Costa Rica paintings / Poems by Gwen Bindas

While I was in Costa Rica, friend and fellow artist Gwen Bindas began to write poems in response to the paintings and narratives I posted on this blog. This was quite an honor, and her poems are beautiful. Please visit www.bradleyhankey.com and see the folder of paintings titled "Costa Rica 2007" to read Gwen's poems, which immediately follow my narratives about the painting experience. By the time the project was completed, Gwen wrote a poem in for every work I painted in Costa Rica, and her poems are works of art in their own right.

*Update* please note that the folder "Costa Rica 2007" has been moved to the "Archives" section of my website.

The Birth of a Painting

Thinking About Laos

I had the opportunity to visit Vietnam in 2005, and it was a life- changing experience that opened my eyes to other world cultures. It was during this time that I first began to be interested in Laos.

Laos has been described to me as “the sleeping beauty of Indochina, slowly emerging from the mist.” It is a small, mountainous landlocked country with many ethic minorities living in the mountains. There are beautiful cities and world heritage sites, such as Luang Prabang, and the mysterious Plain of Jars, a remnant of an ancient unknown culture. It is only recently that Laos has emerged on the international scene, which has kept her different cultures intact.

I am interested in studying art in Laos, and recently have made many contacts in Southeast Asia. All of the artists I have been in contact with in Southeast Asia have been extremely helpful and courteous, and I hope that studying there becomes a reality. Studying in Laos would increase my cultural understanding and would give me a different outlook on my own art. I would also hope to get involved with the community, and complete a project that would give back to the culture.

About the photo- graphs: These images were pulled from the internet. If you are the owner of the photograph, please contact me and I will give you the appropriate credit or remove the image.

A Daytrip to Rockport

Last weekend a friend and I decided to take a daytrip to Rockport. Rockport is a charming New England town located on Cape Ann, a peninsula about 35 miles north of Boston.

The town originally thrived as a fishing village and a quarry town, and also was known for the many artists that lived in the area. The small red fishing shack that appears in the first photograph is reported to be one of the most painted and photographed structures in the world. The colorful history of the area includes the 1856 revolt against rum, in which 200 women swept through the town and destroyed anything with alcohol in it, effectively banning alcohol in the town until 2005.

Today the town is a residential tourist town, with many specialty shops and lots of ice cream stands. The harbor is still very active and there are still a number of artists living in the area.

When my friend and I arrived in Rockport, we set off for a place to chill. It was a beautiful day and we could think of no better way to be spending our time. I was armed with my painting easel and a canvas and she with a couple of recent issues of Architectural Digest. We didn’t have to walk far, as soon we came to a rocky bluff that overlooked the harbor.

There is a long history of painters in New England, and I wanted to complete a painting in this tradition. The waters we were looking at were perhaps the same waters that Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper painted, but instead of being burdened by this history, it actually made painting that day quite light-hearted.

The first two images are of Rockport and the last image is of the completed painting, titled A Daytrip to Rockport. While this is far from my favorite painting, and may even border on kitsch, it was great fun to paint, and we had a beautiful and relaxing day in the sun.

Back in Boston

I’ll admit that the first few days back in the States weren’t easy. I exper- ienced culture shock my first few days in Costa Rica, and I also went through culture shock coming home. It’s not all bad – this country has many opportunities, and I have resettled back into my daily life, although I do miss Costa Rica already.

My experiences leaving the US and leaving Costa Rica were significantly different. While in the airport in Boston en route to Costa Rica, I was informed my luggage was “overweight” and that in addition to paying an overweight fee of $25 per piece, I would need to remove some of the contents of my luggage. Anything over fifty pounds is considered overweight, with a maximum weight of seventy pounds, and I had two pieces that were about seventy-five pounds each. While I learned a valuable lesson to pack lighter for the next residency, at the time it became an inconvenience as I was carrying some of the contents of my luggage in my arms, in addition to my travel easel and laptop bag.

