Food Stalls- Progresso Mexico

Food Stalls/ Progresso Mexico 11x14 acrylic - Available

This is one of my favorite pieces. It transports me back to the afternoon in which we were wondering the streets of Progresso Mexico in search for a place to stop for lunch. The light filtering around the figures carrying supplies to the vendors caught my eye, as well as the simple garage doors that indicate each shop. This particular day trip was special because we were able to see the real Mexico, as we were rerouted from the hurricane damaged Cozumel , to the, not so progressive, Progresso.

It was one of my favorite trips for the sheer honesty of the moment as we became part of the landscape. Children played in the street while their grandmother cut fruit for tourists with a machete. Vegetables were being weighed and bagged, chickens were being cleaned and hung from supports at open air stands. As we walked on the delicate smell of fresh cooked meat wafted through the air and soon we noticed an elderly man crouched over a make shift grill created from a car wheel hub on the sidewalk down hill from where the chicken was being slaughtered. This was rather comical and unsettling as well.

Understanding water quality was compromised in the area we settled in at the Lebanese Cafe', a culture known for immaculate food preparation. This too became a subject of one of my paintings that I painted on the ship that evening from a snapshot. The cross culture of this location intrigued me because there we were, in Mexico ,eating Lebanese food, with hip hop music videos being broadcasted via u-tube courtesy of the owners son. An afternoon to remember.