Sadly this is the last plein air outing with this wonderful and varied group for the winter. Amy and Gail set it up last year as an inclusive group to join at different locations around town. No RSVP, skill or teaching, just bring whatever supplies you have and draw/paint/sketch amongst other artists, regardless of level. I have had an amazing time filled with art speak, laughter and friendship. I will truly miss these heART friends and our time together. Happily I have paintings and a couple of sketchbooks filled with memories. You can scroll down in my blog to see the other outing paintings and sketches.

The groups' unfinished treasures above. It is always so interesting to see the different views and artist's interests when we are all at the same place.

This outing was at the Sunnyside Luxury Apartments 5th floor palapa area. There were urban views, the ocean and lagoon to choose from. My friends Sue and Ross are staying there and asked the owners if our group could come and we were welcomed. Seven of us painted and sketched today. I found the views to busy to focus on something to oil paint but managed to do an urban sketch of the area below. Another lesson I learned is to test out any new ink pens to make sure they don't "bleed or run" when water was added to it (hence the murky sky and dark trees). The group's unfinished "slap down" (sound of sketchbooks and canvases hitting the tiles for photo) is below.

Happily continuing on with the project that started with the February art challenge #opusdailypractice, I am now a little more than half way through it. I am drawing mainly small, square sketches 3 3/4"x 3 3/4" (2 fit on a sketchbook page) of something that I see or do in my daily world. Right now I am in Mexico so the views are very different than Canada.

I have very limited art supplies with me so most of the sketches are water colour and ink, gouache or acrylic.

The bottom middle sketch was drawn with an ink pen that completely smudged when in contact with water so I used a wet brush and moved the ink around, certainly a fun and easy way to sketch with only a pen and water brush!

I have been painting with a wonderful and varied artists every Saturday morning. We have painted at a different location each week, including the town square, restaurants, roof top palapas, street, ocean and lagoon scenes to name a few. CENAC asked us to put together a show of our work for the month of March. I framed 6 oil paintings and put them in the show. It is hard to believe that our time is almost up and there is only a little more of the week for my art in this show. If you are in Melaque, check out the colourful local scenes in oil paint, water colour and ink and acrylic. The address is Cabanas 15, open Tuesday through Sunday 9am - 5pm.

Today's meet up was at Ancora, a very unique afternoon/evening outdoor bar just past the trailers at Del Tule. It is a haven for driftwood sculptures and unique seating areas. This narrow strip of land has a view of the ocean on one side and the lagoon on the other. I chose the lagoon side as I had spotted the boat on a previous visit and there was shade under a palapa. Looking out for coconuts and sun are two dangers for plein air here! Our "slapdown" photo (at the bottom) of work in progress shows the variety of views and interests of the artists here today.

"Tucked Away"
10" x 8" plein air oil on canvas pad,    #20018323

I have had the good fortune to speak to Elias while he was working about our mutual love of painting.  He is a local Melaque Mexico resident and after working at his family's restaurant 6 days a week, he has taught himself to paint in the summers. Elia invited Ross, Sue and I to come to his parents' house to see his paintings. Well we were treated to freshly cut coconut, with the juice and meat with lime, salt and hot sauce and local tiny bananas that tasted like candy. This certainly felt like an event for us. Elias has a very good command of English so we were free to ask lots of questions about his art, family, food and life. What a wonderful time spent ON HIS ONLY DAY OFF!      @eliasangel1977

I did not realize that the photo above captured more of the street reflections than his painting until I got home, my apologies. All Elias paintings are of what he seas and loves, the ocean, surrounding land and water life. Thank you for your hospitality and sharing of your beautiful artwork Elias, we had a wonderful and memorable time!!!

A group of artists gets together to paint every Saturday at a spot chosen the previous week in a group discussion. This week was in the main civic plaza or jardin. The freshly painted town sign, church and native trees caught my eye, hand and pen in my mixed media 5.5" x 8.5" sketchbook. It was so much fun to see all the artists busy sketching, painting and drawing. There were about 16 artists sprinkled around the plaza. Some had left before we remembered to take a "slap down" photo of the works in progress. 

I successfully completed and posted a daily sketch in February as part of Opus Art Supply #opusdailypractice art challenge. I have read about another challenge about making art for 100 days in a row, self designed and in any medium. Deciding to continue with having 28 days completed already (is that cheating??), the rest seemed do-able. Most of these sketches are small, 3 3/4" x 3 3/4" squares, easy size to fill with something in my world on that day. Posting these sketches daily seem to be a bigger challenge.                #100dayproject

This week we met at Las Hamacas restaurant for our plein air fun. 7 of us enjoyed the peaceful venue (beachside restaurant, not opened for lunch yet), working with oil paints, water colour and coloured pencils, what fun! A great variety and interesting views were being created. I did not heed Ed's advice when I set up and had to keep moving my easel to stay out of the hot sun! The "slap down" photo of the unfinished paintings are below, just look at the variety!! I had a lot of fun with colour on the Isla as seen in the bottom photo. 

"Isla Toriz"
Plein air oil on canvas pad, 8" x 11"    #20011323

The Saturday plein air group decided to meet at the hidden Bistro Escondito. Some of the members could not find this spot or it was to far to walk with supplies, but 3 of us managed to find our way here and a spot in the shade. I had watched Amy paint this scene and wanted to give it a try. Decided to use that "artistic license" in my back pocket and change around some of the scene in front of me. It certainly makes thinking about the travelling in the painting and composition harder. I was happy with the whole experience.

El Camino Menos Transitado (The Road Less Travelled)
Plein air oil on canvas pad, 8" x 11"    #20009323A

I had so much fun that I decided to return the next day and try again with a different composition. To my delight, the Bistro Escondito was open for brunch with a wonderful guitarist and Mexican lady singing. I was right behind them in the shade of the house across the street and thoroughly enjoyed it all! I feel every part of the morning is imbued in this painting. 

This was a lovely morning. The Saturday plein air group met at Bistro Escondido before the restaurant was open for lunch. A few painters couldn't find this tucked away gem so painted elsewhere. Four of us were welcomed to enjoy the beautiful gardens in and out. Before anyone left we did a "slap down" photo of the works in progress (below).