that all those anxieties are nothing more than a load of mush. Or perhaps they represent some fear about freedom, as if some part of me doesn`t want to be free to enjoy working and travelling but would prefer me to sit and rot here and moan about things. Is there something in us that prevents us from escape, from leaping to safety, and innate conservatism, so well represented by Billy Liar, unable to take the train to a more joyful life in London, condemned to provincial misery.

Florianopolis is a boring place and nothing happens here without a push and a shove and then another push and a shove on top of that. Socially it is very slow, and there are almost no cultural events. I regret that I didn`t set out to travel just after New Year. I`m always concerned about losing students by travelling for too long. But it is so slow for students in January that I could surely have gone without anyone noticing and I`m cross with myself for not having done so.

Ready to go.

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