The Final Stretch

I Can’t even believe it myself. The last time I posted on this blog, was in March of this year, and that was because I thought I was just about to finish this painting, this Bullfighter. But it wasn’t like that. A lot of things came up, and little by little I started to drift away from getting to finish the painting, and before I knew it, I had completely stopped painting. Excuses? …I could blame everything and everybody for this. Too much work, my kids’ homework, too tired, etc., etc. , etc… but the truth is that I’m the only one to blame. No excuses. I believe that if you really want to do something, you can.

My painting stands in my studio, that would be in my dining room. Every day I would see this Bullfighter and I would ask myself when would I finish it. My wife and my kids would also ask the question …WHEN?! …man, I’m even ashamed when I remember that I started this painting on December 24th of last year (2008) …that’s about a whole year! …a whole year!

But now I can say I’m back. I can say I’m on the final stretch. This is the third weekend I’ve been painting. Better put, this is the third weekend I’ve been finishing it. I say “finishing it” because I really feel it that way. The time I’ve spent painting during these days has grown, and that’s a good sign. I been getting more involved again with the smell of the oil paint, and I’ve been getting more involved again with the thickness that I feel when the brush travels from one side to the other leaving a beautiful track of color. When I’m painting, I’ve begun to feel again that pleasure I feel every time I take two or three steps back to see the whole painting, the complete image, and I like what I see.

But it ain’t all pleasure. I paint by instinct. I wasn’t artistically educated. I paint what I like, because I like it, and how I like it. I paint the way I think it should be, the way my “gut” tells me how, or without knowing how it should be. That’s why the way I paint takes me through a world filled with situations and emotions, frustration, pride, anxiety, sadness, happiness, ignorance, discovery, creativity, satisfaction, rush, calm, patience, impatience. May be if I really knew how painting should be done, my experience wouldn’t be so chaotic.

But to be honest with you, and myself, I would like to keep that “chaos” alive. I believe that the end of a chaos is always something positive, a great satisfaction. May be is that challenge of accomplishing something without really knowing how, is what keeps me painting. And it is also my curiosity of finding out how the painting will look when finished.

Let’s stop this complicated “personal philosophy ” of mine. Two days ago was the 25th anniversary of the death of the bullfighter “Paquirri”. If you’ve read my previous posting on this blog, you would know that this painting is inspired by the Bullfighter I just mentioned, a bullfighter I had the chance to meet and shake hands with when I was a child, he was wearing a “suit of lights” I’m painting as I remember it.

I still have a lot of painting to do. Lots of details to finish up. But I wanted to share with you how this Bullfighter is coming along. I selected three important phases of the process, it was hard because each step is as important, but I selected the three phases that can show you the process the best.

Peace.

One Stroke at a Time

What I find hard to do, is to take control. The passion that drives me to paint is transformed into this powerful energy and strength that needs to be controlled, so I don’t end up damaging the canvas. This energy I talk about needs to change from physical to emotional at my fingertips. It cannot be added to the brush.

I was chosen by my style of painting, I didn’t choose it ...don’t ask me why, but at this moment this style of painting is what’s coming out of me. Detailed oriented, short strokes, carefuly-chosen colors ...one stroke at a time. I would’ve wanted something a little more physical, with speed, long strokes, lots of imperfection, that’s something that seems to fit me better, may be I’ll try it in the future ...but like I said, what you see at this moment is what’s coming out of me.

May be it is the period I’m in right now, may be it is the way I want to tell you the story, or share my memories. may be I just don’t want you to miss any detail of what I have to tell you through the painting. I don’t want you to mis anything.

I had some time to paint over the weekend, I got caught by the detail of the bullfighter’s parade-cape or Capa de Paseo, which is the cape they wear on the left shoulder as they walk into the arena before the fight. I spent a lot of time making decisions on what would go on the cape. I’m liking the wy it’s going.

It must’ve been around 1977 or 1978, I was about 14 years old, I was at the Plaza de Acho, a beautiful bullring in Lima, Perú; it was built in the 1700’s and restored in 1946 or so, I was standing there, at the gate where all the bullfighters need to pass through to get to the ring, I had a piece of paper and a pen, I wanted autographs. I did that every year. All of a sudden, Francisco Rivera “Paquirri”, a very famous Bullfighter scheduled to fight that afternoon, appeared dressed in his suit-of-lights and with a big smile took my paper and pen, gave me his autograph and shook my hand. I was shocked. I will never forget that moment.

