Been in Trinidad this past week. Port of Spain to be exact. It's the NYC of the Caribbean. Hustling and bustling. Busier than St. Lucia, to be sure. I'm still painting, still studying Derek Walcott.
Seeing things every day that change my life-- scarlet ibises flying into trees at dusk and abandoned beaches. I want to paint them all.
But, seeing beautiful things far away makes me keenly aware of the beautiful things close to home. Can't wait to paint them as well.
On to Tobago on Tuesday.
24 July 2009
11 July 2009
St. Lucia
I've put on sunscreen every day-- SPF 70 even-- and yet my skin is burnt. Red. Lobster red. I've been damp since the moment I stepped off the plane in St. Lucia. Perpetual wetness. It makes for interesting bus rides across the island. With twenty or so people in a twelve-seater van, our arms stick together and our legs to the seats. My feet are swollen and hot and the sand gets between the sandal straps; it's the recipe for blisters.
And I couldn't be happier. I'm staying a five minute walk from the beach. I paint every day with bright blues. One of my paint pigments is called Caribbean Blue. I hate to tell you, but the ocean is never that color blue. It's bluer. I wear a linen skirt and sit outside listening to the neighborhood calypso band practice for a festival that takes place on the 17th. They get better with every rehearsal. I eat fresh mangoes. Fresh guava. Fresh coconut. I eat fresh fish; dolphin fish is my favorite. I watch people come home from work and school and I wonder what they think of the girl painting on their local street and beach every day. I want them to like me.
And I couldn't be happier. I'm staying a five minute walk from the beach. I paint every day with bright blues. One of my paint pigments is called Caribbean Blue. I hate to tell you, but the ocean is never that color blue. It's bluer. I wear a linen skirt and sit outside listening to the neighborhood calypso band practice for a festival that takes place on the 17th. They get better with every rehearsal. I eat fresh mangoes. Fresh guava. Fresh coconut. I eat fresh fish; dolphin fish is my favorite. I watch people come home from work and school and I wonder what they think of the girl painting on their local street and beach every day. I want them to like me.
03 July 2009
Today
There are days for spending hours sitting around a kitchen table with pancakes. And there are days for watching hot air balloons. There are days for blueberries. And for striped sweaters.
There are days when you somehow end up in the Caribbean without fully understanding how you got there.
Today will be all of the above.
*Painting of the Caribbean by Derek Walcott-- the poet/painter I'll be studying on the beach.
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