Summer 2007 Surfing! Key Lime Squares!
Dear Friends,
I hope you've been enjoying your summer. I have a new recipe for you, Key Lime Squares. One bite of this sweet/tart dessert and I think of sunny ocean days. As a child, I lived by the ocean in Playa del Rey, California. Recalling sparkling sunny days, foggy mornings or violent winter storms, the ocean is a constant mental presence for me, even after years spent living by the mountains.
The different styles I paint are my
reflection of the ocean moods. My Paint Happy series is the bright and
sparkling days when the air is perfect and the waves are
beautifully shaped rows of green water folding to white. My oils are complex layers of sunny
metals and deep polychrome glazes that appear to change as the
light changes throughout the day. From light to dark and back
again, my oils explore beneath the surface.
All
that time in the water as a child and I never learned to surf,
till now! My husband, Randall Barna and I just returned from a
surf trip in Tofino B.C. We camped in the rainforest and I took
surfing lessons. The water there is warmer than in Oregon.
Really! A longtime surfer, Randall is stoked about standup paddling. This summer
he started our family paddling on lakes and rivers. For
this trip to the ocean we took the standup boards into the
surf. Watching him on his board gracefully sliding down the
face of a wave, balancing his paddle in the surf inspires me to
keep trying, despite a few bumps and bruises. Surfing is hard,
scary and fun for me. Sports enable me to face a fear and have
fun -- even if the fun part is a small slice of the experience
at the beginning. The concentration I need to participate in
the sport results in a single focus type of flow that clears my
mind and gives my creativity a boost. You can read more
about standup paddling on Randall's website www.StandupPaddleBend.com.
For the next couple of months I'm painting,
finishing work for a solo exhibit at the BICC gallery on the
OHSU Oregon Health Sciences University campus in October,
celebrating Hispanic Heritage month. Here's a retablo of
Delores Huerta and Cesar Chavez, the founders of the United
Farm Workers union, painted in oils in the Ex-Voto tradition.
I'll share the rest of the art with you when it's complete.
Live Happy!
Cristina