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La Ciudad  February 2019

Beginning with some formal decisions on a 48"x36" canvas. No thought at this stage of any content or narrative. In fact it is my usual goal to avoid those temptations.

I have used the grid or checkerboard motif before as a starting point. I wanted also to try something more adventurous with colour. The choice of pink (rosado) was arbitrary but turned out to be the first clue that the recent trip to Mexico City might be an influence here. There seemed to be a lot of pink in MX - buildings, taxi cabs, buses and clothing... Various shades of blue and green - turquoise - were also popular.

Images of the city created by the underpainting also appear and warrant some attention. The roof top patio of our hotel provided a view of the city sky-line. It might be a stretch to also claim the pyramid shape as derived from Teotihuacan...

Minor alterations and some silver lining (as in lines) bring this composition to a completion. It is still not a narrative piece but the reference to la Ciudad Mexico is okay with me. 

With rare exceptions I do not try to make paintings that document travel experiences. I do believe that all experience  including travel finds it way into one's artistic expression.