Ready to go

Hi there fffffffFolks
Wellllll, after talking with many, and I mean many, local people, we have got our evacuation packs ready, complete with hard hats and masks. One of the jobs of the kids, was to create the packs as part of their learning and to feel that they have a certain amount of control of what happens. The kids enjoyed figuring out what was needed and talking with others of what also was necessary. We have a taxi ready in Puyo to come and pick us up when we start walking (or running out of here). We have a place to stay where we can have the dogs. So now we only have to wait for the volcano. There is no knowing with her. There is no predicting here, except that the locals say that every Carnival she blows, who is to say?????? I guess she doesn't like to be out done by green, gold and purple.
Anyway, I am still raw. Although I did eat some cooked food the other day, I am still kind of stomach sore from eating it. I do feel the pull of the addiction to cooked food. Overall though my health is great and I have never felt so clean, inside and out. We are eating more simple foods and still enjoying that. I love the fruit here. There is always fresh foods to eat, and in the jungle there is even more. Although some of the jungle foods, I am not too fussy for. Trying new foods is part of the whole experience.
I went the other day with Dane, to Puyo, the jungle town. Dane is taking an aeronautics plane building course. The teacher is originally from Poland. He also corrected me in that the planes that are made are part of a sport and are not toys!!!!! Puyo the capital city of that province, of course is developing and adding on housing for the people that is really tough on the jungle. I, however, went with the purpose to find and make pictures. We went to a plant refuge so that I could find the references that I need for my paintings. This guy has created a jungle paradise, with completely honorable intentions, saving his environement is his passion. He has saved many plants that are specific to the area, that grow no where else, including a plant that is from a family thousands of years old. A biologist gave it to him to save. I didn't even get into the park with all the information that I need to learn before going in. There are some migratory birds and some grazing mammals that come and go as they please. I even saw pictures of Tamandau, an anteater. I will try and get those photos if I am lucky. The bugs that live that are indescribable. He literally has thousands of photos, each more amazing than the last. You could spend a lifetime just getting photos from there. Sooooo I guess that I have to go next week to get more photo's. There is still another garden that has more orchids and other plants as well. The plants from the jungle are every possible design and color. I saw one plant that was green and yellow veining from the top but when you looked at it from the bottom and looked at it through light it was yellow with red veining. I know eventually, I will have to go to the jungle on a photo expedition and make more. There is really so much to see, and not enough time. There are sooooo many ecosystems and microsystems that it is heard to keep up, but you need help finding all those areas. Here it is not what you know it is who you know.
I will be buying souveniers there, as they are all made from locals and the local ecology. They had dyes there that were bright pink and greens and such that you would never beleive they were natural pigments. The materials that they make their articles from are from jungle plant fibers, amazing. I loved it. So when I come back to Canada, you can guess what I will be bringing. Place your orders now, and I will buy for you from this refuge to help raise money for this very important project. They had these wonderful purse/wallets that were made from semillas (seeds) that looked like glass beads, that took my breath way. Way cool.
Now on to something non-political sort of..... I have completed 4 new paintings, with the help of Rob, doing school with Dane. I am finding that they are not sooooo much as humorous as I did with other paintings in Canada but as with the abstract of the settings to add interest, patterns, color and excitement. I found that I am using the setting/background as a frame for emphasising the energy of the animals and the impression of the ecosystem where the animals hail from. This creates a wonderful tension that was never in my paintings before. I think that I will try to have one painting as a portrait of the animals and maybe the second as the energy and ambiente (environment), and color, who knows. The choices of art are endless. I guess that what happens over time, you continue to grow as an artist. I am really stretching with my art and it is difficult but fulfilling. So far, there are 23 new paintings that have been done and hopefully that I will be showing in Canada. I hope to have alot more ready when I come back as I am still trying to get that book created as a goal for all this work. I see this need in Ecuador to have the animals that live here recognized and protected. I know that this is a big wish, but it is mine.
I just painted these 2 ocelot whose perspective is painted from above. A friend of mine, Rob Glenesk of Vernon B.C. Canada, gave me the courage to try and accomplish this kind of painting. He inspires me not but telling me but living life as an example. (You can Google him, he has his fabulous paintings on his site, inspirational!) I painted the ground and the surrounding jungle with shadows with the 2 ocelot in a yinyang position and it turned out awesome. I was fortunate to have had Dane with me to get those amazing photos so that this painting was
possible, from the zoo here in Banos. The ocelot's cage was kind of strange in that you could only observe them from above and not from the side, therefore, the pictures that I got of them were from the top. It is a great view as the pelts of the animals are amazing. I never thought that that perspective was one that I could do and do well. I am so pleased. Thank you Rob Glenesk, for your inspiration and friendship.
Speaking of Rob Glenesk, he once bought a painting from me. Actually, he bought my original signature painting of the zebra's singing called, "Beltin Out the Blues". He said the best complement that I have ever received. He said,"Not a brush stroke was wasted". I have always found that it is such a huge completement when another artist buy's your work but also that such a rich completement to say. It is one that I will never forget.
My Rob just finished my studio (the construction artist and visionary that he is) and I have to say that it is inspirational to be in that space. This studio is spacious, has the most fabulous light and looks all over Banos. I am surrounded by green, the sky and waterfalls. I can see the purple lighted spires of the cathedral at night and of course directly above (in the not too distant background) the fire of the volcano...... at night over the baracading mountain.
I love living here in Banos and in fact Ecuador. The temperature is wonderful (always spring) and the fresh air that blows from the jungle through Banos is refreshing. I still have not worn anything other than shorts for 2 years now. (Of course shirts and sweaters) I am still counting on not having to wear shorts when I go back to Canada,......... yeah right. You can always buy fresh avaocados and mandarines, or any fresh veg or fruit you like. South America and Ecuador is bountiful. Now, I just have to find the time to paint it all and still experience everything it has to offer. What a balancing job. We still have only seen Ecuador, there is still sooooooo much more and many more countries.
Things that you can't easily get here....... hmmmm, jelly beans and red licorice, oh yeah good artist quality acrylic paint. Paint is on the top of my shopping list when I go back, I will also look at, and research some technology that I might like. The cost of Technology here is still quite high.
Talk with you all soon. Live a bountiful life and be thankful.
Robin (rawbin, haha)