On the return trip, immediately after being dropped off at the Juan Santamaría airport in Costa Rica an airport attendant helped me with my bags and assisted me with paying the exit tax, and even filled out the required forms for travel back to the US. He then led me to the line at the ticket counter where I could drop off the checked luggage and get my boarding pass.

When I was next in line at the ticket counter, the luggage attendant there smiled and greeted me with “Pura vida.”

“Pura vida,” I replied and also smiled. He eyed my two pieces of luggage to be checked, which still had the bright red “overweight” tags on them from the flight leaving the US. He lifted one of the bags and motioned that it was very heavy. “Muchas pinturas de Costa Rica,” I explained.

He then began speaking to me quietly in Spanish, words that were obviously meant to only be heard by me. While at first I didn’t understand what he was saying, his intentions soon became clear. With one swift movement he ripped the red “overweight” tags from my luggage. He began making eye contact with a friend of his behind the ticket counter, all the while speaking quietly to me in Spanish.

When it was my turn to go to the ticket counter, the luggage attendant lifted my bags directly over the scales to his waiting friend. While my boarding pass was printing, I looked back at the luggage attendant, who made a calming motion with his hands. Tranquilo, I heard in my head, the Spanish equivalent of chill.

After my boarding pass had printed and I was on the way to the gate, I realized the luggage attendant had saved me $50 by avoiding the overweight fees. As I walked by him to slip him $5, he smiled and again said “Pura vida.”

“Pura vida,” I smiled.

Después de la Tormenta

Not long ago we encountered the worst tropical storm to date, with lighting and thunder crashing seemingly directly overhead. The storm was quite frightening, and caused severe damage in parts of the country, but was also exhilarating. The Spanish word for storm is tormenta, which definitely seemed like an appropriate term that evening.

Water is extremely important to Costa Rica, from the daily tropical storms in the rainy season to the rivers that were the country’s original highways. Water brings life to this country, and can also bring destruction. But mostly life, as this is a country very much alive with innumerable plant and animal species, a vibrant culture and 4 million people.

The next morning the skies were a clear, cloudless blue and everything was once again calm. Butterflies were floating outside and birds were chirping. When stepping outside for the first time that morning, I noticed the hillside had collapsed behind my casita from the weight of the rain, and there it was: the next painting, and the last painting to be completed in Costa Rica. The title of this painting is Después de la Tormenta, Spanish for After the Storm.

Los Colores de Costa Rica II

A little over a week ago Carlos drove a few of the artists at the colony into San Jose to see an art exhibit. The show was titled Dos Trópicos, un solo Quilt, which in English means Two Tropics, One Quilt, and was a display of quilts, some made by Costa Rican artists with others by Hawaiian artists. While the two quilting styles were very different, they complimented each other and the show was surprisingly beautiful. The quilts were hung on temporary walls in the space and created a distinct colorful and delightful environment.

These images are of the quilts made by Costa Rican artists, which tend to have a narrative quality. The quilts have a distinct Costa Rican feel to them and reflect the rich colors of the animal and plant life that abounds in the country.

The exhibit took place at the Sophia Wanamaker Gallery, part of the Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano in San Jose, a cultural center. The curator of the show was Stephen Robert Johns, an American artist that has spent much time in Costa Rica. For more information about the show, visit http://www.srjart.com/Curated_Exhibitions/Dos_Tropicos.html .

Mariposas de Costa Rica

Una Aventura con Carlos

Carlos lives here at the colony with his wife Nancy, and is the brother of Francisco, the proprietor since the colony founder died a few years ago. He is one of our go-to persons – if we need a ride to the market, or need anything for our casitas, we look for Carlos. He is a great person and loved by everyone at the colony.

Trips with Carlos are never dull. Carlos took us horseback riding through the Costa Rican countryside, which was an incredible trip, riding and galloping through the jungle, the country and crossing small rivers near waterfalls. He also organized a trip to the Butterfly Farm, a lovely place that houses amazing species of butterflies native to Costa Rica.

