Baby New Year... R.I.P.

Mono was my New Years baby, born in January of '95 in Todos Santos, Mexico.  A very kind couple fed Mono and his mother, Mariposa while camping near the beach.  He was her only surviving puppy.

They posted a sign looking for homes for the two dogs and when I saw the picture it was love at first sight.  I knew Mono was my dog.

They couple decided to keep Mariposa and she became their loving companion for many years.  She passed away in Febuary '10, outliving Mono by a few years.

My good boy, Mono, passed away in '06.  I kept him comfortable as long as possible, but didn't want my boy to suffer. We had a lovely Going-Away party for him and said our goodbyes.  Rest in peace, my special guy :)

Friends can visit him at : www.goodboymono.com.

More Sketchiness ...

I found this sketch among some old drawings I did when I lived in Mexico.  After college I lived in a very small town on the Baja called Todos Santos with my boyfriend at the time.  He would pay the housekeeper extra to bring her children along to sit as models and would paint them while their mother cleaned.  This is one of a few sketches I did of her children at the time.

I like the tension in her hands.  Its a mixture of self-consciousness and boredom, perhaps.

As with many experiences in cultures where the financial situation is in contrast to our own I felt uncomfortable that we paid her so little to clean the whole house, even though the rate was well above he standard for the area.  There was some issue as well concerning the sexist viewpoint that she could not be paid more than her husband, who was an oyster diver earning $6 a day.  If so she would suffer his wrath at his humiliation of earning less than his wife, if that makes any sense.  No, its not 'right' but at the time I think we felt it was not our place to assert ourselves into their culture in a disrespectful way.  We did buy his oysters though and use her services... and drew and painted their children.

It was a very different time.