Above 43rd St., Queens, N.Y., looking down, framed

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Above 43rd St., Queens, N.Y., looking down, oil on card, 12 x 12 cm  Available

Framed and ready for submission to the Royal Academy Selection Panel.

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Church near the junction for Rio Negrinho, framed

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Church near the junction for Rio Negrinho

 oil on card, 12 x14.5 cm   Framed  SOLD

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Monument, Central Square, Trujullo

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Rather deco styled monument in central Trujillo, commemorating the Peruvian war of independence, erected in 1929. The sculptures owe something to Michealangelo and perhaps Arno Breker.

This isn't Fascist sculpture- if we define Fascist sculpture by its political objectives. But it has some of what my old tutor Michael Bury used to describe as its "pea-braned" qualities.

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Dancer and Unicorn

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Dancer and Unicorn

Tableau: it might be nice to suggest simple narratives using these toys.

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Four cardboard toys: knight, emu, unicorn and horse

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 Knight-Errant

 Emu, perhaps.

Unicorn

Horse (detail of neck and head)

Some questions

At what point is a representation so abstracted that it ceases to convey the thing it purports to? Using only cocktail sticks and corrugated card, and limiting oneself to glue to join elements, what can one come up with? 

Would it be a good idea to paint the pieces? Or would that be to take them away from that playful abstracted area where the mind is teased into the area of mere imitation?

They are not refined. Does that matter? Is it nice to see how simply they are constructed?

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A visit to northern Peru- conclusions, carriers

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Northern Peru: the complete set of 23

Conclusions

I regard the trip as a success. Given the terrible rains shortly after my departure, I was extremely lucky with the weather, losing only a couple of days. 

And most of the pictures are good. I enjoyed painting in Peru. No-one annoyed me as in North Africa where children throw stones and people are often difficult to deal with. The Peruvians are pleasant and straightforward I find, though their food is extremely eccentric to say the least, their breakfasts especially bizarre.

I shall try to revisit Peru next summer, this time for a little longer- six weeks perhaps. Or would it be good to try to go Ecuador- Peru? That might be more fun, more adventurous.

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Carriers

The carriers served well, except that two paintings were  irreparably damaged. This happened in one of the double carriers and the moral is that the double carriers are not good for transportation for any distance as there is a high chance they get pressed tight and the two pictures with are stuck together- much as did not happen to this work, happily:

Two from Cajabamba:  undamaged

Ergo,  the function of the double carriers is limited to their use on a particular painting excursion. Then, the pictures are best left to dry for about a week after which one of the pictures should be removed and put in a separate container for transportation.

This seems like a lot of hassle but it isn't really. There is never a perfect solution to combining  travel and painting: any system that is perfectly secure for the paintings will inevitably become very cumbersome. 

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A visit to northern Peru- part five- Cajamarca

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These two last pictures were from my stop-off in Cajamarca on my way back, where I stayed at the lovely Jazmines Hostel. 

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Cajamarca: north-west from the centre      AVAILABLE 

oil on card, 16 x 16.5 cm

Cajamarca- Plazuela Chontapaccha, oil on card, 155 x 16.5 cm - unavailable

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