On the way back from the Butterfly Farm, we flew down roads that would not be considered passable in the United States, but we were in a 4 wheel drive vehicle, and the countryside was very beautiful, and it was a lot of fun. He took a side road, and then this amazing tree appeared in view – very tall, rising above the rest of the forest. This image was the inspiration for this painting. The skies were pregnant with water, about to break, and clouds were swirling overhead.

He stopped by a group of plants about the heights of corn, with seeds roughly the size of peas. We picked the seeds of the plant, which are very striking and range in color from pearl to mottled black and white, with endless variances. They form a natural bead with a hole all the way though the center. The seeds are called “The Tears of Saint Peter,” which sounds very lovely in Spanish, and they are made into jewelry and sold at high prices in markets across the country. The whole experience really was an adventure.

When Carlos invited me to join him for a night on the town, how could I resist? And another adventure followed. We started at the local pool hall, which was rowdy, dirty, relaxed and fun. I soon found myself playing a very interesting game, consisting of five kernels of corn with one side painted red, which were rolled on to the surface of a pool table like dice. It was a gambling game, but the stakes were low – 50 colones to buy in, about US 10 cents. It was very fun and the locals included me with warm laughter.

After the pool hall we found ourselves in a neighboring town with several of Carlos’s friends, where an annual city celebration was taking place. The atmosphere was very festive, with live music, food booths, an outdoor bar and fireworks. At one point the amigos were chanting “Eh! Eh! Eh! Eh!” forming a circle around one of they guys who was expected to dance. The guys motioned for me to join in, even though my Gringo dancing skills are lacking, and it was great fun.

Upon arrival from the States, one finds behavior that is slightly alarming. People talk and laugh a little too loud, and drive a little too fast on roads that a little too rough, and play loud music a little too early in the morning. The fireworks at the festival were a little too close to the trees, but after awhile, one realizes that there is no reason to worry. Quite the opposite in fact, as people are simply more relaxed. The smallest daily tasks become a joyous celebration. Perhaps Ticos have a little bit more fun.

Pura Vida. You will hear these words spoken all over Costa Rica. The literal translation means pure life, which seems appropriate for this tiny county that houses an astonishing 3% of the world’s biodiversity, but it means something else to Ticos. It means something like everything is okay. A place can be pura vida, or a person, or a moment. It is an affirmation of life, happiness and tranquility.

Pura Vida.

A Poem by Bill

Bill is a man that lives on the colony grounds, and was mentioned in the post “Bill’s House.” He has written several books of poetry in his old age, and I decided to post this poem because I feel it embodies the essence of Costa Rica. Reprinted with permission.

PEACE AND TRANQUILITY

by William B. Brown

The stars now die in the morning sky / And lose their glimmer one by one / Colors spring from clouds that ring / The mountain peaks at dawn / The morning light turns back the night / And showers beauty on this tropic place

The church bells ring, their matins sing / Of tranquil peace and simple rustic grace / A rooster crows, by instinct knows / He will awaken all his brothers / A forest bird, by distance blurred / Sings in chorus with countless others / Soaring butterflies dazzle the morning skies / Above this leafy kingdom which they own / Blossoms fair and blossoms rare / Their fragrance through the forest blown / Rich in story they crown with glory / And bring a splendor to this tropic day

The village wakes, its dreams it shapes / And lives its peaceful hopes away / The sun’s rays lace, in this wooded place / The delicate beauty of the giant trees / Trees that shade with green cascade / And mix their coolness with the mid-day breeze

But this peace will soon unleash / The dreaded power of a tropic storm / The mists now rise to shroud the skies / In awesome black the towering clouds take form / The distant flash of lightning’s lash / Is followed by the muted roll of thunder / The storm now nears, our world soon hears / The dreadful drumming of this tropic wonder / The torrent blast surges past / And leaves in calm this tranquil place

The church bells ring, their vespers bring / That subtle somnolence of the dark’s embrace / From the forest wall the night birds call / And set the time for drowsy dreaming / The evening seeks the mountain peaks / And flaunts its beauty with color streaming / The sun’s last ray will close the day / In peace and tranquility

About Bill: William B. Brown was born in 1912. He attended Yale University to study Psychology. After running a successful printing business, he turned his attention to the needs of Latin America, where he fought for social justice, democracy and human rights. He became one of the founders of WOLA, the Washington Office of Latin America. His pursuits ultimately led him to a number-three place on a ten-man death list throughout the countries of Guatemala, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and San Salvador for being a nuisance to dictators. His first collection of poems was published in 1985. He currently lives in Costa Rica.

