Laurelines

Adios, San Antonio!

I've never, ever been to a friendlier town than San Antonio. At the San Antonio Museum of Art, the guards made me feel like a rock star---they were so interested in my sketches and so complimentary. But all the San Antonians we met were like that---warm, lively, outgoing. Even the birds are gregarious and full of song.
The museum has a large collection of Latin American art, both that brought from the old world and other work created in the new.

So, adios, San Antonio. Hope I see you again.
On the home front, I found these furly ranunculus at the first farmers' market of the season.

Ibero-Americano-Italo etcetero

I love making and finding all sorts of connections when I travel--- human connections, such as that with Lori in San Antonio and Paris Parfait, Florizelle and Linda in Paris. But cultural connections are fun, too. Food is often a good source of this kind of conjunction (see the German/Mexican dishes below) and it has the added advantage of being...well, edible. At La Fonda on Main, my husband's favorite restaurant from his childhood in San Antonio, I was delighted to see 'Filete Milanese con Papas' on the menu---Italy meets Spain in the Texas hills! I thought this might be the creation of the new chef (LaFonda came into being in 1932 and recently changed ownership), but I later saw similar dishes listed in other restaurants. One Hispanic waiter told me his grandmother used to make it at home. If you know anything about the history of this dish, please let me know--I'm fascinated by this appearance of Milan in TexMex cuisine

We ate at La Fonda twice--it's that good and that pretty, too, all freshened and refurbished as it is under the new owners. My husband tells me it has not lost its soul in the process, which was welcome news. Good souls are not that easy to come by.
There's one more day of San Antonio sketches to come. Can you tell I had a good time?

San Antonio in a different vein

What interests me about a place are the vignettes, the glimpses, the details that give texture and character to the larger context. Add to that the fact that it rained and was overcast much of our visit and you'll understand why you aren't seeing big, Texas-sized panoramas here. I fell in love with this beautiful city and for an East Coast francophile, that's saying a lot! You aren't allowed to take photos or sketch inside the Alamo, so guess what I sketched?

Yesterday we went to Mission San Jose, the largest and most important of the historic missions south of the city. It is a beautiful, tranquil and uplifting place. Here are two tiny views.

More sketches to come!

Nachos with a side of sauerkraut

Did you know that there was a large wave of German immigrants to Texas in the nineteenth century? In San Antonio, there is evidence all around of that presence--we're staying at the Menger Hotel, for example, established in 1859.
Yesterday, my husband and I drove 20 miles north to New Braunfels, on the advice of our new friend Lori, in search of more German influence. There we saw several houses built by German settlers, including this small stucco and stone cottage built by botanist/ soldier/newspaper editor Ferdinand Lindheimer (1801- 1879.) I sat on the ground in the lovely spring garden and sketched his tiny house. (As always, click on sketch for bigger image.)

Afterwards we had lunch at Oma's House, a restaurant run by descendants of the original settlers of New Braunfels. The menu there gives new meaning to the concept of fusion cuisine, with its German nachos (filled with sausage and cheese) and its German egg rolls (filled with sausage and cheese,) recipes devised by the owner's German-turned-Texan grandmother. Mustard takes the place of tomato-based or soy sauces.

We drove back to San Antonio, where I made a sketch of San Fernando Cathedral, as seen from the City Hall park.

(I don't know why the text is underlined and hotlinked. I've tried and tried to eliminate this but have been unsuccessful. I'm tired and I'll deal with this tomorrow.) Lots more San Antonio sketches to come!

Viva Saint Patrick!

Here in San Antonio, the old and new worlds collide, jostle, make nice, make food, make music and generally have a jolly time. Today, for example, we saw a Saint Patrick's day parade on the San Antonio River, with a float containing lovely, statuesque Hispanic women all dressed in green frocks, festooned with shamrocks, doing the macarena! Viva San A and Saint P!
Speaking of jollity, my husband and I had a wonderful time with fellow blogger Lori Witzel yesterday! We met for a drink on the terrace of our hotel and then had dinner at a place Lori picked for us--and it was completely divine. Thank you, Lori, for a terrific evening!

This morning was overcast and a bit drizzly, so I found shelter in the courtyard garden of the Spanish Governor's palace, built in 1749. In the struggle between Spain and France for domination of the New World, the palace represents a period of Spain's ascendancy.  Yes, that's a fountain with a tiny trickle of water. I'm, as you may know, a fool for fountains.  The  black and white vignette is a corner  of the same courtyard.

My husband was born in San Antonio and spent his whole childhood and most of his teen years here.  Tonight we're going to his favorite  Mexican restaurant from those days. Viva Mexico!  Hasta luego!

Can we talk?

I'm in a chatty mood, though heaven knows I need to be off doing other stuff. Yesterday, Ippy and I had our weekly art session together. She wanted to paint eggs, as she does every Easter season. She gets eggs from a neighbor with hens and the eggs are just beautiful au naturel, as pictured here, in the bowl.

Here's Ippy,  talking on the phone and then painting away.

Tomorrow I leave for San Antonio. I'll be posting sketches while I'm there. I'll be meeting Lori Witzel, whose blog Chatoyance is a treasure trove of her photos, drawings, and poetry. Hasta la vista!

Vegetable chic

Onions with topknots, sweet potatoes with wavy tresses, potatoes with little dreads, these are the starlets of my vegetable basket. Can you tell I haven't been cooking much lately?

Two more faces to add to the 101 Faces project, the first an adaptation, in Conte crayon and watercolor, of an Egyptian mummy portrait, the second, a quick pencil and wash sketch from a family portrait of my Ukrainian-born friend.

My time in Seattle, indoors and out

The weather turned cold and rainy my last day in Seattle. Peggy and I decided to head out for the Skagit valley north of Seattle, hoping the day would clear up. It didn't, but I perched, shivering and windblown, in the open trunk of her car, and sketched the daffodil fields in front of me. Later, I sketched Peggy twice, as we sat in her cozy apartment. 

The last sunny afternoon, we found Bergen Place,  a small slice of Norway in the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard.

Sketchy in Seattle

I've managed to fit in a few sketches on my visit here, in between times of taking care of business with my lovely friend. Here are a few.  People waiting, here and there.

Sketching this boat at Fairview harbor, in between a couple of appointments, I thought of a similar day in Paris last October, when I sketched a boat moored on the Seine.

Today we went to Golden Gardens Park, where it started to rain in the middle of my painting the snow-covered, fog-bedecked mountains across the harbor.

Next, I sat in Peggy's car, warm and dry, and made a quick sketch of tree, bird, bench, beach.

Tomorrow, we'll go to the San Juan islands, weather permitting. It's my last day.

On the run

So much that's important going on in life right now, including a non-art related trip to Seattle to visit my dear friend Peggy, leaving tomorrow morning, coming back Friday or Saturday next. Still, I take my sketchbook wherever I go and I will post some sketches while I'm there.
In our drawing session this week, Ippy did a beautiful sketch of a Star of Bethlehem plant in my kitchen, but my sketches of it were lame.  Today, I grabbed a china marker, one in red, one in blue, and made lightning fast drawings of it, surrounded by watercolor washes. Loose-limbed and quick as a fox, all I had time for.

China marker and Kremer paints.

My day has also been full of thoughts of mothers and daughters, mine and others'. When I saw this mother/daughter pair breakfasting at Foster's cafe, I wanted to sketch them, so I did. Quick and loose, all I had time for again.  Charcoal  pencil on  Fabriano  hot press paper.