Ana

After doing my first portrait, and it didn't turn out too bad, I thought I'd tackle a reallllllly tough assignment. Aside from my painting, I raise plants here in Costa Rica....crotons, alocasia, orchids, bromeliads and a whole bunch of other stuff. My partner and long time friend, Jim, owns a large farm/ranch where he raises crotons, dracena, schefflera, cordyline and others, for cuttings shipped worldwide, in addition to orchids and sago palms. He has quite a large operation. My studio apartment is in the main building next to the office. In the office is a secretary. Her name is Ana. I have known Ana for three years. She is a very nice person. She is sweet. She is a good secretary. She is quite intelligent. She absolutely drives me up the wall. Every day I tell her I'm madly in love with her, and that we should go populate an uninhabited island somewhere. She asks me if I want another slice of papaya. Ah, such is life...condemned to loneliness a while longer.
Anyway, Ana is delighted to pose for the camera. So I took a few shots and came up with this portrait, which I think is real good. It has good color and tones. The right proportions. Good likeness. Nice shadows and lighting quality. And it turns me on. I gave it to her. She went bananas. She was ecstatic. Mucho feliz. Delighted and excited. And she gave me another slice of papaya. Back to the drawing board. :-P

Who Dat?

The DSFDF project had a bit different year-end assignment for participating artists. Those artists that chose to participate were asked to submit a photo of themselves and in return, receive a photo of another participating artist from which they would render a portrait. I have never painted a portrait of anyone and when I received my assignment, I immediately questioned myself whether I left my brain somewhere out in the rainforest. But, always game to try almost anything once, I grabbed a canvas and some paints. The photo of my victim was a gentleman whose face was halfway submerged into shadow. The administrator of the DSFDF project didn't tell who it was I about to insult with my acrylics, so I went to past projects, snooping....using my fantastic powers of intuition and dumb luck. When I went to the week before's workboot project and ran across a painting of the subject boots filled with a little fellow who looked like "anything but happy", done by an artist named Adebanji Alade, I knew I hit paydirt. I was so confident that it was him that I was painting, I incorporatded his painting behind him in the portrait I was doing. When finished I sent an E-Mail with attached portrait to Adebanji. Sure nuff, it was him, and he was well satisfied with my attempt, even tho it made him look older. This was a really fun project.

The Eye Has It

I go to Panama often. Bocas del Toro. A group of small islands just off the Northeast coast. Absolutely beautiful and actually quite inexpensive. Ten bucks for a bus ride to the border, Sixaola. Then a tourist taxi for 6 bucks to Changinola. Then a 30 minute water taxi to the islands for another 4 dollars. You can stay at a hostel for 6 bucks or a fairly nice motel for about $30. A couple of months ago, I was coming back and hopped on the taxi. Got in the back seat and there was this incredible young lady sitting there. I introduced myself and we visited for the half hour back to the border, and visited some more at the border. And visited some more on the bus. When she got off the bus at Cahuita, she waved goodbye. As the bus pulled out, she waved goodbye again. As the bus pulled away, I waved my head against the window a dozen times for not getting out at Cahuita, too, and taking a later bus back. After 62 years, I would think a little common sense would come along at some point.
Anyway, she was a beautiful creature. From The Netherlands, 27 years old, visiting Central America and then going back to Holland in a few days. Now, I know, 62 and 27. My oldest grandson is almost that old. But my interest wasn't of a romantic nature...(if I was only 30 years younger, not as ugly and a few more dollars in my pocket)...ah, one can dream. And I am so straight and gentlemanly I bore myself to tears sometimes. But there was something..some kind of chemistry or sumtin that affected me more than I can describe. I can count on the fingers of one hand the times a person has zapped me in such a fashion. You know how sometimes you can meet someone and feel as if you've known em for years. That's the way it was with Eva.
She gave me her website address and I visited it as soon as I got home and sent her an E-Mail asking her to reply back when she got home safely. She is a photographer and has a website that has some very interesting photos. One photo that really caught my eye was a close-up photo of her eye. I asked her to E-Mail a hi-res of her eye so I could paint it. She did. I did. I mailed it. She got it. She was delighted. I am delighted. Aside from being knock-down, drag-out gorgeously beautiful, she had a sparkle in her eyes that could brighten a galaxy. We communicate occasionally. If we never meet again, I feel my life has been enriched by this brief encounter with such an enchanting angel. Eva truly has the fingerprints of God all over her. I have posted her eye and my feeble attempt of a painting.