One thing I remember very vividly about that moment, is the color of his “traje de luces” (suit-of-lights). It is the color I’ve applied to this painting, it was an aqua-blue and gold. Just the way I saw it. Just the way I remember it. Many people call bullfighting “the dance with death”, and you would think that to an event that’s called that, everybody would be wearing black, but a bullfight is a beautiful celebration of color. That’s ironic.

Francisco Rivera “Paquirri” was killed by a bull in 1984.


Peace.

74.63% There.

Getting there. I don’t have the luxury of spending every day painting. I have many other duties that at this point in my life, take priority. I’m happy I was able to spend a few hours painting over the weekend. For a long time I felt as if I was stuck. It didn’t matter how much I was painting, it just seemed like I was going nowhere. It felt like I was going to be painting the same thing for the next few years. Never finish.

But!! this weekend I got out of the hole. I clearly see now the ending of this painting, I feel like I just started it, and that’s a good thing. The excitement is back. Of course, I have a few more weeks to go but I know exactly where I’m going and what I have to do.

In every painting I’ve done so far, I’ve found a big hurdle, a big challenge; I encountered situations that I had to figure out by myself (you know, no art book or no painting classes), for example: On the first painting “The Cajonero” the challenge was the feet. How in the hell was I going to paint feet, I’d never done it. So it took some time to play and do it over and over and over...

On the second painting “The Anticuchera”, it was the fire of the grill. Shit! FIRE!! ...I didn’t know how to do it, not only that, Fire brings lighting, so fire had a huge effect on the lady doing the grilling, so it was a little complicated. On the third painting “The Turronera” the challenge was the darkness, I wanted to show a lot of detail, but all this is happening at dusk, plus I wanted to show people in the background, so I had to play with perspective.

And of course, on this 4th painting (no name yet) I also had to get myself in a messy situation: The SUIT OF LIGHTS. I was very excited when I decided to paint the Bullfighter, then I thought: Oh Shit ...what about the suit of lights!!? ...so, I just have to do it. I’m at a point of no return.

That’s all for now, Soon I will tell you the reasons why I painted the bullfighter, why the color of the bullring, and why the purple cape and why the color of the suit of lights. The process continues, and I want to share it with you. The suit of lights is beginning to shape up. But there’s still a lot of work to do.

Peace.

The Fourth Painting

A few weeks ago I started my fourth painting. What character? ...you’ll guess, you’ll be able to tell what it is, since I will be posting images of the process. Painting is not that easy, I don’t have an office or a studio, I do it in my dining room, with two kids running around and sometimes arguing as the run, they are my kids, Camila (10) and Matteo (6), plus the telephones, the tv, and more stuff around me.

But I’m not compalining. Actually, I like it that way, I wouldn’t like to have to hide from my kids in order to be able to paint. If I need to concentrate and focus, headphones and good music will be the solution. Besides, every now and then, one of my kids will stand next to me and tell me how beautifull the painting is looking! ...that’s all the support I need.
Kids are so honest, I know if they hate the painting they would say: “I hate that painting”.

I didn’t paint for a few days, I’ve been very busy, very bisy with other things. But I started back. And I feel that in each one of my paintings I evolve, I expect more from myself, I challenge myself. It is the best way to make this journey of painting most rewarding. This painting is going to take longer than the others, it will have more details.

When I paint I don’t do it for one or two hours, I do It for 4 or 5, for 8 hours. I have to prepare for the time that it will take. Like a long drive. Before I start painting, usually I take a cold shower and drink one or two cups of coffee.

La Turronera (The Turrón Street Vendor)

I can never forget the lady in her purple habit, waiting for someone to buy a portion of her delicious Turrón de Doña Pepa. She does it every year. October is the month.

The delicious “Turrón de Doña Pepa” is a very traditional dessert that’s always present during the month of October, month dedicated to the veneration of El Señor de los Milagros (Lord of the Miracles). The image of the also called “Purple Christ” is taken in procession around the city by a large mutltitude. A very important part of this religious tradition is the purple habit worn by the devotees. This tradition has been around for more than 300 years.

