Anybody Out There? An Update

I have had this blog for perhaps ten years and it has gone through various stages. It has been at least 2 years since I have written anything on it, and it came as a bit of a surprise that I have at least a few readers. I made it a travelogue, because that is the time where I do the most unfettered writing. I believe that I stopped on my second day in China. I did write the entire time, and perhaps at some point will publish what I wrote. I will be no surprise that the Great Wall and the Terra Cotta Army at Xian were high points.

I also took a trip to San Miguel Allende about a year ago and took a one week painting class. I found the painting class challenging partially because my teacher was always emphasizing basics, and I think that I felt like I had "done the basics".  I am certainly open to the possibility that I have missed some things along the way. It is actually a surprise email from Felicia Rice that causes me to begin again.  Her dad and mom, Ray and Miriam Rice were close friends of my uncle, John Lynch and his wife, Phyllis. John and Ray were part of the 1948- 1949 class at Bellas Artes in San Miguel.

I think some of my blog posts discuss this school. Ray and John created a mural somewhere in San Miguel, and when I was there, I tried to track it down, but with no success. I have some drawings that John did and a photo of him working on the mural. If I am not mistaken, it was Ray's mural, as I believe he was the one studying with David Alfaro Siqueiros.  You definitely should see his unfinished mural in Belles Artes. I believe that I have written here the reason that it was never finished.

For five years I have been participating in Sebastopol's Art at the Source, an opportunity for artists to show their work to the public. I decided to take a year off- for many reasons. Perhaps I will devote a post to those reasons, but not today. Suffice it to say that I have enjoyed the break, and I am trying to take a fresh approach to my drawing and painting. I have just started a portrait of my older son. If I like it, I will post it here, when I finish. I fortunately still have a few fans of my painting, most notably, Harvey Mandelson at the Red Shoes Gallery.  I have been watching many YouTube videos both about artists and technique. I love the resource.

I am three weeks away from another trip to Europe. This June I will be visiting 3 countries that I have not been to: Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Then I will take a week in Berlin. It may be that my next post I will be writing from one of those places.