Wikipedia Encyclopedia defines Street Artists as: “Someone who creates and/or sells their art or craft in public for the pleasure of passers-by.” Some people use the term ‘street artist’ more broadly and also refer to people involved in busking, such as musicians who sing and/or play instruments, acrobats, jugglers, living statues, performers of street theater, artists who use pastel crayons to copy famous paintings onto pavements, as well as artists who sell their paintings, portraits (e.g. caricatures), prints, and various crafts.
Many street artists have excellent abilities, and as a whole, they add an atmosphere to squares and alleys. Popular areas include parts of the West End in London and Montmartre in Paris. Many portrait artists are also capable caricaturists.
Panama is not well-known for having many street or outdoors artists. In fact I know of only one that has a studio on the open in El Dorado Mall. His name is Martin Jaramillo and amongst his many crafts are: oil paintings, pastel, charcoal paintings, caricatures, portraits, sepia pictures and picture framing.
According to his Web site, www.martinjaramillo.com, he specializes in drawing the human face. He’s a multifaceted artist born in David, Chiriquí who studied art, photography, portraits, and anatomy in Madrid, Spain for over five years. Then he returned to Panama and worked for several years in U.S. military bases of the former Panama Canal Zone. He’s not only a portrait painter, but a writer and a sculptor as well.
I approached his outdoor studio and asked if I could drop by with my P&S camera and shoot pictures, while he was doing his work. He agreed. However, I haven’t been able to find him, when I drive over to El Dorado Mall to buy my medicines. On my last visit, I decided to shoot pictures of his usual spot where he does his work to give you an idea of what an outdoor artist looks like in this part of the world. I will persist in visiting his place until I get his picture. It would be a great honor to have him in Lingua Franca.
Meanwhile, take a look at the spot where Mr. Martin Jaramillo works at El Dorado Mall. I’m interested in having a caricature of myself made by him. It would be fun to frame it and display it in my office.
Snapshot of the sign of Mr. Jaramillo's work at El Dorado Mall. As you can see, he does several types of artwork. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the desk where Mr. Jaramillo makes his portrait paintings as customers of the mall curiously pass by. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of samples of some of Mr. Jaramillo's work, framed and ready to be delivered to his customers. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
