El Cochinito Corredor

Just a bit of fun while I prepare some new canvases, El Cochinito Corredor (The Running Pig) measures 6 x 8 inches and is painted on linen canvas.

Asking price: Sold!

Sketch - Laundry on the Banks of Río Tomebamba

Sketch - Laundry on the Banks of Río Tomebamba is painted on coarse linen canvas, and measures only 8 x 6 inches. Clothes of an Indian family lie drying on the ground. A path divides the painting in two, just as the river divides the city of Cuenca.

When the Inca Tupac Yupanqui conquered the Cañari Indians he ordered the construction of a city, Tomebamba, that was to rival the splendor of Cuzco in Peru. No-one knows what happened to it, but by 1547 it already lay in ruins. It is now a very fine colonial city called Cuenca, which still harbours remnants of its Incan past; the Incan speciality of roasted guinea-pig is still a favourite there, and Ecuador's most important Incan ruins lie a bus ride away.

Here endeth the history lesson.

Of all the places I went to in Ecuador, Cuenca is perhaps the one I am most eager to re-visit. It is a beautiful city, full of life. It is a place where the ancient past and the modern live in close proximity to each other, and for the most part get along just fine.

An Incidental Anecdote:

During our last night in Cuenca we were awoken by the screams of a woman on the floor above, and the deep voices of men trying to placate her. The young manager of the hotel told us the next morning that she had been a prostitute, who had tried to stab her client when he had refused to pay her. He told us all this as he sat on the stairs calmly picking at his feet with the very knife she had brandished; it seemed to be a scenario he was well acquainted with. The hotel staff seemed to be more disturbed by the fact that we ordered our coffee once again "sin azúcar" (without sugar).

Asking price: SOLD!

Morbid, moi? - La Merienda en Cuenca

When I mentioned to my family and friends that I had begun painting a pork roast which had been carved down to the back-bone I was accused of being morbid. Looking at the entries that I've posted so far on this blog I have to admit that the case for the prosecution seems pretty strong; my portfolio until now has been largely made up of severed cow-heads and dead wasps (all of which are still available to buy, by the way - ahem).

I have to admit that I do have a sensibility that is drawn to macabre subject matter that others may find unpalatable, but I don't think that there is anything unhealthy in this. I lean towards the Mexican philosophy of death which takes it as an integral part of life; something which can be celebrated, even laughed at. Shying away from the subject does no good whatsoever.

There is no pessimism or horror in my paintings of Ecuador. What I have aimed to do is to simply record scenes from daily life as faithfully and as beautifully as I can. If that challenges people then so much the better. The intention is to show life as it is, not as it is presented in guidebooks.

La Merienda en Cuenca (Supper in Cuenca) shows the remains of a pork roast resting on its metal support outside a restaurant. Below it, a battered metal bowl, a salt shaker, and plate lie on a table which is otherwise covered with scraps of meat and gristle. Behind, in the darkness, a Coca-Cola sign and a woman wearing an apron can just be made out. It measures 54 x 36 inches and is painted on 120z Cotton Duck canvas.

Asking price: £1,500.