Why

did we paint every day when at the beach in Mexico?

Why, when we moved from the beach to Mexico City, didn’t we paint every day?

And perhaps most importantly - How can I bring my beach rhythms back home, so that I work every day in the studio?

It helps that my partner is a painter. He wanted to paint every day too. We got in a rhythm: wake with the sun, walk down to the beach just as it was rising above the horizon. He would start a distance swim past the breakers, and I would walk the beach, keep an eye on him, and take a few dips. Then we would walk to a breakfast spot and have - finally - coffee with our meal. By the time we’d talked with a few people and walked back to our room, it was just starting to get hot.

Then began the second phase of the day: hanging out at our place. We spent the hot hours of the day in the shade, sketching and painting with watercolor. I started spending time with each of the palms, following their shapes to more and more simplistic forms and blocks of color.

Once in Mexico City,

we saw a lot of art, including Frida Kahlo’s home, Casa Azul.

Frida’s studio in her home. Captivating. I could have stayed here all day.

One memorable evening we found a local figure drawing group and attended a session. It was spooky, how similar it was to ours here at home. The main differences: we were the oldest artists in the room, and so the energy was markedly higher. The host ran around taking requests and bringing coffee, tea, beer or wine to each artist (first drink was included in the fee!). Afterward we shared mezcal with the two organizers and the model.

I continued with my minimalist mode, finding abstracted lines in the poses.

And then? We left that land of blue and green, coming back to our work and chores and rhythms of home. Energized and inspired, nonetheless we stopped sitting with our paintboxes and a pitcher of iced watermelon juice in the afternoons.

How does one keep the focus?