I got some fun and encouraging feedback via "comments", emails, and Facebook on that crazy wind adventure. Haha! I'm so happy to entertain and hopefully take the performance pressure off any of you out there pushing the limits of your comfort zone. So here goes on my do-over:
The day dawned, lovely and still. No clouds, nary a breeze. We ate breakfast on the deck with the sunrise, then packed up the paint gear, counted our pesos for bus fare, and headed out. It was Monday, so it should be quiet and peaceful. At the bus stop we wait. And wait. And wait. Why are there no buses? My sweet dear husband finally decides the next passenger toting vehicle is ours..and what should come along but the nicest, newest taxi we have yet seen in Mazatlan. Pretty sure the driver had not had a plein air painter with all her stuff climb into his cab before.
After a brief, upscale ride to the end of the road, we head down to our familiar little beach. It's a working beach, meaning there is a small fleet of fishing dories unloading their catch. No problem, we thread our way through the activity. On the far side, we find a couple of families wading in the tide pools, so I try to find an out-of-the-way spot to get set up. It truly is a beautiful day.
Ready, set, paint...again, concentrating on the shapes, their relationships with each other, the values, the contrasts. Very quickly I forget there are people around and just focus on the scene and my canvas...until I become vaguely aware that maybe this is a very popular beach...and maybe I might have set up my stuff, well, right in the middle of the favorite path to the tide pool. Oopsie. It did get me a lot of attention and some fun, awkward semi-Spanish conversations with the local population.
The day dawned, lovely and still. No clouds, nary a breeze. We ate breakfast on the deck with the sunrise, then packed up the paint gear, counted our pesos for bus fare, and headed out. It was Monday, so it should be quiet and peaceful. At the bus stop we wait. And wait. And wait. Why are there no buses? My sweet dear husband finally decides the next passenger toting vehicle is ours..and what should come along but the nicest, newest taxi we have yet seen in Mazatlan. Pretty sure the driver had not had a plein air painter with all her stuff climb into his cab before.
After a brief, upscale ride to the end of the road, we head down to our familiar little beach. It's a working beach, meaning there is a small fleet of fishing dories unloading their catch. No problem, we thread our way through the activity. On the far side, we find a couple of families wading in the tide pools, so I try to find an out-of-the-way spot to get set up. It truly is a beautiful day.
Ready, set, paint...again, concentrating on the shapes, their relationships with each other, the values, the contrasts. Very quickly I forget there are people around and just focus on the scene and my canvas...until I become vaguely aware that maybe this is a very popular beach...and maybe I might have set up my stuff, well, right in the middle of the favorite path to the tide pool. Oopsie. It did get me a lot of attention and some fun, awkward semi-Spanish conversations with the local population.
(This a photo of the scene)
And here is my painting, untouched up:
(not quite as blurry as this photo!)
(not quite as blurry as this photo!)
AND my new umbrella worked great!
