Today I finished another 5″ x 7″ oil painting on eco-friendly gessobord panel.
Haven’t done as much art lately since I’ve been so busy painting our house, but looks like the house painting will slow down soon!
This painting is inspired by the setting sun on the beach in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica.
Deserted tropical beach oil painting.
The other day I was thinking that I have a fairly extensive body of work from the past several years, and I’m going to start sharing bits of it every Thursday on my Facebook fan page, on my Twitter page, and right here on this blog!
As many of you know, from 2006 to 2008, I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Costa Rica, working in Community Economic Development. In my spare time (there’s plenty of spare time in rural Costa Rica), I enjoyed, you guessed it, painting.
Over the course of a few months, I sketched and painted a detailed world map onto the side of the local elementary school, where I taught Junior Achievement and English, and was a soccer star (until I played with other adults). The map had every single country on it, with the names in Spanish, as well as some inspirational quotes on the sides.
The quotes read (translated):
“The more we know the world, the more we love it.”
“The Earth is ours, let’s take care of it!”
“Almost always, the creative and dedicated minority has made the world a better place.”
“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
Once the map was finished, we used it to teach geography through trivia games. The kids really enjoyed it. Most of them learned a lot, although one boy already knew the name of every single country in the world, where they were located, and some information about each country! He showed me his book one day that he studied to learn all of that. It was pretty impressive.
Since then, the school built an additional room, which enclosed the map inside.
We definitely had a good time at the school, both learning:
and having fun!
Lastly, I recently donated to the National Peace Corps Association and got this cool bumper sticker artwork to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps!
This expansive tropical beach is located in the Pacific seaside town of Uvita, Costa Rica. You can walk for a mile here and only be accompanied by little red crabs scampering around the sand!
The scene in this painting is of wild and tropical Corcovado, Costa Rica. Located on the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, Corcovado National Park contains the most biodiversity in the Western hemisphere!
While a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica, I got to hike through Corcovado near the end of my service.
Uvita, Costa Rica has one of my favorite beaches in that country, as I’ve written about before. Uvita is on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. In this painting, the morning waves are washing up on shore with the sunlight illuminating the glow of the water, sand and palm trees.
This painting measures 10″ in width and 8″ in height, and is painted on gallery-wrapped canvas (no frame necessary!).
Corcovado National Park lies on the southwest tip of Costa Rica and is the most biodiverse place in the western hemisphere! While a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica, I hiked through Corcovado near the end of my service. After a full day’s hike through the jungle, streams and rivers, you arrive to the wild and pristine beaches.
Imagine the warming rays of the Pacific sun shining upon this tropical stretch of Corcovado beach when you look at this painting hanging in your home or office!
I’ve been going through my photos from the Peace Corps a lot lately and finding inspirations for paintings. In 2008 I took a little weekend vacation “with the boys” to Puerto Viejo, Limon, on the southern Caribbean side of Costa Rica. This is may favorite place in Costa Rica. The Caribbean coast of Costa Rica seems to be less visited by tourists, yet I find it much more appealing. I think it’s prettier and enjoy the Caribbean culture more. Reggae music, jerk chicken, coconut rice and beans, slow pace, patua language (a mixture of English, Spanish and French)…
Anyways, we were hanging out and walking along the water one evening and I got this picture of a boy kicking his soccer ball along with a big fish in his hand. I think this shows a slower-paced lifestyle; go fishing, walk along the beach, play a little soccer…
I just finished it today –
It’s an acrylic on a 6″ by 6″ Ampersand artist panel.
