BACK FROM SPAIN AND INSPIRED!!!

We returned on Monday with a 27 hour marathon and 3 separate plane rides but happy to be home. Today I feel somewhat normal and ready to get back to art. I tried to download my 1589 photos but the computer refused!!! I will have to take the card and have discs made and then work from there. In the meantime I scanned this drawing so I could get something from the trip onto the blog. This was done sitting in front of the Prado Museum. It is a beautiful statue of Velasquez. I wasn't really close and my eyesight is poor but I think I captured the essence of the object. I mostly did ink drawings on the trip with a few small watercolor paintings. On my next trip I am going to just take drawing materials. I can do a nice drawing in less than an hour and it makes a nice resting period between all the walking. I always take a photo of what I am drawing for future reference. Often, my husband takes a photo of me holding up the drawing in front of the scene I just drew. We went to the three major museums in Madrid. At the Prado we saw the Velasquez painting of the Infanta called "Las Meninas". There was an English Speaking Docent in the room explaining the painting (we listened in!) It is a huge canvas. Later, in Barcelona, at the Picasso Museum, we saw over 20 variations on this painting that Picasso did (I guess he had the idea of a series first) and then at a contemporary exhibit at the Caixa Forum of a painter from Bosnia, Mersad Berber, there were more variations on this Infanta painting. There must be thousands more versions by various artists around the world. It was wonderful having just seen the original and then all the additional interpretations. I was totally enthralled with Berber. He does mixed media with exciting results. I studied some of the paintings and recorded what I thought was his process and sequencing. I hope to try out my theory sometime soon. He combines masterful portraiture and drawing with all kinds of other abstract forms and media. I didn't relate to a great deal of his subject matter but loved his mastery and inventiveness.

I am thinking I will spend the coming year developing paintings from the images I captured on this trip. The wheels are turning. When I awake at 4 in the morning I start envisioning these paintings in my head. I have the first one all planned out. Better get those photos out of the camera!