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Canvas and question!

Kicking ass in so many ways:

Canvases:
Ordered 29 canvases custom make from a guy in Morelia. Got shapes of meter and half meter sides so they can fit together for shipping and transport. Largest are 1 meter by 2 meter. (3×6 feet) Odd shape.
Excited! Can’t wait to start painting!
Also bought some local acrylic to try out.

Question:
The canvases won’t be gesso-ed. I guess I have to gesso them.
I don’t have a ton of it. Do I have to buy a bunch?
Can I use a housepaint?

Hmmmm……
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-167077
Mayeb not. Unclear.

Maybe I need a gallon bucket of gesso. Hmmm… I have all these colorful housepaints though. They are just begging to make a storm of color.

spanish learning

Up early. Heater is good.
Disturbed sleep and dreams.

Some people here make really cool furniture. I wonder how much it would cost in taxes to take a truck full of stuff up to the states.
Met a woman at a coffee shop. She speaks no English. Nice person. Quite conservative and likes to be that way. OK conversation. She likes to go on daytrips to other places so we talked much about cool places in surrounding areas.

I think I will go to the “concert of 10 pianos” at the convention center on the 10th. Sounds like it might be neato and it is outside my normal range of action.

“Muy padre!” means “very cool”
“Que padre!” means “How free!” “What liberty”

The lake at Zirahuen is rumored to have a goddess living in it which drowns men. Safe for women to swim, not for men.

I went off looking for a place which sells topographic maps. I want good ones for the Patzcuaro and Zirahuen areas. Failed. Did better web search. Went to the address.. it no longer exists there. I don’t even know what it is. I will try another web search to find a better newer address.
Ah! I have their email address! Maybe it is still valid!

“Trova” music form of stories being told in the music. Comes from Cube. “Trovador” is a singer of that style.
Silvia Rodriguez is a famous trovador.

Dropped by my theoretical canvas makers place. He didn’t realize today was a holiday so couldn’t get wood. He says he can finish all three tomorrow. He hasn’t even started. They were supposed to be done Tuesday.

“Tacos augado” are tacos drowned in sauce.

Met a guy who tells me there are raves out on a road past Santa Maria. Mostly in the summer.

Saw a woman on the street dresses in black long coat, black skirt and big boots. Very unusual to look different here. I wanted to talk to her but I did not. I am kinda lonely. A few large cute canvases could fix that.

Bought some face moisturizer cause all the sun on my face makes it drier.

L___ visited. She is nice. Talked about many things. I seem to shock her some. Some of the things I say about my lifestyle. Well… she said I do shock her.
She is tall and pretty. She models. Pleasant person. Hates Mexican men and most things Mexican. Her family is fragmented and does not serve her well. I advised her to collect some other good people around her. She says her friends are jealous of her and bring her down. She wants to go to Spain in July. She wants a Spanish guy. She is fascinated with Egypt and I will go to her bellydancing thing at her university. She also kickboxes and does other stuff. She liked my doodles I made as we talked. It make me happy that she liked them. She is going to muse for me when she returns from a cousin’s communion in Guadeleraja. I won’t be sleeping with her as she has some special issues which make that a questionable and unwelcome idea. Dang. All the party people getting laid in Seattle. She says I have a very open mind and will open hers. I seem to fall into the same role I am often in with her. Advise and ideas. I guess it is ok. She briefly spazzed internally when I had her close her eyes then when she opened them I had a priest coller on. She is catholic so that small vision was very intense for her. She seems to find me amusing though and wants to muse for me.
We speak mostly English, some Spanish. I think her English is about on the same level as my Spanish. We would need a third party to judge it. I will intro her to L___ hmmm… they are both “L”s.

I better get my dang canvases tomorrow.

prepping.

Problem with Chacos is that because of the toe grip you can wear socks with them if you wish to.
Up and cleaned up kitchen and house.
Prepped to go to Patzcuaro.
Made coffee in new coffee maker. Yay!
Word: Aborrotes = Grocery store. For the tiny grocery stores.

