Jan Yaksko painting

“ART WASHES AWAY FROM THE SOUL THE DUST OF EVERYDAY LIFE.”   Pablo Picasso

The new artist group has a name  ” Conjunto De Artistas” and is the brainchild of Jan Yatsko.  Jan and her husband have been living in Atenas for eleven years.  She is an artist (oil painting, watercolors, and sketching-including art journals.)

Jan wrote the following article and I will share it with you.

Do you want to join a “Conjunto de Artistas” (a group of artists)?
When  Tom and I arrived in Atenas 11 years ago, I was one of few artists and the only foreign artist in town. One by one, more creative souls arrived attracted by the light, climate and natural inspiration.
The main objective for the “Conjunto de Artistas”:    For a group of people to gather together at different specified locations each month to sketch, paint, collage and/or journal in “plein aire”. The locations will be within a short driving distance (5 minutes to 1.5 hours) from Atenas.
Secondary Objectives:    To exchange ideas and information regarding art techniques, materials, exhibits in Costa Rica, art marketing, etc.
Anyone with a curious mind and the desire to create art, grow and share is welcome to join this group.
Please RSVP for this January 11th meeting and to indicate your interest in joining this group to Jan “Juanita” Yatsko.    Phone: 2446-4039
Email: janyatsko@ice.co.cr Website: www.janyatsko.com
After all, there was the Degas group, the Gauguin group, the American Impressionists at Old Lyme group and even “The Junto” of intellectuals and artisans formed by Ben Franklin.
Throughout history groups of people have banded together for reasons of mutual support, inspiration, growth and shared contacts.
An initial meeting will be held on January 11, 2010 at Ataño Restaurant (Atenas centro, 50 meters North of Mercado, next to El Rayo store) at 2 PM. The objective is to meet each other and to plan our first plein aire activity to be held on January 18.

You can read more about Jan and her work by visiting her web site  www.janyatsko.com

costaricalearn has a subcategory “Artist and Writers of Costa Rica” under the main category Costa Rica’s History, Culture, Food, and Traditions.  You can go to the Categories on the home page and find this.  Here you can read about other interesting artist and writers in Costa Rica.

Rosemary

WILL THE REAL ROSEMARY REIN PLEASE STAND UP?

Continuing my series on artist and writers in Costa Rica I would like to highlight Rosemary Rein.

Rosemary is a resident of Costa Rica, along with her husband Barry. Rosemary read a book about Costa Rica and told Barry, “We have to move to Costa Rica, so they followed their dream and did exactly that,  settling in Escazu, a suburb of San Jose, where they live happily with their three dogs.

Rosemary says that they have been extremely happy in Costa Rica.  They love the weather, the warm hospitality of the people, and the more simple lifestyle than they lead back in New York.

So Barry and Rosemary, accustomed to being very active, opened a cafe in Escazu.  After running it for  several years, they  got the itch to try something else.  Which led them to the purchase of a Bed & Breakfast Hotel at Lake Arenal.   After awhile they said, “We came here to retire,  didn’t we?”  So they took some time off and traveled to Argentina which they dearly loved.

In their leisure time, Rosemary and Barry love trekking into the Costa Rica rain forests and jungles. One day Rosemary with her great imagination said to Barry, “The  skills needed to survive  in the jungle are the same skills needed to survive  and thrive in the business world as a leader and a team.  So Rosemary created “Go Wild, Go Great! The Leader/Team Journey From Now to Wow.  What is this?  It is Rosemary’s own unique training seminars on how to improve Customer Service and Sales Performance.  Find out all about it at www.gowildgogreat.com

If that was not enough, Rosemary has also co-authored a book. “The Blueprint for Success”  14  hot ideas for improving your leadership skills, customer service skills, and living a healthier and happy life.  Read all about it on her web site www.gowildgogreat.com.

You may also read Rosemary’s blog at www.rosemaryrein.typepad.com
She  writes fun filled stories about everyday life in Costa Rica.

Rosemary and her husband Barry are feathered in our video “Costa Rica A Travel Adventure Spectacular”. They talk about their life in Costa Rica, why they  choose Costa Rica and why they love it.

Rosemary holds a Ph.D in Human Resource Development.

"Butterfly In The City" by Jo Stuart

Artist in Costa Rica-Jo Stuart is a writer who lives in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Jo Stuart is an American writer who lives in San Jose, Costa Rica.  Her weekly column in AM Costa Rica is  about the “good life in Costa Rica” from a woman’s perspective, and has a wide readership.

Also she has written a book  Butterfly in the City about the  Good Life In Costa Rica, and her positive experiences while living in San Jose.

The following are quotes from  her book.  “When I told my friends that I was going to visit Costa Rica, they asked, Aren’t you afraid of the communists?”   “No, that’s Nicaragua.

“Is that an island in the Caribbean?”  “No, that’s Puerto Rico.”

“I wanted to visit this tiny country in Central America.  A peaceful country that abolished it’s army in 1948.  It’s President Oscar Arias was awarded the Nobel Peach Prize  for his work in 1987 on the peace plan which ended the conflict in Central America ( Nicaragua).”

“Costa Rica and it’s inhabitants who call themselves Ticos charmed me and I walked around with a smile on my face.”   “Just a little country of fewer that four million people whose power to influence the world does not come from it’s riches, but simply from it’s ability and desire to be a model for peace.”