About the photograph: This photograph was taken near La Paz Waterfall.

Ciudad Colón from the Colony Grounds

The colony has a trail that circles the grounds, and this view of Ciudad Colón was taken from one of the highest points on the colony grounds. On close inspection one can see the green tower of the church steeple rising in the middle right of the photograph, the same steeple that appeared in the painting "Un Gringo en Costa Rica."

Ciudad Colón is a charming city located in the Central Valley region of Costa Rica, and is feeling like my second home. I hope to paint this view of the city in the next few days, weather and time permitting.

The View from Jackie's Casita

Jackie is a talented writer that lived in the casita next to me and was my neighbor here at the colony. She had to leave a few days ago due to some prior commitments and is already missed as we quickly became friends.

Yesterday afternoon I sat on the step of her casita and began this painting, but had to complete it this morning due to an awesome thunderstorm. The afternoon storms that roll in are amazing, and if you are caught in one it is not something you are likely to forget. While painting this image, the clouds were rolling in, and I knew it was about to downpour, so I tried to capture some of the drama of the swirling clouds overhead. The clouds really do roll in, and the weather can change from completely sunny to pouring rain and thunder in a matter of minutes. I barely had time to grab my supplies before the rains came, but luckily my casita was right next door.

This view is looking at my casita, with the green building in the background housing two painting studios on the top floor and two studios for writers on the lower level.

The Rainforest Desaturated

The rainforest is full of bright colors and endless shades of green. This small painting represents the view of one of my casita’s windows, a view I am very familiar with now, and was painted from life. The tree on the left is a type of conifer, while the tree on the right is bamboo. The green forest covered hills are in the background.

The colors are somewhat accurate, only desaturated. I enjoy this style of painting, breaking down reality into shapes and colors, and when painting in this style, the color relationships become extremely important.

Un Gringo en Costa Rica

I wasn’t planning on painting in town today. I have a few paintings here in the studio that I was planning on finishing. However, when I walked into town this morning to go to the market, I ran into a few amigos I have gotten to know. One man appears to be a city worker. He cleans the streets and the parks, and when I walked by him today he asked me in Spanish if I was going to be painting today. I said no, I was just going to the market, but that I would be painting in town tomorrow. He told me he wasn’t going to be here tomorrow, with obvious disappointment. He wanted to see a new painting come to life.

Further down the street, I ran into another friend, also a city worker, who asked me the same question: Are you going to be painting today? That settled it, and my reply from then on was “En dos horas,” or in two hours, I would be back. I am starting to feel like a local and people are recognizing me as the man who paints in town. A fellow artist and I took the thirty minute bus ride into San Jose yesterday, which is the largest city in Costa Rica and filled with people and energy, and even there we ran into a friend from Ciudad Colón, who also stopped by today to see the progress of the new painting.

I walked back to town today with my gear and set up in the park. Both of the city workers were excited to walk by and see the new painting coming along, and hung out for quite some time.

One man walked by with his three small children. They stopped to watch me paint for awhile, and asked where I was from. “Estados Unidos,” I replied, Spanish for the United States. The man spoke to his children and pointed to me and said, “Un Gringo,” and they giggled. I pointed to myself and repeated, “Gringo,” and laughed myself. Costa Ricans refer to themselves as "Ticos" and to Americans as "Gringos." I gave the children small pieces of charcoal to draw with, to the partial dismay of the father.

People are always happy to see one make an effort with Spanish, and they are also happy to practice English, and it is always charming. A police officer walked by and said, “Hello sir, have a nice day,” which he meant as a greeting, and shook my hand.

