View from Hotel Isabel

Hola! From Mexico City in the Off Season. Mid-June is their rainy season, and it is mild weather (mostly cloudy and some rain, not cold) and fantastic in terms of a paucity of tourists. Despite the city itself having 10 million people and the outer areas another 10 million, i find it be to fairly mellow. A lot is going on, but no one seems in too much of a rush. People seem present as a matter of course. There is a flow. I find the culture to be very different from the U.S. That’s why I travel; to feel another way of living.

The above watercolor was done in two sittings from the door of my roof top room at Hotel Isabel in Centro Historico. My room is a convenient location and I like the view because of the two contrasting towers: In the foreground is the tower of the Museo de Cancilleria (a repurposed monastery, now a museum of contemporary art) , and in the background is a ginormous cell tower that looks like a soviet era wet dream in terms of it’s brutalist design.

In the distance are mountains hung wtih clouds, and the geometry of the angled horizontal building shapes contrasts the vertical forms of the towers and the foreground wall on the left. City scenes are often but a puzzle of geometric shapes that you light and give atmosphere to.

But there is aslo a sound to this painting; the view is but rooftops, but from the streets below the eternal hum of city life seeps upward: Traffic, horns, vendors barking their wares on loudspeakers, a siren.

There is so much to see in this city peppered with museums and historical building and markets and shopping zones and parks. It is a bit overwhelming and sometimes difficult to just sit in one spot and work on one image, when you daily walk through a sea of evocative images everywhere you go.

This is a dilemma I often face at the beginning of my travels. It takes awhile to settle in and get beyond the overwhelm. To get into the ritual of a daily art practice; a meditation. I have but a week here and tomorrow is my last day. Short, but always worth it.

Whelp!…..I could have sworn that I booked the flight for 9:45AM,… but arrival at the Airport at 7:45 am with no sign of my flight on the readerboard quickly turned that AM into PM, which left me with lots of time for Drawing in the SeaTac Airport!

Cell phones are excellent Human Immobilizers. Perfect for drawing.

I love the positive and negative shapes that the planes make when closely cropped in composition.

And I love the positive and negative shapes that people make.

Only another 90 minutes and I will be boarding a plane to Oakland for laughter and philosophical musing with my friend Jeff Zittrain!

This was fun!

IN preperation for the up coming watercolor workshop in Baja, I did these 8 studies. I just ran around the property here at GreenGate Farm and took photos of interesting high-contrast shots, chose my faves and then did quick pencil sketches, about 5 minutes apiece, then the water color in two phases. Total time per study is about 20 minutes.

It’s all about light and dark shapes in composition. The detail is not really that important.

Dear Blog Readers-

You know, better than most, that I love to do art while traveling; and a big part of the Joy derived from doing that is sharing those experiences with you in this blog. And now I would like to share that experience with you in person.

You have been my closest confidants as I live my most inspired dream: To do art and travel, and travel while doing art. You who are familiar with these postings are the closest to knowing my inner world as I experience the outer, and I consider that a special relationship.

It’s literally difficult to contain my excitement sometimes, and that is how I feel right now as I plan this week-long Watercolor Retreat in Baja, Mexico at the end of….this March. March 16-March 22 , to be exact.

It’s an incredibly beautiful location called Playa El Coyote, right next to the Sea of Cortez, about 90 minutes North of Loreto, at my friend Reed Nichelson’s retreat center, Luna Nueva. This has been his dream for years.

And now….our dreams come together, for the 1st full retreat at his center. An auspicious moment For beginnings are often oddly potent: Like the opening night of a long rehearsed play, or the origin story of a hero, or Love’s first blush.

What I am saying is that there will be magic and serendipity, and bonding amidst a Carlos Castaneda-like natural setting mixed with nightly excursions to campfires and local barras y restaurantes con musica and dancing under more stars than you will ever see.

Oh, and the Sea…. and the seeing, every morning, with brush in hand, absorbing and rearranging the world’s design in still life and landscape. Light, composition, shape, color, value. It will be difficult to not surprise yourself in such a setting, with such a guide as I….who has taught students at every level for the past….15 years.

Anyway, there is so much more to say, and it would thrill me to do so if you but ask for more details. You can call or ping me.. 206-856-5363 moodysteffon@gmail.com

And check out this Video! Best, Steffon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8RKknXjrJE

Hello Dear Blog Readers! This is a post i sent about a month ago, which didn't send, so I am trying again. The show is now over and was an incredible success! I sold 19 oil paintings and the large mural as well, and will be publishing an art book based on the show that should be available by Sept. of 2025.

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I have been remiss in posting this summer as I’ve been wrapped up with creating 31 plein air oil paintings, which are currently being hung at the Vashon Center for the Arts for a solo gallery show called ICONIC VASHON. It opens this Friday, October 4th at 5pm. It will also include an 8’x28’ painting, which will be a reinterpretation of a mural I did 10 years ago on Vashon called “The Cravens”. I hope you get a chance to see the show!!!

