The Community Garden in la Manzanilla

This is the community garden in La Manzanilla, started by June and Rick, and well supported by a big cross-section of Mexicans and "gringos". I am so lucky that it is right across the street from my place, and that there is a great composting system to accept all of our kitchen scraps and garden prunings. You can read more about the garden at www.visitlamanzanilla.com.

Another Recyclable

I'm so used to painting with lots of color, that it was refreshing looking for the value contrasts in this painting of a local "camioneta" (Before the Restoration - seriously!) I don't know if the "after" will be as interesting to paint.

Compostables/Recylables/Basura

My garbage bin area was a mess. When I finally couldn't stand it any more, suddenly things fell into place: 1) David needed to thin out his bamboo grove. 2)Roberto agreed to dig in the bamboo poles to create a screen. 3)Javier went up in the hills and found the vine to weave through the bamboo. 4) Liza made up signs that help separate compostables from recyclable bottles and cans, and from basura (garbage) So now, the compostables can be carried over to the community garden, just half a block away, the cans and bottles can be claimed by Javier, and the garbage collectors have less to haul away. It has been quite a satisfying "green" project all around.
This summer and fall, we are going to do some fundraising to hire folks and buy the few materials necessary to create more of these.

Art Saturdays

We've started up Saturday Neighborhood art classes again. Every Saturday at 11:00, Linda's home is open for art activities to kids of all ages (mostly neighbors, and since she is my neighbor, we are working together on this) What a bonus! The first floor of her house is a covered but open air large room, with bare concrete walls that the kids are welcome to draw on with chalk. There are large tables, built at kids' height by the father of one of the kids. Here's a picture of Linda, sitting on her roof, going through a book of traditional arts, brimming with ideas to have the kids learn skills, but with the emphasis on creativity. She's so excited to have her home be such a great resource to the community.

Last Night's Sunset - La Puesto Del Sol Anoche

Adios Tenacatita

In La Manzanilla, we are sure missing Tenacatita this year. This painting is called Tenacatita Mantel, and it represents the color that one could always expect to see over there. Restaurants choc-a-bloc with patterned tablecloths,and the posts that supported the palapas were often painted in bright colors too. I am so grateful to have photos of that splash of color to paint from...plan to do a Tenacatita Mantel series this winter.