Kiah Kiean Chng

Kiah Kiean Chng is for his peculiar fusion between Asian and Western art, his way of drawing with Chinese ink and his sticks, and his characteristic use of watercolor, one of my most admired contemporary artists. I have been fortunate to paint with him and portray him twice.

July 2018 Porto (Portugal)  During the Urban Sketchers Symposium

July 2019 Amsterdam (Netherlands)

I recommend you visit this link to know the work of Kiah Kiean Chng

Bolivians in Valladolid

The community of Bolivia in Valladolid is quite numerous. In addition to cultural associations, football teams, a dance group, also they have their consulate. There are many Bolivians in my neighborhood and with some of them we have a great friendship. Many of them speak in Quechua among them, In their  meetings they love having beers, playing "rayuela" ... On designated days whole community meets and prepare their popular dishes, bolivian music and dance, ...

With the recent coup d'etat, the Bolivian community is worried about their friends and family after the latest violence and insecurity events in Bolivia.

Opinions are divided on the reelection of Evo president, but no one doubts Morales's achievements during the 14 years of his presidency. President Evo Morales  turned one of the poorest South American countries into the one with the highest growth rate in the region, for the benefit of the people and with the consequent reduction of poverty.

I wanted in this post to upload some of the many portraits and sketches that I made to this community.

Painting with Ángel

At his 4 years old, my son Ángel loves going to the "Guardar Como"  portrait sessions every Wednesday. These are some of the works in which we have both collaborated.

Adela Valentín Rodríguez Actress

El Duende Eléctrico. Musician

Alba García González. Singer- Songwriter

Freddy Varó. Magician

Elena M.Ramiro. Dancer

Carlos Guzmán.Cellist. 

Thanks to Juan Carlos González for the Photos

More on some of these "Guardar Como" sessions in this Blog.

Matt Woods and the Natural Disasters

A great country and American rock concert in  Porta Caeli hall. Matt Woods, composer from Knoxville, Tennessee presents his album and band "Natural Disasters." Guitarist Weston Harris Hill, bass Jeremy 'JD' Mackinder and PJ Schreiner are the components of the band .

More about Matt Woods
More Rithm & Blues and Soul

A day in Kraków

I took a stopover in Poland on my flight back to Spain from Berlin to visit the beautiful city of Krakow.

These are the sketches and watercolors that I painted there that day on my Moleskine watercolor notebook.

11.30 h.  Rynek Glówny.  Main Square

 14 h.Wszystkich Świętych Place.

 16h.

 17.30 h. Main Square

My sketches:

Gypsy Sketches

Last Sunday was a very hot day. After arriving at Tordesillas, I decided to stay on the beach and from the shelter of the shade I painted a watercolor of the stunning views of the town.

As luck would have it, this precious stage would have been the one chosen that day to celebrate the peculiar ceremony of evangelical baptism. A large congregation of gypsies arrived to the beach.

Beautiful and inspiring themes to collect in my notebook; I started taking some sketches of the ceremony with the gypsies immersioning in the river dressed in white, the children playing in the water, .... I finished the day portraying a beautiful gypsy girl with her baby. My thanks to her and her family for their recognition and hospitality.

El pasado domingo fue un día de muchísimo calor. Tras llegar a Tordesillas decidí quedarme en la playa y desde el cobijo de la sombra pintar una acuarela de las impresionantes vistas del pueblo.

Quiso la fortuna que este precioso escenario hubiera sido el escogido ese día para celebrar la peculiar ceremonia del bautismo evangelista. Hasta la playa llegó una numerosa congregación de gitanos. 

Preciosos e inspiradores temas para recoger en mi cuaderno; comencé tomando unos apuntes de la ceremonia con las inmersiones de los gitanos en el rio vestidos de blanco, los niños jugando en el agua,.... Terminé la jornada retratando a una preciosa gitana con su bebé. Mi agradecimiento a su familia por su reconocimiento y  hospitalidad.

Gorilla Riot

Gorilla Riot the  dirty rock n’ roll blues band from Manchester, England in Kafka, Valladolid. Vermuts Salvajes.

Using a 3-prong guitar attack with multi-part vocal harmonies; they play raucous blues-based rock, combining elements of grunge, stoner and country to create a full-on high energy show.
Created by mainman, Arjun Bhishma, he surrounded himself with the best talent in Manchester to form Gorilla Riot.
Arjun, Liam Henry (guitars & vocals), Charly T. (guitars & vocals), James Degnen (bass), began songwriting and soon entered the studio to record

Mustapha Ben Lahmar

 Sketcing Mustapha Ben Lahmar at the Watercolor meet up in Arroyo de la Encomienda Valladolid last 23th Feb.

Mustapha Ben Lahmar born in Tetouan in 1961, watercolorist coordinator of the fine arts workshops of the Mohamed 6 Foundation. Former professor at the National Institute of Fine Arts of Tetouan

The watercolor meeting was a success and almost 200 watercolors from all over Spain came to the event.