Winter Solstice

Carla, Mark & Susan


Resident of Bonanza Restaurante, Charlotte the Spider
I hear fireworks. What better way to celebrate than with focaccia and pasta...lol. Yes I made focaccia, I even brought my garlic press, I know I am crazy. Hey I am here for 2 months. I did not get anything done today other than getting my blog up to date. I am still working on that. Did some cleaning and went to MultiPlaza to window shop, it was crazy with last minute shoppers, went to the bank ATM to get some cash for the weekend trip and the machine gave me 200 colones, ($100.00) so I have this 2" thick stash of bills now, geesh. It just fits in my purse and I also made a copy of my passport to travel with at Office Depot, leaving passport here locked in room along with computer. Got to pack and review what I have done here, be back on Sunday and I will catch up on blog with a full report. It is raining now, it is a relief, it was very hot today. Hot flashes are back! Met a nice couple from Canada, they are traveling all around Central America, staying in hostels. They are co-workers of Susan's from Canada, they are brave and on their way to Nicaragua for the holiday. I had a snack with them at Bonanza and also met the new baby, Nina....Whim & Luz's grand-daughter.

Amber & Nina, (born December 4th, 2007)

Feliz Navidad

Yoga today was about breathing within a breathe, and I am all stretched out too. Learning some of the yoga positions now and is very difficult. Whim & Luz had plans after yoga so we got a ride from Martina. We dropped off Soizic. Susan & I walked to the colony from there. Soizic showed us around her casita, it is so cozy & muy bonita! WOW I even took pictures. Would love to rent it sometime. She invited us for tea next week. Soizic is giving some kind of a solstice meditation friday night and I will go if someone else goes from the colony, just curious at what she does to celebrate this day, it is very amusing.

I had a lovely dinner at Essentia again with Patricia (Washington, DC) this time, she is also a watercolorist and wished to see the hotel & grounds for a subject to paint, of course now I have an in there..hee hee. Anyway she found some orchids she wants to paint and she is going on Saturday to paint them, they are very unusual white orchids, that I even made my christmas card with. I am going to paint with her there maybe on Monday when I come back from my little trip with the girls to the Maluke reservation. Will have some great pictures from that adventure. It is PURA VIDA here!

Natures Maze

A lazy day in the colony, took a walk and took pictures, started another painting. Doing a couple projects on the computer that I didn't have time to finish when I was home. Michael & I had spanish class today. We described our E.T. in spanish, we did very well, it was very funny. Bernarda is a really great teacher and I am looking forward to the trip she has planned for us on Saturday to the Miluka tribe in the north. There are eight women going, oh boy! Susan is glad she is not going on this trip. She has to work at Bonanza Saturday & Sunday. We had our Wednesday night dinner at Fransisco's with some new artists and the typical Tico food for dinner. He apologized for all the noise of the construction and told us some plans for the future since Royce is no longer here anymore, a garden where the tennis courts are, which no one uses and new common area in between the writers studios. Cool nights make dinner and sleeping so comfortable!

Create Chaos, Find Order

The last day of construction today, another studio created from the "Nine Muses", the community/library/computer room. So it will be a bit more quiet today. There was no internet for most of the day. Just the birds and an occasional truck that needs a muffler goes by in Colon valley. I worked all day on my four large paintings, turning them upside down and sideways, studying there compositions. Reminding myself to take my time and enjoy the process.


Susan adopted a playground up the street. She spent the morning picking up garbage and filling large bags for pick-up. The best thing she said while doing it, was a costa rican boy started to help her. She found a necklace with a heart on it in the playground and gave it to the little boy and he gave it to his little sister. It had a heart on it.

Found some beautiful orchids on the colony property today too. Discovering something new everyday.

Alice came in from NY, she was with us last year also, so Carlos, Susan , Alice & I made plans to have dinner together someplace. Carlos took us on a mystery ride to the most beautiful spot in the Central Valley. We went up a really steep mountain and it was the most breathtaking view of all of San Jose. Great meal too with Tres Leche for dessert we all split. I am definetly making this when I get home.

Mandala Journey @ Essentia

La Mandala
I started the "mandala " at the Essentia Restaurant down the street from here, this morning. It is coming out very nice if I say so myself. It still is not finished, I'll finish tomorrow. Needed a few more colors in it that I didn' t have today. So I am showing the progression of it. These are two pictures #1 taken after finishing all of the drawing, 39" circumference. #2 taken after finishing just the center 3 hours in a very different light that will make it even more dramatic looking. It will look different in each time of the day, it has a chandelier next to it, so at night it will glow. The center depicts a dried flower found on a path, lavender flowers that grow in bunches and fall like wisteria, bamboo leaves, dragon flys and a border of waves. Colors TBD.

Definition: A mandala is usually a circle format illustrating a "personal world" in which one lives, the various elements of the mandala or the activities and interests in which one engages, the most important being at the centre of the mandala and the least important at the periphery. Depicting a personal mandala in pictorial form can give a good indication of the state of one's spiritual life.

I love painting mandalas and giving the assignment to students. I am working on a smaller one as well which was the plan for the big one.

Michael, another writer in colony came down to keep me company for a little while, he went in the jacuzzi and we also had a wonderful lunch "on the house" while I was painting the mandala. We got back to the colony and I sat outside at Susan's casita and painted the smaller one. Juan Camillo, 11 and his friend Estephano, 11 came by to say hola and we had a lesson in spanish and they had a lesson in english, really nice boys. They picked us some tangerines with a special fruit picker pole, I forgot the name of it, but it gets the ripe ones from the top of the trees. I went to Susan's because the grounds man are doing construction and making lots of noise around the studios getting another casita ready for occupancy and a community room. Some of the artists are very unhappy about the noise.

I am a bit dissapointed today too, I thought I was going to able to paint with Patricia Forrester, a watercolor artist who has comes every year since the colony opened. She has been painting a really, really large painting on a farm, a vinca. The owner has asked she not take anyone else on the property. Ticos are very protective of their land and he didn't want the colony to have thoughts of anyone else coming onto it for subject. So, hopefully before she leaves in a couple weeks we can go somewhere else to paint together.

Full moon tonight

Alice & Susan came over for potluck tonight and we are still reminiscing, catching up from a year of travels and tribulations. Because we three were here last year together at this time.

The Colony

Carlos & Josh












Michael












Josh, Isha, Nancy & Patricia