...is always a feast for your eyes and ears. Layers of colour and the crescendo of horns, music and sellers all mix together creating a tremendous and endless improvisational jazz song. Each time I go to Mexico it is a trip in MAKING art, APPRECIATING art and FINDING art in unusual places. 

The walls, ceiling and floors offer a variety of textures and colours. Here are a few shots I took while walking the streets. I see them as little abstract paintings. 
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Inside my favourite park - Parque Chapultapec - is a beautiful carousel that sits in the middle of the green forest, like a fantasy, as if made by magic. I am trying to capture this in the paintings. 

A word about the carnavals - they call them 'Ferias' here and they are basically little travellling rides that are set up in neighbourhoods. There are about 10 rides for kids  and they set up for about 10days and then move on to another neighbourhood. Carousels are very popular here.

I have been doing a lot of woodcut lately because I don't need a lot of space to create them. The process starts: 1. taking many photos in the city 
2. editing my favourite photos and using them to create more complicated, realistic compositions. 
3. Then I draw the image on the board with reference to what I created on the computer
4. carve. carve. carve. I make drawing decisions while I draw as well

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You can't add back what you have already carved out of the wood so it is important to do a one or two proofs before maki`eeded. Usually needed. Here is an example of pre and post proof.

Now back to the printshop to see if the cuts are actually an improvement or all is destroyed.

Mexico is  EARTHY. Not in the warm fuzzy environmental way we say 'earthy' back in Canada, but  rather, Mexico is RAW. Earthy and raw. The underlayers are exposed and you eat the dirt from the pyramids as you walk the city.  Mexico city is a cosmic crash that explodes into a  thousand stars. It is jolting and in your face. It screams at you 'WAKE UP!' 

Acrylic on Canvas. Size: 36"x57" or 92cm x 145cm.