This image is of a building associated with the town church, with the church steeple rising in the background, and would be instantly recognizable to the residents of Ciudad Colón, as the church is one of the centers of life for many Costa Rican cities.

A Striking Cemetery

Toxic Beauty: Volcán Poás Revisited

Ordinarily I am not a huge fan of landscape paintings, but lately I have become more interested in this genre. Perhaps it is because I am in Costa Rica, and interesting landscapes are everywhere.

I painted this view of Volcán Poás a few days ago from a photograph I took. Painting from photographs is also something I try to avoid, but in this case it was unavoidable. Volcán Poás releases billowing sulfur clouds that are toxic, and it is not advisable to linger near the volcano crater for more than twenty minutes to avoid overexposure, so painting from life would not be possible.

This image was a lot of fun to paint. It was a change from the hard edged geometry that my paintings usually consist of, and was painted relatively quickly. The volcano was so foreign and something of a moonscape and I hope to have captured that uniqueness in this piece. I am thinking that perhaps I will paint a few more landscapes while I am in Costa Rica.

Bill's House

While at the pool a few weeks ago I met a very old man who was sitting in a chair near the pool’s edge. I introduced myself, as did he, and I found his name was Bill. He told me he had seen someone painting on the colony grounds earlier, and asked if it had been me. I replied that yes, it was me he had seen painting. “What the hell were you painting?” he asked candidly. I almost laughed out loud. The elderly are like children in the respect that you never know what they are going to say.

I told him that I had been painting a view of the colony grounds, a view that I was later to find included his house.

I asked him what brought him here to the colony. “I’m dying,” he replied, and so began an interesting exchange with this very curious old man. I spoke to him at length that day and that conversation began an unlikely friendship.

I learned that he is ninety-five years old. In his day he was a political activist and at one time wanted dead by the leaders of many Latin American nations. He has lived at the colony in Costa Rica for nine years, he has written several books of poetry in his old age, and he occasionally paints. He walks around the pool every day for exercise.

He lent me a book of poetry he wrote, and when I didn’t return it on time he became agitated, but when I finally did bring it back, he had another book ready for me.

After much thought about Bill’s sentiments, I have come to the conclusion that we are all dying. From the moment of birth we are on a journey that culminates in death. But we are not dead yet, which means we are alive -- and life is something worth celebrating.

A Very Important Tree

This tree is in the central square in Ciudad Colón. It is the town symbol and loved by the citizens. There is a totem pole-like structure supporting the tree on the left, and in life this structure depicts children and adults embracing.

By some accounts the tree is 125 years old, but when I was in town painting today, a man watching me paint told me the tree is really 400 years old. He spoke to me in Spanish but spoke slowly, and I was able to understand what he was saying. He told me the tree was there before any of the surrounding buildings. He also told me his father is ninety-six years old, and when his father was “un niño” (a boy) he would play in the tree. I asked him if the tree were much smaller then, and he said no, it was just as large, and that since then they built the totem-like structure to support it, so its major limb would not break.

It was a nice story. I tried to verify the age of the tree, as there is a placard in front of it, but it does not state the age.

I enjoyed painting in town today. Many people stopped to speak with me or to watch me paint and told me the tree was “muy importante” (very important). Children are always especially interested, and it was fun to be surrounded by people at times.

The structure in the foreground contains a number of trophies, although for what I am not sure, but I assume they are for futbol (known to Americans as soccer) which is a favorite national pastime.

Volcán Poás

Costa Rica has at least eighteen distinct eco- systems, and by some reports over fifty. While decidedly tropical, the extreme variations in altitude create unique habitats throughout the country.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit Volcán Poás, the second largest volcano crater in the world, and one of the few accessible active volcanoes. The volcano is active in 40 year cycles and currently produces sulfurous gases in thick clouds. When the clouds clear, a turquoise lake is revealed. A short hike away is Laguna Botos, another volcano crater, also containing a jewel-like lake. The craters filled with water from the rains, but due to their origins, they both contain acid and only a few types of algae and microorganisms can live in the waters.

