Buenos Aires -Brightly painted houses, artists and tango..

We spent the last four days of our South American trip in Buenos
Aires -a bustling beautiful, complex and culture filled city with
contrasting neighborhoods,artisans selling everywhere and
amazing public sculptures including the iconic 23 meter high Steel
and aluminum flower designed by the Argentinian architect,
Eduardo Catalano. It opens at sunrise and closes at sunset in the
middle of a 40 meter reflecting pool in the UnitedNations plaza.
Check the web under Floralis Generica to see lots of images.
The internet is filled with images of Buenos Aires, but I'd like to
share just a few from our wanderings. First - if any of you are
thinking about a new paint job on your house, check out these
two houses from the Boca neighborhood:



Apparently the tradition here was to use left over paint from
ship building...Then the idea caught on and stayed to flavor
this district..definitely a contract from other neighborhoods!
Our house does need some paint...hmmm

Artisan fairs were abundant the weekend we were there.
The one we spent the most time wandering was in the San
Telmo district. We walked blocks and blocks up Calle Defensa
on our way to the Plaza Dorrego where each Sunday (yes -
every Sunday!...at least in decent weather) there is an antique
market, artist fair, and plenty of Tango demonstrated.
The street was filled with street performers,


puppeteers, musicians, singers, an invisible man.





and artisan booths on the street and on side paths. I loved
Lucas Per's artist books incorporating metal, leather and
stones.(His card reads: www.artelegendario.com but I
had a hard time accessing it.) I also talked to Mercedes
Bascary for a long time. Mercedes makes primarily small
figurative sculpture with a great sense of movement and
gesture.For images of her work, check out her blog: www.mbascary.blogspot.com
Here I am at another favorite artist's booth - Victor Pacini:



Victor uses exclusively recycled materials and does wild fun
pieces. His website is: www.victorpacini.com.ar
To see lots of images check out his blog: www.titiri-mundi.blogspot.com
I'm going to have fun following his work!

Back to leather work - With the motto "Contemporary design
inspired by antique techniques" I saw beautifully crafted
and designed leather bags in one booth. Their principal display
is at the Dos Semillas shop at Carlos Calvo 421. To
see images of that work check them out on flickr: flickr.com/people/dos-semillas/

And speaking of antique techniques - Here is a sample of the
leather displayed at the Plaza Dorrego antique market:


Tango music drifted around the plaza as we watched couples,
old and young perform and learned to appreciate the passion
and amazing variety of styles of Tango.


And so our trip ended...images, memories and inspiration to
be integrated into our life and my work. I can never
predict what will show up soon or down the road after such
a trip, but look forward to being surprised when it does.

Now back to home studio life and to making work for a July 10
summer Festival the ArtRox collective I'm part of is holding
nearby. I'm experimenting with small items for that...will
share images next week of what I'm working on.

Until then, journey on! Wendy