Nessy Designs: Guatemala Sketchbook Trip

One of my absolute favorite parts of the Guatemala Sketchbook Trip was the hotel we stayed in, "Posada San Sebastián." When the owner, Luis, showed me to my room and opened the door, a soft breeze entered from the open veranda door. My room was on the second floor and overlooked the courtyard where I could hear water falling in the fountain down below. My bathroom also had adorable half-windows that opened and every time I took a shower or sat on the toilet I would see the gorgeous palm flower above. I finally sketched it the last day and thought it would be fun to draw the room next to it. Below is a close-up of the room.

I haven't even mentioned the amazing collections that fill the posada. Everywhere I looked there were interesting antiques ranging from religious icons to miniature chairs to an adorable collection of rusting enamel mugs. (In my first post I sketched a collection of wooden santos near the lobby).

Below is a photo of the second floor hallway leading to an outdoor veranda and steps that lead to the rooftop terrace with an incredible view of Volcán Agua.

As soon as I entered the hotel, I knew I wanted to sketch the beautiful "Nazareno" vine that was blooming in the courtyard. When sitting in the courtyard, the blooms would slowly fall around you...sometimes spinning like our familiar maple helicopters. The space is truly lovely and it was always such a relief to walk in to such serenity after a long day of sight seeing. It felt like coming home.

Also while sitting on the loo, I noticed the play of light against the textured glass of the windows. It is amazing the things one can see when we are still!

In addition to the blooming vines, I also loved the potted plants in both the front and back courtyard. This little succulent cascaded in such a fun way around the Mayan pot below.

The one sketch I didn't have time to do was a sketch of the markets. When thinking back on it, of course I didn't have time, because when I am in the market I want to shop! I LOVED shopping in the markets and taking in the sumptuous colors and textures.

Above is a photo of Clara who I met the first day and whom I returned to the last day to make a few souvenir purchases. As if the whole market wasn't juicy enough, this particular market was set against the backdrop of ruins that had amazing carved columns. The whole experience was delicious!

We also visited a store called "Nimpot" that was jam-packed with masks and wooden trinkets. It is a shopper's paradise.

The sketch below didn't fit in any category so it is getting thrown in here. He probably should have been in the second post next to the plaza fountain. In any case, I just loved that the central plaza was swept each day with these giant brooms made of palm fronds.

Being a colonial city, Antiguan buildings are set up to enclose their green spaces which means the buildings extend right up to the sidewalks. One of my favorite things to do as I walked the streets was to try to look into the lush, enclosed courtyards. If the doors were open, it was like dropping into paradise for a brief moment. I was often treated to scenes of great beauty...of colorful flower gardens, fountains, and ornate, hanging lights. But if the doors were closed I was equally just as happy to stop and admire the gorgeous old doors with their incredible ornaments. I thought about doing a whole post on this alone but decided to end this post with a grouping of these photos.

Somehow it seems apropos for a city named "Antigua" to have doors that look like this. The doors and the town seem as old as time with just a hint of magic. I can imagine that if one closed ones's eyes, felt the nub of one of these ornaments and whispered just the right words, one could be transported to another time...or at least that time would stand still for a moment. Whether the doors were open or closed, I fell under the spell of this ancient town. And if fortune has it I hope to return one day and wander its enchanting, bougainvillea-lined streets and again visit the land where both volcano and I breathe.

“Unusual doors often take you to ... unusual worlds!”

― Mehmet Murat

“I love doors. All of them, without exception. Doors lead to things and I’ve never met one I haven’t wanted to open. All the same, if that door hadn’t been so old and decorative, so decidedly closed, if a thread of light hadn’t positioned itself with such wretched temptation across its middle, highlighting the keyhole and its intriguing key, perhaps I might have stood a chance; remained twiddling my thumbs until Percy came to collect me. But it was and I didn’t; I maintain that I simply couldn’t. Sometimes, you can tell just by looking at a door there’s something interesting behind it."

― Kate Morton, The Distant Hours