As a child I was taken to the procession a number of times. What I remember is a fusion of mistery, sorrow and forgiveness, I remember the smell of the clouds of incense, and I remember the enormous image of the the Christ moving right through them. And of course I do remember the taste of a Turrón de Doña Pepa after the procession (or during). What you see in this painting is what my memories bring back to me from a place called “my childhood” a place that’s many years away from here.

More information about El Señor de los Milagros: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Señor_de_los_Milagros_(Lima)

More information about Turrón de Doña Pepa: http://www.baluart.net/articulo/el-origen-del-turron-de-dona-pepa

La Anticuchera (The Anticucho Street Vendor)

The “Anticucho” (beef heart Kabob) is one of the most popular dishes in Perú. They are traditionaly sold by street vendors around the cities. It is very tipycal to stop by an “Anticuchera” and have Anticuchos for a quick meal. Anticuchos are normaly accompanied by “Choclo” (corn-on-the-cob) and“PapaDorada”(golden potato). I lived in the district of Jesus María in Lima, and about two blocks from my house, in a corner, a group of Anticucheras would gather every night for some serious grilling. The aroma was as good as the taste, but the aroma had the advantage of being able to travel for blocks around the neighborhood and grab you by the nose to bring you to that corner I’ll always remember. The colors I remember of that scene are reresented very closely in the painting. The green wall, the blue cart, the red and purple clothes, the fire of the grill, I remember very vividly.

El Cajonero (The Cajon player)

The “Cajón” (wooden box) is a very important percussion instrument in the folkloric music of Peru. This instrument plays its most important role in the Afro-Peruvians rythms, which were originated due to the arrival of african slaves to the coasts of Perú during the colonial period. I wanted to communicate the deep emotion in wich this instrument is played. The Cajón is also used in more contemporary music, like the peruvian “Vals” (waltz), in the 1970’s, the cajón is taken to Spain and it is adopted to play an important role in the beautiful Flamenco music. Today, the Cajón is also used in Rock.

If you would like a Cajón, I’m sure you can get it here in the states, for about $100 to $200, they’re nice, very well built. But I would recommend you take a little trip to Perú, enjoy the food, the beaches, the cities, the history and before you get back to your hometown, buy a great sounding real cajón for less than $20.

I started painting a couple years ago. I chose oil as the medium, because I felt that it would be challenging, and yet, flexible. And traditional. I didn’t go to art school, I paint by instinct and my memories are my resources. I spent most of my teenage years drawing cartoons and caricatures, I used watercolor and then a black pen around the edges.

WHY THE BIG PAINTINGS - My wife Estella and I own a peruvian-cuisine restaurant in Miami Beach, named El Rincón de Chabuca (I will explain the nature of the name some other time) the interiors walls of the restaurant are big, and it would take a number of pictures to fill them up, so we decided to get pictures of a decent size.

I began to look for the right images. I wanted big peruvian scenes or characters, but everything I found were images of the mountains (the Andes), everyday scenes of andean people with their llamas, and the women with their baby on their backs. Typical paintings. Beautiful. Nostalgic. But every peruvian restaurant has something similar, besides, I DO NOT IDENTIFY WITH THOSE IMAGES. I was raised in the coast of Peru, Lima, the capital.

As much of a shame that it can be, I’ve never been to the Andes. But in Lima there are as many stories and scenes, and characters that I saw as I was growing up. I wanted images of characters, vendors, musicians, etc, that I remember, and that are very traditional in the every day life in the Lima I lived.

After a long and frustrating search for the right imagery to hang in the walls of my restaurant, I gave up. However, I figured that if at one point in my life, I drew and painted these little cartoons and caricatures on small pieces of paper about 30 years ago, I could tary to do it again, in a much bigger scale.

I chose a format of 3' x 4'. Good size. I didn’t want to try first in a small scale, and then bigger, and then bigger, and then... I wanted to go for the big size from the beginning, and if I failed and the painting didn’t satisfy me, I WOULD JUST THROW IT AWAY!! ...nobody would have to know about this, just my wife and kids.

So I painted “El Cajonero”. I liked it. and people responded very well. That’s how all this started. Hopefully people will like my work. And for the people that think that Perú is all about llamas and andean music I believe that with my images and the stories that come with them I would be able to open their minds a little more.