Plaza del Conde de Barajas Plaza de los Pintores. White tents with artwork from 39 artists

Plaza de los Pintores at Conde de Barajas Madrid Spain.

This is the Plaza del Conde de Barajas la Plaza de los Pintores.  There are 39 artists who show their work every Sunday from 10-2.  I have a little stand there too.  As of October I have a permanent stand where I show my art too.  I’m really happy about it.

Two ladies standing under a white tent with watercolors.
My stand at Plaza de los Pintores

Here is a snapshop of a friend and I at my little stand of watercolors.

A white tent at Plaza de los Pintores with watercolors, prints and oil paintings

Oil paintings, Prints and Watercolors

I’m really happy to have a little space to show my art whether it be watercolor, print or oil paintings.

Watercolor of Glass Bottles on top of a wardrobe.

Glass Bottles

I’m going to show some watercolors this Sunday.  This watercolor is part of a series called My Favorite Bottles.

Click here on these Links below to see how to get to the Plaza de los Pintores.

From San Miguel Market  and from Calle de los Cuchilleros.

Hope to see you there!

A picture of a watercolor in process in the Rose Garden. Easel and paper in front of the fountain.

Plein Air Watercolor: Fuente del Faunito Rose Garden 2015

Fuente de Faunito en la Rosaleda Madrid 

Esta fuente española situada en el parque del Retiro de Madrid España se llama Fuente del Faunito. Recuerdo este día perfectamente bien. El jardín estaba lleno de rosas y había visitantes por todos lados, caminando y tomando fotos. El jardín de rosas solía estar abierto a todas horas. Solía ir temprano en la mañana cuando no había nadie alrededor. Ahora tiene una hora de apertura y una de cierre, por lo que es difícil pintar aquí ahora.

A watercolor of a Spainish Rose Garden with a fountain called La Fuente del Faunito. Pink and Red Roses under a cloudy sky.

Fuente del Faunito Rose Garden 2015

This Spanish fountain located in the Retiro park of Madrid Spain is called Fuente del Faunito.  I remember this day perfectly well.  The garden was full of roses and there were visitors everywhere, walking around and taking pictures.  The rose garden used to be open at all hours.  I used to go early in the morning when there wasn’t anybody around.  Now it has an opening and closing hour, so it’s hard to paint here now.

La Fuente del Fauno de la Rosaleda in the Parque del Buen Retiro in Madrid, Spain

The Dolphin Fountain Madrid, Spain 2017
Fuente del Faunito en la Rosaleda Madrid, Spain

La Fuente del Fauno is the name of this classic style fountain of mythological motif. I focused on the base of the fountain so I could paint the roses with the dolphins.  I’ve read that the origin of the fountain is unknown.  Below is the painting process or sessions.

The Dolphine Fountain

Session 8

Each session is more or less three to four hours.

Session 7

Session 7

The Dolphine Fountain6

The Dolphine Fountain 6

The Dolphine Fountain5

Session 5

The Dolphine Fountain4

Session 4

The Dolphine Fountain3

Session 3

The Dolphine Fountain2

Session 2

The Dolphine Fountain1

Session 1

 

Summer June Flowers 2017

After our funny hail storm in June, these little yellow sun flowers bloomed on the terrace all at once.

Painting outdoors

I took out my easel and oil paints onto the terrace and started to paint the mini sun flowers early morning.

My Colors

I mix my own colors with natural pigment bound with linseed oil.  The colors are: cadmium lemon yellow, yellow chrome, transparent gold ochre, cadmium orange, magnesium blue, intense crimson, tierra sombra and cadmium red.

Sunny June Flowers in Process

I usually start with my favorite part and build around it.

I just try to paint what I see.

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I put the exact color and shape on the canvas as quickly and accurately as possible.

The Following Morning

Here again the next morning in the hot sun.

Sunny June Flowers 2017

Here I started putting in the skyline.

Sunny June Flowers 2017

Since all the colors influence each other, I try to find all them as quickly as possible before the light changes.

