It’s barely six in the morning and Saint Didier is just awakening. Since this will be a long day, I invite you to sit in the terrace of Madame Watier – and dunk along with me, without reservations of etiquette – a few slices of baguette in an authentic café au lait. Almost instinctively we perceive the sweet scent of lavender and upon gazing upwards we are captivated by the morning energy and intense cobalt-blue of the immaculate skies of Provence.
A short while ago a few cherry trees tinged the landscape with their pale red color. But, for the moment, the Mediterranean summer regales us with the wheat fields of Mournier stained with the provocative color of scarlet coquelicots (red poppy flowers); the rolling vineyards of Zanela and the fields of sunflowers, direct descendants of those of that enticed Vincent Van Gogh. Its time to take a brief walk through the countryside of Provence, amid the twisted pine trees of Derain and Soutine given that with a little luck, we might for an instant sit in the company of Cézanne and contemplate in the distance the Chateau Noire du Monte Stainte-Victoire .
The journey is just beginning. Stay with me a little longer. Don’t move, and in the blink of an eye, we will cross the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea.
We are back in our homeland and I have decided that before lunch, we stop at the crossing of Zurquí. From here we can contemplate the savannahs of Sarapiquí and Tortuguero and on the horizon, the magical lines of the powerful Irazú and Turrialba volcanoes, painted in a bluish-gray that competes for supremacy over a landscape of shades of green. If we slowly fix our gaze lower, other lines of mountains appear and become even more distinct as they near the first plane. And in but a glimpse we’ve traveled along with an infinite variety of greens discretely tinged in the first place by the red and brilliant yellow of my esteemed bromeliads and heliconia, hidden among the amazing disorder of the tropics.
Let’s move quickly now, we don’t want to get caught in the rains of the Braulio Carrillo, since we have yet to traverse the sun-drenched Central Valley. While we observe the bluish mountains of Escazú to the south, today we are heading northwards: through the narrow roads of Heredia amid coffee farms and sugar cane plantations until we reach my friend Rafael’s restaurant, near Poás. I will take advantage of the volcano, its crater and lagoon; to refill my tubes of blue and turquoise green. Then, we’ll ‘fly’ towards the Arenal where I can harvest the colors of fiery cadmium that descend as serpents of fire from the highest altitudes of the volcano. I will soon need these colors as the journey is yet to finish… get ready!
There is something sublime yet ahead. Now heading west, the landscape dramatically changes: it is time to discover straight, horizontal and warm lines… Suddenly we are traveling through the hills adorned in tonalities of ocher amid the dusty Guanacaste afternoon. What a shame, I forgot my spatula! I could crystallize on my canvas the almost deserted landscapes of metallic colors. But we can’t stop here! It is getting late and we can’t miss the greatest gift of our Pacific coast, as the locals say: “its real close, just around the mountain”.
Finally, the perfect horizon: warm sands, almond trees, the ocean and this unequaled sunset, force me to instinctively mix on my pallet the colors of sweet magenta and violent orange hued yellows.
We can now admire in silence this wonderful gift. What a sublime moment to light up the most delectable cigarette of the day, sitting on a humid tree trunk with our feet caressed by this millenarian carpet of sand. Let me add to this spectacular ocean landscape, a few solitary sailboats, lost in the infinite rhythm of the cresting ocean and a few pelicans that compete for the best wave with a few surfers tied to their boards.
What a day! The sky still holds traces of fire as is extinguishes in the ocean…
Let’s take advantage of the last minutes of light. Its time to rest. I never could paint by night anyway.
I give my warm embrace to all of those who accompanied me on this journey and took the time to navigate this page, visit my Gallery and explore my world. Tell me: how could I remain calm before such temptation and deny myself the pleasure of coloring on the immaculate white of my canvas?
