Puerta la Paz

I spent one winter month in Lima, Péru, the home of my wife’s family, and came equipped to paint. What I did not know was that Lima is cloudy and damp all winter and the light is flat and lifeless. Everything appears limp and grey without sunlight to embolden the colors and call out the shadows. I had spied this home on Calle La Paz—the Street of Peace–and its cyclopean crown of bougainvilleas and wanted desperately to paint it but no light, no shape equaled no painting. Then one day, my bride called to me that the sun was out so I hurried back to this house. Now, with sunlight, the flowers erupted in cascades of crimson and the shades of green proliferated. Now, the marigold walls of the house behind came to life and the old wooden door glowed. Now, I had a painting.

Oil on linen panel     8” X 10”