MACA featured an exhibition of Henry Jackson´s exquisite new works from his Residency at Monte Azul earlier this year. Offering new, pivotal pieces without straying from his particular technique, Jackson nonetheless offered collectors and others who know his work, a new direction. The artist attributes this fresh direction directly to his experience at Monte Azul. In his own words:
     I found myself lost in shapes and colors that constantly yielded new thoughts and ideas. These are truly spiritual grounds for creativity and new awakenings. To say that I felt spoiled would be an understatement.
     As an artist, I look for things and places that bring me inward in thought and feeling. My experiences at Monte Azul with both plants and animals, gave me a deeper understanding and appreciation for my own exploration into the figure and newly found abstraction.
     Typically, I don't approach landscape 'literally' in my work, but while at Monte Azul, I couldn't help but want to open up the possibility of utilizing all that was before me.
     Much of it got lost in my senses, rather than wanting to capture and depict such wildlife, I found myself dwarfed in it's enormity. I simply just stood back and took in, or better yet, became one with it. Such an experience stays with one's self long after leaving Monte Azul.
     My work has always been based in memory, resulting in a natural intuitive response. The memories I have collected of Monte Azul will yield me quite a bit of work for some time, and I feel fortunate because of it.
     To me, Monte Azul represents the beginning of creation - the cultivating of things - both newness and renewal. It is what making art is all about.

The works are currently available for viewing in San Francisco, please contact us at info@monteazulcr.com or by calling 646 478 7038.

Casa Palo Alto, Monte Azul’s dreamy hilltop villa, is complete and open for guests. Featuring 3,000 square feet of luxurious living space, a private swimming pool, elegant finishes throughout and sweeping views of the Chirripó River Valley and beyond to the Costeña mountain range near Dominical beach.
     Designed by partners Rob Harley, Randy Langendorfer and Carlos Rojas, the villa was conceived as “a civilized escape from civilization.” Guests enjoy secluded living with all the creature comforts, inlcuding a large garden view bath tub, and that is only the beginning. Fine art is the crowning jewel of this beautiful home.

Nicaraguan folk artist, Don Vidal Arellano Ortega, provides colorful renditions of local animal life, especially the avian life of Central America. Carved individually out of balsa wood from his own farm, don Vidal creates beautifully detailed works in elegantly selected color palettes --vivacious yet not too bright, more like the natural tones of the animals themselves. These pieces appeal to the seasoned collector of folk art as well as to a more contemporary sensibility. Priced very modestly, they make wonderful additions to any collection as well as lovely gifts. Please contact us at info@monteazulcr.com or 646 478 7038 (in Costa Rica 2742 5222) for current inventory availability.

Starting in October of 2007, Monte Azul hired birding experts, Noel Ureña and Luis Sánchez Arguedasto to perform a year-long study of the bird population on our 125 acre Nature Preserve.
     The property includes over 1200 meters of riverfront plus many creeks and streams. The variable topography ranges in elevation from 950 to over 1200 meters. Our diversity of habitats include riparian zones, primary, secondary and recovering rainforest, organic shade-grown coffee plantations and open fields. In all, Monte Azul was discovered to possess an astonishing number of avian inhabitants, from endemic species to passing migratory birds.
     Our current count is of 229 species. These species are categorized under 41 family groups, among which are found 38 species of latitudinal migrants, 186 resident species and two species whose populations include both resident and migratory categories.
     As a result of our field observations within the Monte Azul Nature Preserve, 141 species are considered abundant, 67 as common and 18 less common.
     Among outstanding observations are the facts that all five species of Honeycreepers reported in Costa Rica are found at Monte Azul, as are 23 species of Hummingbirds.
     Particularly exceptional are the presence of birds considered difficult to spot by even the most experienced bird watcher, such as the Turquoise Cotinga (Cotinga ridwayi) and the White Crested Coquette, both of which are relatively quite easy to spot at Monte Azul, especially among certain species of fig and guabas.
     Since the study was presented to Monte Azul in October of 2008, three additional species have been added to the Checklist.