Let's Go2Vallarta - Articles

Nature and Artists
By Federico Leon de la Vega - February 2007

It is interesting to see how artists flock around the worlds’ beautiful places. Everywhere you go, where there is natural beauty, an artist community will sprout. Nuevo Vallarta was no exception. Soon after my arrival, I would hang around the beautiful lot I had acquired facing the south shore of El Chino Channel (across the side of Paradise Village), doing sketches and small paintings. Other than the mangroves, birds, fish and bugs, there wasn’t much there when However, there were some boats in the decrepit Nuevo Vallarta marina, and from those boats they emerged: Artists!

Boaters are wonderful well organized and communicated people. Beverly saw me sketching, so she approached, inspected and then spread the word: a painter had arrived.  So soon Susy Grover, Anne Timmins and others joined me in our first workshops. We invaded an abandoned building, we set shop anywhere we could, we hired tourists or anyone for models, we made field trips and shared critique. This was the year 2001 and it all happened while my family and I started the construction of the Estudio-Café. From the beginning the place had a vocation to gather artists and thinkers, and lovers of nature.  People would come to watch us paint, or to read and enjoy peace.

Now in 2007, as we are organizing our second annual art show in defense of nature “Natura Nayarit” we look back to  memories, but face forward to formidable challenges. All around El Chino channel, and all around Vallarta construction is happening at an extremely fast pace. So we are doing what we can to defend our source of inspiration: we are calling on other artists to join in an annual show with the purpose of making people aware of the remarkable beauty and diversity of nature in Banderas Bay. Now, it isn’t only flora and fauna nature we are appreciative of, but also the quality of life that has made Vallarta and all the settlements around the bay desirable to live in. Our hope is that, as it happened in Oaxaca, both nature and  culture  will be brought to the attention of people, so that politicians and developers bring them into their designs.

Even from the days of the Altamira murals, painting has been depicting nature and social ways. I sincerely hope that our paintings will not become a memory of  beauty that was, but proud emblems of  our  still present surroundings. We wish that people would hand our paintings the way a lover holds a picture of  the loved one: to better know, remember, behold and care for her. Please join us from February 15th to 25th during the many events we will hold while we show our paintings at the Estudio-Café and the nearby park of Villa 5 in Nuevo Vallarta. The program and instructions on how to get there are offered in this publication, please click here.

Federico León de la Vega
E-mail: fleondelavega@prodigy.net.mx

Author Note: This is a chapter of a book I am writing about my adventures as a painter artist.

The Federico León de la Vega Estudo – Café is open to the public and is located in Paseo de la Marina 31, Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit. Opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Sundays from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m.