Lucy picked me up, went to friends house and met her friend and her 3 year old kiddo.
She said she refers to me to her friends as “the gringo of gringos”.
We drove to Patzcuaro for the New Fire celebration. A new years celebration of the local indigenous people. Purepechua.
I took photos of the parades etc.

Lemon juice on peanuts tastes good.

Spoke with an artist about getting carpenters to make canvases.

Spoke with local guy, Carlos, about the various political, economic and ecological issues of the area. Hard conversation and I am sorry to say I didn’t understand much of what he said.
Bought a few cute items. Will shop more later after I learn where is where.

The trains here are not for passengers. Electricity is very very cheap.

They word “wei” “way” means “dude” and can be used in the same way with friends. Not in dictionary.
Octavio Paz has a cool book about Mexican culture.
There is a bull fight this Friday.

Patzcuaro is maybe a better place to be. Smaller. I could live closer to nature. Intermittant tourist activity. Cheap housing.

I got some color in my face today.

So today is Sunday. I got here late Wednesday.
So Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. All settled. Got food, know the places. Know a couple peoples who are very helpful. Setup to paint with better canvases on the way.

Tommorrow morning the people will go to work. So will I.

morelia again

Up.
Setup painting area.
Went off in search of breakfast and a network connection for laptop.
Corera Maria’s for breakfast: Many of the place near me
Holiday Inn.
Found laundry. They can coser in boton in mi camisa. (horas 9-7)

Found PC mart. Just past La Voz offices. To the east of them where Las Camilinas curves northeast. Also in same place is La Divina, a cool place to buy liquor. They have ones with cool local bottles like dolls. They also seem to sell playboy. Office Max is also right across the street, along with a 24 hour pharmacy.

Outside a tattoo place on the street, I found a guy who was beginning a 2×2 meter painting. (6×6 feet!) on a thick big canvas.
I introduced myself and he was quite friendly.
He has a son named Brian in LA! What good luck! The tattoo place belongs to his brother.
He is Joe “Pepe”. He figures his material costs for the large canvas at 300 pesos.
I asked how much he would charge to make me four 1×1 meter canvases. (Bastidores)
He figure 130 pesos each. And he could have them Tuesday. I will call his brother Monday to check on progress.

Went to art store. Bought a roll of canvas. 164cm wide roll is $150p/mt ($15/yard)
I bought 4 meters.

Painted grey section on canvas. 1.62×1 meter section.

Should have brought the highter wattage fluorescent lights. They provide more light for the wattage.
Tries to walk up big hill. After much walking the road was not there. Though it is there on the map. I will try the other way up that hill next time. Saw really cool old
Called Lucy. We went to Costco.
Bought coffee
Went to regular grocery store.

I asked Lucy when there are mosqitos here. It is in the summer (correlates with the rainy season.)

Dinner at “cantina de los Remedios” address: Camelina 1494. Nice place. A little too fancy for me, but not a bad place to visit once.

I feel I should go out to a nightclub nearby and meet people. But I don’t feel like it.
Stayed up late studying Spanish.

canvases and searching for land

Need food. Showed today and went to grocery store. Doing laundry.
Then a shoot and painting. I need to lighten my heart before shoot. I have found that my state affects the models state and the shoot a lot. I need to paint a lot.I made some new improvements in painting.
I have made a few of infrastructure and house cleanup improvements since you were here last.
I have 9 new canvases. High quality. I plan to switch back to canvas today. Largest are 4×4 foot

Looking at land in Nicaragua. I was there during the war in the mid-eighties. I am certain it is a much nicer place to be now.
Lonely. Cold.
Shoot today. Muse will come tonight.

http://www.internationalliving.com/nicaragua/real_estate.cfm
http://realestatenicaragua.com

And read about Nicaragua on thorntree.

Got to get set up for shoot now.