Here’s a great video created by my amazingly talented daughter Louisa.

Also, I will be doing a talk on Oct. 19th at 4pm at the VCA gallery called “Learning to Paint Under Pressure”… about growing up backstage at the Muny Opera in St. Louis and learning the craft of set painting from a wild crew of 14 painters. It’s taken me a lifetime…but I think I’m finally ready to make sense of it.

At the St. Louis Airport

The great thng about cellphones is that they immobilize humans so that you can more easily draw them. I think I have hundreds of drawings of people staring at cell phones. Ironically, I often draw to avoid looking at a cell phone myself when in a public space. Something that I don’t do often enough.

“More Drawing, less Scrolling”.

There’s a bumper sticker.

At the Atlanta Airport.

I flew out of St. Louis after a two week stay with my Mother.

I arrived in Balitmore yesterday, and have arisen this morning in lush farmland north of the city at my friend Steve Leventhal’s place. Birds chirp, sheep bleet and two bunnies play on the driveway. Pretty idyllic.

Here are some portraits I did of my brother Jason’s family. They were kind enough to pose for me. Portraits are tricky, for both the artist and the model. The model has to pose for awhile {I said it would be an hour, but it took two). And it’s a crap shoot whether the artist’s interpretation will flatter the model’s idea of themselves or not. And for the artist….capturing likenesses can be tricky. Even if you do get the likeness, is the painting any good? Does it have spirit and panache?

Panache is important to me. In fact, a portrait with panache is really what I am looking for over likeness. Most people judge portraits by likeness, but we have cameras for that. We have artists for panache.

Avery - The Ruler of Elves

The great thing about doing a portrait of someone is that you get one on one time with them. It was a delight to hang with my niece Avery and talk about world politics, and generational issues and writing, and her name, which translates: Ruler of Elves. After I finished the portrait I mentioned that I thought it looked like Joan of Arc, and she said that Joan of Arc was one of her heros. Success!

Tricky Nici

This was my second attempt painting my sister in law Nici, and I did it from a photo (surrender). Still, it has a nice warm feeling. I liked the first one that I did at our live sitting (below) but it was all panache and not much likeness.

Caleb the Stoic

My nephew Caleb was the first to volunteer, and was quite a trooper, because he was feeling under the weather (we later found out he had strep throat!). But this captures him. I like the quasi-anime feel, the mood, the sharpness of shape and stroke, while at the same time communicating a softness. He’s thinking of starting to model (fashion, etc). He’s got the look, and fantastic hair!

It was so great being able to hang with my brother’s family. I was hoping to get to portraits of brother Jason and Franky (niece) and Parker (nephew) but beyond scheduling logistics there are lots of other reasons to not to want to have your portrait done.

It’s like getting a haircut that will never grow out, you gotta really trust the stylist.

Quick sketches enroute at the SeaTac AirPort

From imagination landscape done while looking at the back of a seat on the airplane.

With Mom and Catalpa tree in backyard (i watched the tree being planted when I was a young’un).

St. Louis is my hometown. More accurately, Kirkwood, a suburb in West County. I come to visit my Mom and sister Nicole and brother Jason and his family. The trees and clouds are softer here. And the cicadas are like little winged red-eyed zombies, wandering about confused after being in the ground for a decade.

Drawing mom as she watches TV

No long verbal diatribe will accompany this post, as we have to go to my sister Nicole’s housewarming. But….more to come, I’m sure!

Hello dear blog reader! I am starting another month-long trip; this time in the U.S., going to St. Louis, Baltimore, NYC and Maine to visit famiy and friends. I hope you can join me! My first post of this journey will be the completion of this mural that I started last Fall.

Over the winter I completed a mural called “DogFish Bay” in Bill Austin’s garage. Bill is a near 90 year old mover and shaker in Poulsbo, who likes to see creative projects getting done. This was done on 4’x8’ plywood panels and reassembled/installed on the Longship Marine Building. It measures 14’x 24’ total.

It’s a historically ambiguous scene, spanning a range from the 1890s to 1950s, including a Mosquito Fleet ferry on the right, Evening Star Purse Seiner center (still in service) and the small, yet elegantly crafted Poulsbo boats (lower left).

Below is a video that tells and shows more. If reading from email. you probably have to go to the blog to see the video.

More murals loom in the future! One on Bainbridge Island and possibly another 2 in Poulsbo! Zoiks! I better make hay this summer. Best! Steffon

With very litle lead time I was asked if I wanted to do a show at the Vashon Hardware Store Gallery, a wondeful space that I have already had 3 shows at.

Luckily, I have piled up enough watercolors from my trips to Mexico and Colombia over the past few years to amount to about 15 paintings.

Please join me at this First Friday’s Gallery Walk on Vashon Island for a show that celebrates the beauty of the land, people and cultures South of the Border. I’ll be there by 5:30pm!