Inside of the capilla L. Topinka
Well, modest artist that I am, I could list several things; but, the answer is basically, no. The painting was done from inside a beautiful old capilla that no longer has a roof thus the odd perspective with the sky overhead and colors faded from long exposure to rain and sun.
This week we were fortunate to visit the particularly lovely ex-hacienda Puerto de Sosa in the small community of Puerto de Sosa (1563). It is a beautifully restored and maintained ex-hacienda from the 17th century with sweeping and dramatic gardens inside the hacienda walls and perfectly tended rows of broccoli and lettuce stretching beyond the walls to the distant mountains. So many choices for painting….the main buildings, the gardens and lake, two trojes (grain storage buildings) in good condition, but the “capilla without a roof” attracted both of us with Linda choosing to paint the outside and me the inside.
Capilla Puerto de Sosa L. Whynman
While Linda’s painting captures the detail and setting well, the subtly of the interior walls was more difficult to capture in a painting. Since this capilla has been open to the elements for many years, the interior paintings and embellishments have faded and mold is starting to take hold in the corners; however, there are remnants of the colorful stencil patterns and hand painting that once decorated this almost 400-year-old capilla.
A word about the charming façade…some capillas have a bell gable or españada instead of a bell tower. Characteristically, this façade rises above the rest of the capilla usually ending in a pinnacle of sorts. It can have one or more openings for bells but no interior access to the bells such as bell towers usually have. Quite commonly seen in rural Spain in smaller communities and thus a type of architecture familiar to Spaniards who settled in Mexico.
Wildflowers in Jalpa L. Whynman
Here in San Miguel de Allende, the rainy season is just ending which means wildflowers. Most of the annual 22+ inches (a fifty-year average) falls from June through September so the wildflowers wait until after the rains to bloom. On the drive out to Puerto de Sosa, the landscape was literally yellow with varieties of sunflowers blooming their hearts out. While we didn´t stop to paint them this week, here is Linda´s painting from last week of similar fields on the road to Jalpa with cosmos as well as sunflowers in full bloom.
Ex-hacienda Puerto de Sosa can be rented for weddings and other celebrations by contacting the owners through their website: http://haciendapuertodesosa.com/
Puerto de Sosa: elevation, 2024 meters; inhabitants, 556; dwellings, 168. Longitude: 100.651111 Latitude: 21.006667
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