Pastel Painting in Peru part 1: Lima!

In all my years of international painting trips, I have never had a challenge like painting Peru.

In early June, myself and a group of my adventurous art students headed of to an exotic faraway painting locale. We moved around constantly on this trip, every day, so many new subjects to paint, stimulating places to discover. So I will be posting a few times about this trip, just to be able to fill you in on the some of the details,........

First though, I would like to congratulate all my students who came on this trip. They are the ones that kept it going, went on all the treks, and painted even when we were tired. It takes some dedication, and I appreciated your efforts!

not everyone made it into this pic, can't seem to find one with EVERYONE!

It all started in Lima, Peru. Lima surprised me, with it's nice temperatures, but ever-present mist and overcast skies. 

Parque Del Amor, or,...Park of Love

Sculptures, mosaic walls, treed walk ways meander through the park setting on top of cliffs, overlooking the Pacific ocean, undulating waves and surfers for miles. Tropical palm trees meet evergreens. 

The spectacular gardens of the Larco Museum makes quite an impression without even going inside. We had lunch in a beautiful cafe, 1/2 inside1/2 outside, in a building and in a garden, profuse with hanging plants, greenery. Very alive! Food was delicious as well. A nice relaxing lunch before seeing this impressive collection.

We saw amazing intricately designed jewellery, body wear, and crafted tools.

When I first saw this case, I thought nice candle holders! Not. These are weapons of war and murder. 

Another amazing privately owned museum was “Las Pallas”, housed in a gorgeously renovated private home, owned and operated by  Scottish-born Mari Solari, who immigrated to Peru in 1966 and has since become Peru's leading specialist in the area of Peruvian native folk art. Her passion is contagious as she can't wait to tell you every detail of her amazing collection. We were lucky enough to be invited in to her private collection, where she has an amazing collection of pottery, and other handcrafted items. 

Here's Maria, standing in front of one of many cases full of artifacts. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. 

Check it out, a Mommy bird and Baby is attached by a string. Sweet.

 

These intricately detailed clay wall plaques are a traditional wedding present in Peru, depicting aspects of family life. Another tradition is a set of Bulls, sitting atop peoples' roofs. They are a sign and a wish for prosperity.  

The cliffside parks, lining the Pacific Oceans' way, the Larco museum, with its' amazing collection of pre-columbian art, (not to mention its' spectacular display of gardens particularily the Bougainvilleas) and evening light show set this city of over 10 million peruvians, apart.

Magica colour y Fantasia coloured fountains set to music.

Miles and miles of cliffs, are covered in mesh to stop erosion. The mesh is then planted with Bougainvaillea, imagine the entire cliffside covered in colour! As we left Lima for the Ica dessert and Paracas, Diego, our tour guide with Peruvian Soul explained how urban sprawl happens in Peru.



 Poor urbanites build a shack, literally, out of wood. More people join in, and eventually, someone replaces the wood with brick,...and when there are 10 houses or so made out of brick, the government then kicks in with hydro, streets and water. You can see these shanty towns as you exit Lima by bus. Urban sprawl with no planning at all.   

Please stay tuned as we travel next to the south and Pacific coast of Peru, to completely different climates, and very different painting experiences.

Thanks for listening,.............