studying Spanish on the rooftop patio of the language school
This composition derives from a photo I took at a Spanish language school in 2005. It was a warm October afternoon, studying verb endings in the few minutes before afternoon salsa lessons. The afternoon light in Guanajuato was blinding, which intensified the contrast between light and shadow. The depths of the shadows over the stairs felt refreshingly cool, a respite to my eyes from the glare.
The building architecture was Spanish colonial — with stairways & balconies surrounding a central courtyard. When I was painting this piece, I ruminated about the contrast between the linear, man-made regularity versus natures free-flowing shapes. The railings with their regularly spaced arches; the shadows dividing the arches neatly in half, the regularity of the Saltillo floor tiles. While the humble pots of flowers with their stems chased the sun in every direction, several of the branches finding the extra bits of sun through the arches.
I donated this piece to Casa Latina for their 2008 auction fundraiser.
