FISH, FEET AND FRESCOS

Foot and Fish

Foot and Fish

Fresco drawing of saint

Praying Woman

Gameboard?

 It was in the Cátedral de Santa María de la Regla in León, Spain that I first noticed the fish. 

I am always looking for tree and bird symbology in the crests, friezes and frescoes here,

at the top are two images of the drawings for frescoes in that cathedral.

When visiting these places you are surrounded by so much art, centuries old, and of course, unlike in an art museum, there are no labels. I photograph what catches my eye and is intriguing in a way I haven't encountered before. 

The "praying woman" is underneath two trees that could have come from any modernist painting or a landscape by one of the Group of Seven. The geometric configuration in the image above is a mystery.

Angel

An early Jewish temple?

I will dedicate another post to Sephardic Jews in Spain but I wanted to point out in this fresco in the

León cathedral the building above with the two Jewish stars. There are old buildings all over Spain like this. Every town has it's "juderia".

STUDIO VISIT IN SPAIN - 4/17/2013 - Mercedes Blanco

Last fall Mercedes Blanco and I were introduced, via email, by Eduardo Alvarado, an artist living near to Logroño.  I was looking for studio space and also someone to have an "intercambio" with. Intercambios are common here among ex-pats wanting to practice their Spanish. A fair exchange, one-half hour conversation in Spanish, the other half in English.

After our first few meetings I realized that we not only shared a desire to learn each others' language but also shared the language of art and a certain way of looking at the world. Our small talk included big talk about painters, writers, philosophy and I am grateful to have met someone here who is interested and engaged in the life of the artist on a daily basis.

Mercedes' paintings follow the path of the Abstract Expressionists. Emotional, strong color put down in a gestural manner suggesting the landscape. Her blog - www.descubriendocolores.blogspot.com

contains this quote from the Prologue of the 1967 Autobiography of Bertrand Russell:

"Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge and an unbearble pity for the suffering of mankind. These three passions, like great winds have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair. (...)

APRIL TREE DRAWINGS

Spring has finally arrived in Northern Spain. Semana Santa was still cold and rainy which cancelled or cut short many of the processions. 

Now the temperatures are feeling like summer in comparison. 

The outdoor cafes are filled with people and I am going to the park to draw!

All of these drawings were done along the Ebro River. The first four are done using Micron Pigment Markers. The next three are using a seed pod dipped in India Ink 

(see previous post - Drawing With Trees)

VARIATIONS ON A THEME

MONOCHROMATIC MEZQUITA TREE

Looking at all the cathedrals here in Spain influenced
 this small series of three paintings, a variation on the Mezquita Tree.

Monochromatic, like the sculptures on and in the Romanesque and Gothic buildings.

IMAGES FROM A WEEKEND: LEON, CASTILLA Y LEON

After visiting León I know I should be posting images of the stained glass windows in the Catedral de Santa María de León. No photograph could capture the emotion I felt, color as intense and beautiful as the best piece of symphonic music resonated through my whole being, and I broke down. I had heard about the windows in advance but I was overwhelmed by the immediate impact of them. We did not see them on a sunny day, so I can only imagine the sun shining through. I suppose the overcast day

saturated the color making it even more intense. 

Even the website has only a few images - www.catedraldeleon.org

These are images from the Museo y Claustro de la Catedral next door.

They are devoid of color but are so alive. The sculpture we have been seeing in these cathedrals is just incredible. Some of it is serious and others are very light hearted and whimsical. 

They speak so much to the human experience.