“Two years later I packed my bags, moved to Costa Rica and settled into San Jose and began to write about my wonderful experiences of living in the city.

Excerpts from Jo’s Book “Butterfly in the City”

“More and more people seem to be considering moving to Costa Rica.  Some to retire, those who see it as an easy and affordable place to live.  Others, unhappy where they are and are looking for a place where war and consumerism are not priorities.  Any move to a new country is not easy and culture shock soon sets in.   I enrolled in a Spanish class and rode the public bus to school.  The view of the beautiful surrounding mountains made me feel peaceful.”

To order Jo’s book you may contact her at jostuart@amcostarica.com

“The wood is transformed in my hands and it absorbs my emotions, my joy.”  Maria Fonseca,   July 2009

Maria Fonseca began her work in wood sculpture at the School of Fine Arts at the University of Costa Rica.  Today she works from her  outdoor studio located on a coffee farm, near the small  hillside town of Naranjo.

What are the characteristics of Maria’s work, her personal style and what are her subjects?  People, animals and birds,    inspired by nature and  human emotions are her subjects.   Her sculptures of indigenous men and women of Costa Rica express  family warmth, kinship, and tenderness between mother and child,  husband and wife.  Her forms are round and voluptuous, often arms, legs, hands, and feet are entwined ..a mother embracing her child, two lovers in a warm embrace.

When the tourism season is highest-January through March-Maria can be found working out of her studio/gallery at Hotel Martinos in La Garita  de Alajuela.   Her work is found in collections in the United States, Europe, Mexico, South and Central America as well as in Costa Rica.

For more information on how to obtain one of Maria’s  sculptures contact Ann by clicking on contact us at the very top of the page.

Maria at her home near Naranjo

beauty.”  Thus her work in wood sculpture was born.  Maria stresses that an artist never stops learning, with each new design, with each stroke of the chisel a unique and different work of art is created.

Please read on:  The next article talks more about Maria’s sculptures.  It is titled Figurative Wood Sculptures by Costa Rica’s own Maria Fonseca

Pura Vida in Costa Rica

Take a bi-monthly peek into artist Jan Yatsko’s daily life in Costa Rica.

Humor, reflection and inspiration are woven into her experiences that revolve around her passion for art, nature, culture and food.

June 2009

“Creation is a huge beginning not a finished end.”       John O’Donohue

A month ago I witnessed ecological history.  Under the night sky and with the help of infrared light, I saw a 5 foot long endangered leatherback turtle lay her eggs on a beach about 10 miles north of Limón, Costa Rica. To arrive at this special private reserve called La Estación de las Tortugas (The Turtle Station), I traveled several hours by van and another 30 minutes by outboard boat on the only “road” (canal) system north of Limon, located on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica.  For the leatherback to arrive at this beach she traveled the ocean waters from North and South America until the pink spot on the top of her head told her that it was the right time of day and the right place to be to lay her eggs.  From February to June, these soft shelled sea turtles leave the comfort of the water to drag their 1200+ lb. body across the sand and dig a 2’ deep hole with her back flippers to lay up to 100 white 2” diameter eggs.  The effort is so difficult that she groans with every step.  It is a mystical rhythm dating back 150 million years.

Protected nest area at La Estacion de las Tortugas                I drew the back half of the turtle in the dark as we were not allowed to take photos with flash.

Sea turtles become disoriented and frightened by light and if this happens a female will return to the sea without laying her eggs.  Infrared light directed at the back half of the turtle was the only available means of seeing the egg laying process.  I had to rely on my five senses to observe what was happening.  I looked up and saw a partially cloudy sky with the moon peeking through.  I heard the constant and rhythmic waves behind me.  I looked real hard and under the night sky I blindly began to draw the turtle as she dropped her eggs into the nest.  I felt the sand against by face and body as the turtle used her powerful front and back flippers to cover her nest.  Then there was silence as she entered the sea.

Positive and negative intervention by man will determine the ecological fate of the leatherback turtles.  Poachers eat the eggs and meat; bright lights from development disorient the turtles; plastic bags mistaken for jellyfish (their favorite food) plug up the stomach cavity; commercial fishing nets entangle them and global warming is tipping the sexual orientation scale of the eggs to mostly female.  Private and national reserves are scrambling to reverse the accelerated decline.  Volunteers gather the eggs and place them in protected nest areas, hatchlings are protected from bird predators as they scamper to the ocean and turtles are measured, checked and tagged in an effort to learn more about their behaviors.  Even with all the effort, out of 2,000 eggs that are laid, 1,000 will hatch (50% natural/50% from private reserve) and only one will survive to adulthood.  The animal symbolism of the turtle represents Order, Creation, Patience, Strength, Stability, Longevity, Innocence, and Endurance…characteristics that are needed for them to continue for another million years.

Copy write 2009

Jan Yatsko is a very talented writer and artist who lives in Atenas, Costa Rica.  She and her  husband came to Costa Rica several years ago on a biking excursion, fell in love with Costa Rica and have been able to make it their permanent home.   You can visit Jan at her web site to learn more about her beautiful artwork www.janyatsko.com

Jan  writes a bi monthly newsletter titled “Pura Vida in Costa Rica” about daily living in her adopted country of Costa Rica.  To subscribe to her newsletters you can go to her web site www.janyatsko.com