Sunny June Flowers 2017

The background colors are established, so now I start with more detail in the foreground.

Sunny June Flowers 2017

I felt as if I had finished the painting at this point and then I couldn’t resist putting a scumble on it to push the back ground into the distance.

 

 

Egg Tempera Scumble over Oils

So little by little I started building up the foreground, leaving the back ground alone.

 

Sunny June Flowers 2017

Summer June Flowers 2017.

 

My Watercolor Exhibition Experience at Arte Studio in Madrid May-June 2017

I realised that I had to focus.  First I got a body of watercolors together 2014 to 2016.

 

cartel_expo_victoria

Here’s a short clip of the watercolors in the show and a few pictures.

 

Paseo del Prado August 2016

A street view of the Paseo del Prado in August 2016

Three Glass Bottles with Pear 2014

When I got together around 50 watercolors, I started matting them.

 

summer-melon-with-red-bottle-2016

Summer Melon with Red Bottle 2016 – Watercolor on Arches 640 GMS – 20 x 16 inch ( 50.8 x 40.6 cm) – Swiss Clip Frameless Frame with Plexi-glass Ready to Hang

This is the style I used for presentation – A beige mat with plexi-glass and swiss clips.

 

Inauguration 2017

 

Once it was all set up, the show looked really nice.  I Saw a lot of family and friends I hadn’t seen for a long time as well as meeting new friends.

 

Flor, Victoria and Cani

Flor, Victoria and Cani

Although it was very hard work, it was something I wanted to do and I’m glad it happened.

 

The light in Madrid, Spain is always inspiring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White Almond Blossoms in Talavera Vase Watercolor March 2017

This spring I was only able to paint one watercolor of the white almond blossoms. They bloomed, it rained, it was windy and they were gone.

Talavera Vase 2017

These are some of the steps taken.

Starting out with the vase and flowers

I started out by putting the vase and the flowers on the paper first.

Focusing only on what I see

Then I start working around the paper putting in the colors and shapes I see.

Looking for contrast

Here I start looking for contrast.

Looking for depth

Looking for depth.

Looking for Atmosphere

Looking for atmosphere too.

 

Dante’s Inferno Canto IV Modern Language Version. Written by Jim Belton and Illustrated by Victoria Olson.

Canto IV Limbo 2017

The next day, we came to the foot of a noble castle, circled seven times by high walls. A fair creek encircled the walls, but we crossed it as if it was hard ground. I went in through the seven gates with the sages, and we came to a healthy green meadow.

Jim Belton’s modern language version of Canto II by Dante Alighieri. Click here to read Canto IV.

 

Open Air Painting in the Retiro Park, Madrid Spain December 2016

It was a nice sunny day in early December, just as autumn was leaving and winter was coming in.

open-air-painting-december-2016

Open air painting in the Retiro Park in December of 2016

So I was painting at the Retiro Park and someone stopped to see the painting.  Suddenly we discovered that we had met in San Francisco around 20 years ago.

the-retiro-with-maria-jesus-december-2016

I hadn’t seen Maria Jesus for a long time. We had lost contact long ago and we ran into each other at the park; small world as they repeatedly say.

three-hours-later

The light started changing here.

The light started to change quickly, so I hurried up and finished.

the-retiro-park-in-autumn-2016

The Retiro Park in Autumn 2016

This is how it turned out.

Bustarviejo Forest. There are trees along a creek and a little bridge in the distance. The sky is covered by the trees.

Out Door Painting in Bustarviejo (Madrid) with the Agrupacion de Acuarelistas de España

It was a cold grey day, Friday the 3rd of March 2017.  The Agrupaciòn de Acuarelistas de España of Madrid did some Plen Air Painting at Bustarviejo.

Bustarviejo Forest. There are trees along a creek and a little bridge in the distance. The sky is covered by the trees.

It started raining just about now…

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So I went in for lunch and then it started pouring cats and dogs!  

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After lunch, I painted from the windows.

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Then it started snowing so I started a new watercolor of the snow covered hills.