Artwork

We’ve been looking at artwork every chance we get. We attend all the art festivals, visit galleries, shops, the like. Our Jack Baron’s cats, Judi Pingston’s Island Girl, my Elvis, Hal’s Haitian marble players are in storage along with all the photos. High and dry, thank you very much. We finally have a piano in our Costa Rica bungalow – now we need some artwork!!!!

Sadly, Key West has ruined us. We’ve been surrounded by such artistic enthusiasm for so many years, artwork of every style and genre, it takes Something to get our juices flowing. Even my CAR was a Rick Worth masterpiece!

I’d seen an artist’s work when I first got here, in a gallery somewhere in San Jose. Good luck finding that place again! I didn’t know enough Spanish to figure out the artist’s name, and couldn’t understand what the clerk was telling me, so I burned the image into the one spare chamber in my brain and went about my way.

Lo and behold, at the last festival – which was mostly crafts and paint-flung-on-canvas-abstracts (not that there’s anything wrong with that) – I found him. The artist who stole my heart.

His name is Carlos Barberena and I need one of his paintings. The dark stuff (I believe that is the technical term) is VERY very dark, particularly the Septiembre 11 works, but exquisite. I couldn’t have it hanging on my wall, but I am drawn to it. Can hardly look away.

His earlier work and the nudes are absolutely yummy. Color, form, comedy – I don’t want to look away at all. Yes, I must have one of these. Hope I don’t have to get a job first…