The hike to the craters takes you through Costa Rica’s only dwarf cloud forest, an enchanting landscape. The forest is extremely dense but the trees are much shorter than other cloud forests or rainforests, creating a very unique environment.

These photographs are of the crater at Volcán Poás, the dwarf cloud forest, and Laguna Botos, respectively.

The House by the Pool #2

I began this painting a few days ago and finished it today. I had a lot of fun making this piece - lately I have been enjoying the mix of representation and abstraction. Drawing has been at the forefront of my thoughts and I spent a lot of time on the underlying drawing for this painting, which utilizes the standard convention of two point perspective.

Stunned by Her Beauty

The Gardener's Flower

There are a few gardeners that take care of the grounds here at the colony. A few days ago I saw one of these men walking with a very large beautiful flower. These flowers are abundant in Costa Rica, but I had never seen one cut before. As I walked past the man, I said “Esta flor es muy bonita,” (this flower is very beautiful) in my broken Spanish.

To my surprise, he handed the flower to me and gestured that I could have it. I smiled and thanked him, and immediately brought the flower back to my casita and put it in water. The shapes of this flower are so interesting, I had to paint it. I started this watercolor painting last night and completed it this morning.

A Quiet Moment

The flowering shrubs outside my casita attract butterflies and hummingbirds. While hummingbirds normally move extremely quickly, it was refreshing to see this hummingbird enjoying a quiet moment in the rain.

The Rainforest at Night

With this oil painting, I recorded the shapes and my initial color reactions to the subject over several nights, and then I completed the painting in the studio today. The colors and abstract shapes of the bamboo and other trees were quite striking, and I hope to have captured some of that beauty in this work.

Costa Rican Rain

I decided to paint by the pool again today. After I had completed the drawing on the new canvas, I began mixing colors in preparation to paint. In Costa Rica the weather will change from sunny to a complete downpour in a matter of a few seconds, and soon after I had begun mixing paint, it did just that. I felt a few drops, and was hoping it might be a quick passing shower, but it did indeed start to pour rain in heavy sheets within seconds.

Ordinarily I might have been disappointed, as oil paint and water do not mix, but I had to laugh as I made a mad dash to my casita with my easel, canvas and freshly mixed colors in hand. In fact, I’m still smiling.

This small watercolor painting was completed yesterday during the rains. The silvery gray skies are so beautiful again the green rainforest. The colors remind me of where I grew up in the Pacific Northwest.

The House by the Pool

I had been working on a realistic painting of a building on the colony for a few days, but became frustrated with the underlying drawing. When painting from observation it is critical that the initial drawing is accurate, or the entire piece will not read correctly. To the skilled eye the painting will seem "young" or amateur.

In response to that, I decided to do another "Six Color" painting, a series that began as assignments when working under George Nick. These paintings work under a series of constraints, using only six colors with no blending, and breaking down the subject matter into basic shapes. Also, the colors used do not have to be accurate, or pulled from life. This painting was completed in about three hours this morning, and with good timing, because as I was finishing the rains came. I spent more time than usual with the underlying drawing, and I am satisfied with the results.

As much as I want to paint, it is time to focus on drawing.

A Beautiful Dead Bird

The Bird on the Roof

Two days ago I walked into town and began this painting in
Ciudad Colón’s town square. Quite a crowd gathered around. People were very interested and friendly, and spoke to me at length in Spanish, even after they realized I knew very little Spanish. The men insisted on shaking my hand, even though my own hands were covered in paint.

One young man in particular hung around almost the entire time I painted. A white bird landed on the roof of the building I was painting, and the man pointed to the bird and said, “¡Un pájaro!” Pájaro is one of the Spanish words for bird, and the man obviously wanted me to paint the bird into the picture. I did, even though it was against my nature, thinking I might paint over it later.

Today I went back to town to finish the painting. The same man walked by, and saw the bird in the painting and again exclaimed “¡Pájaro!” He smiled, and I smiled. He was thrilled to see the bird in the painting, and I think he felt proud that he had contributed.

That is how the bird on the roof became the most important element to this work.

Los Colores de Costa Rica