Monday. Ryan and Therese were still in town, so we met up quickly before catching a taxi over to Richard Trumbull's house near the botanical garden. He is a friend of Candice's who became a painter after retiring to San Miguel. It is a difficult house to find, but we made it up there right on time. Once inside, we were treated to one of the most lovely designed homes i have had the honor to see. It was designed by a famous architect (whose name escapes me at the moment); a prodigy of Barragan. It's a little quirky, but quiet, monastic, and airy. I loved how the floors were the same on inside and outside. More impressive than the home, though, were Richard and his partner, Sylvia, themselves. A quiet, thoughtful artist who came to painting late in his life, Richard was unpretentious and profound...somebody asked him how he was able to push himself to be more abstract, and he responded that you have to take risks and not be afraid to make a fool of yourself. It really struck a chord with me considering what i've been working on this quarter at school. They then spoke about their trips in Spain and France following pilgrim trails. it was very moving to hear about how they had this mind-clearing experience. After that we stopped at a customized jewelry shop, which was pretty spendy, so we took off for chilo's, the glass factory, and el pato, the art store. we also had a great lunch on the zocolo. that night, ryan and therese and i went to the lopez's house for dinner. what a great night! we chatted, drank a little, had a fantastic dinner with lots of tortillas and soup, and just enjoyed each other's company. we saw an enormous spider, too. rafael drove us back and i spent the evening feeling inspired.
