Blog

Blog #1

In March of this year, 2019, I had a wonderful and interesting two weeks in Mexico at Casa de los Artistas. The Casa is run by Robert Masla who attracts many top painters as instructors for workshops. I signed up to study with Jim McVicker and then saw Randall Sexton was teaching the week before so I jumped on the opportunity to do a double header with 2 painters that I have long admired.  Although I’ve been painting for years and teach also, I love the opportunity to learn from others who paint in a way I admire. Spending time watching these two awesome painters plus all the new sights, sounds, and experiences shook me out of my usual habits and gave me some new perspectives. This was unlike any workshop experience I've had before.
The Casa is in a territory just across the river that descends from the mountain and runs to the sea at Boca Tomatlan, just south of Puerto Vallarta. There are no roads past the river at Boca in order to preserve the forest that rises from the sea. To get to the Casa one could wade across the river (the short way) or take a bridge at the edge of the town and then walk along a path that connects all the homes and small hotels until I reached The Casa. The path continued for miles leaving the river inlet and continuing along the ocean, connecting shacks, magnificent homes, and stunning resorts. The locations further along the path were more easily and quickly accessible by boat. I arrived by cab from the airport and eventually found someone holding a sign. I handed my suitcase to a local helper on his boat then, not being dressed for wading, walked the 10 min. to the Casa on the path that consists of dirt, stone, cement, over a front porch, through chickens and lots of dogs. The Casa was attractive throughout with a huge room for gathering and meals and a top floor giant studio space. It was definitely the most interesting entrance to a ‘hotel’ ever.

Town of Boca Tomatlan, Mexico                               Randall Sexton starting a painting                                                          Randall Sexton's Botanical Garden painting
 

The inlet at the mouth of the river in front of the Casa was filled with the constant activity of fishing or delivery boats. The outlet to the sea was a moving snake that exited through the sand at the entrance to the sea and changed daily. One day we’d have a big beach in front of the Casa and the next day we might be waterfront. There was an endless amount of beautiful and interesting visual material for painting which, for me, made the workshops so special.

  Always moving, outlet to the sea at Boca Tomatlan                                Changing river flow  
                                                                                           

Flowing river from Mountains to Ocean                                                  Fishing and supply delivery boats
                    

The Casa schedule began with breakfast at 8:30 (all meals were vegetarian and delicious) followed by heading to paint around 10. Painting days were spent at the beach just in front of the Casa, at the beautiful Vallarta botanical gardens and a third day at the beautiful village of El Tuito.  I was able to see some wonderful demos that Randall did the first week which were very helpful. The workshops are set up as a vacation with painting. One day was a coastline tour with snorkeling with lunch on a beautiful beach and another day was for visiting Puerto Vallarta. After following the schedule the first week and not getting much painting accomplished as a result, I skipped most of the activities the second week. Influenced by Jim, who is a painting machine and also wonderful to watch, I set my alarm for sunrise before breakfast a couple days and stayed in our gorgeous area to paint while others went boating or shopping. 

The locals, especially the kids, often gathered to watch us paint. The sounds were lively and filled with music. The only real difficulty was being able to sleep while music continued to blare till 2 am plus, followed by barking dogs and roosters. White noise on my phone and earplugs saved me. In all, it was a unique and rich experience.
Here are some of the paintings I worked on during my stay.