Almond Blossoms for Nevine
Thanks, Nevine, for liking the glistening eucalyptus trees from the last post. Here’s a panorama of almond blossoms from the opposite side of our valley, taken from the terrace of the Gallinero at 9:00 a.m. this morning. I hope it inspires you.
Click on the image to see it enlarged.
Morning after Rain, Everything Glistens
Granada, February 6, 2014–Even the eucalyptus trees on the opposite side of our valley. This photo is taken from the terrace.
Print Room Renovation: Welcome to My New Micro Gallery
When our son got married and left home we inherited his bedroom, a place with a separate entrance at the west end of the house. For years we used it as an overflow area and called it “the Print Room,” because I stored some prints there. Mainly it was home to my paper cutter. (That black artifact on a wooden stand behind my right elbow in the photo is a cast-iron guillotine built around the end of the 19th century in Leipzig, Germany. It still cuts paper, cardboard and solar plates beautifully.) With time, however, the roof began to leak and the Print Room became a cold, damp, unpleasant place.
After last Christmas we finally got around to fixing it up and I confess I’m delighted with the results. The idea was to clear out alll the junk, put on a new roof on it and convert it into a mini gallery for showing some of my prints and paintings. We just finished hanging the work a couple of days ago and I think it looks great.
Granada, January 19 – Cold Rain, Driving Wind, Possible Snow
Take Refuge with Friends in a Tapas Bar!
Here’s a few from which to choose in Granada. Remember, you’re not limited to one. The more the merrier!
A Drugstore Like You Never Dreamed–In Granada, of Course
All pharmacies should have cherubs and angels hovering overhead! This one on Granada’s Calle Reyes Católicos sets the pace.
“It’s 1952, Babe…”
Happy Winter Solstice!
Around this time every year—time for summing up the past year and making resolutions for the next—I am reminded of John Lee Hooker, who has become a reference around our house and the occasion for a lot of laughs between Mike and me for saying in one of his songs, “It’s 1952, babe, I’m gon’ turn over a brand new leaf.” Does anybody ever turn over a brand new leaf? I wonder. It’s our experience that we have to take what we’ve got and use it creatively to muddle through. And, given the cards that the bankers and politicians have dealt us in recent years, just to muddle through feels like a victory.
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For us, on the muddle-through scale, the past year has been extraordinary. I’ve had a lot of work making and editing my own prints and some for other artists, along with conducting one-on-one printmaking workshops for artists in my studio. Along the way I’ve made some wonderful new friends—most of them from Australia, and renewed friendships with those who have returned.
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Mike had a health scare but came out of it feeling frisky and thankful to be alive. And he continues to edit his online magazine, ¡Alegria! The Joy of Spanish Living.
Our children are well and prospering and our grandchildren—including two wonderful great grandkids—ranging in age from 29 to two months, are sources of tremendous pride and satisfaction, and we’ll be seeing most of them over the holidays. The one missing will be Elisa, our five-foot-one Spanish/Viking granddaughter, and her family who have moved to Nottingham in the U.K., though we hope to see them in the coming year.
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We’ve scaled down our animals both in size and number. For years we had Great Danes, mastiffs and large lurchers. Then some 20 years ago a friend gave us a delightful little mongrel bitch pup—Cacolina–who became the foundation dam for our own charming strain of short-legged, wire-haired Cacolinos. At one point we had five of them, along with a half a dozen cats. Now we’re down to a single Shih-Tzu-cross bitch, Cuca, who makes us laugh a lot.
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And two cats: Mica, the grey grandmother who still tries to hunt with no teeth, and Rosie, the new kitten who turned up virtually dessicated in our pantry, responded to skim milk from a syringe and soon became fat and sassy. -
That is not to say everything was fine in the past year, nor does the world situation inspire optimism for the future. On the negative side of the ledger we’ve got enough corrupt Spanish politicians to derail a train, record unemployment, and honest people’s homes being repossessed by banks we’ve just bailed out. Not to mention weekly drone assassinations, school shootings and black ops on the international scene. At times like this I feel lucky to be an artist who can take refuge in my work.
Regarding next year, we hope you have a happy and prosperous one. As for us, It’s 2014, babe, we’re gon’ turn over a brand new leaf!
Big Spanish-style hugs from Maureen and Mike
(John Lee Hooker’s Brand New Leaf: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aerY_iNF-BY)
The NASA Features Granada as APOD
Photo by Granada photographer, Guido Montañés
The Granada newspapers are all aflutter this morning with the news that NASA’s Astronomy Blog has featured this picture of Granada’s Sierra Nevada topped by a gigantic cone-shaped cloud (or is it an alien starship?) as an APOD (Astronomical Photo of the Day). My heartfelt congratulations to photographer, Guido Montañés, who is the son of an old friend of ours, Pedro Montañés.
Our house–and my studio and Gallinero residence–is roughly indicated by the church in the center of the picture. We’re in the valley directly behind the spire, nine kilometers south of the city.
Come and see us when you can and we’ll talk about fine-art prints!
I’m Extending My Printmaking Master Classes Videos Sale for Another Month
The 40%-Off Summer Sale of my Printmaking Master Classes video downloads was a surprising success. It seems a big discount is a big incentive. So I’ve decided to extend it throughout the month of September (till Oct. 2, actually) for all those clever people who didn’t look at Internet during the month of August. You’re not too late. You can now download any and all of the videos at a discount of 40%. So you can now purchase a single video, normally $19.95, for $11.97. And all six of them are just $71.82, down from $119.70.
I had a lot of fun making these printmaking lessons with video producer, Juan Carlos Romera, and they have received a warm reception from the printmakers who have downloaded them thus far.
To take advantage of this extended offer just follow this link to my Printmaking Master Classes site. When you reach the payment stage of the ordering process, just introduce the discount code when prompted. (It’s quicker to do than to explain!)
Autumn in Granada–Make Prints, Pick Your Breakfast from the Vine
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Autumn is a wonderful time to work in Granada. The summer heat has passed, the nights are cooler, the occasional rain has refreshed the atmosphere, and the days are delicious.
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I took the summer off this year, except for doing a bit of my own work, a few new liquid metal prints of the Alhambra and some editioning. I love the liquid metal technique for a dealing with a subject that has been done to death. The epoxy medium dries quite quickly so you have to work fast and working in gunk on a plate is necessarily loose, so the results always look fresh and original.
I’ve got another Australian artist coming to work one on one for a month–the last half of September and the first half of October–but after that I’m free to work with other artists. And my Gallinero residence is available from October 15. We’ve just painted the interior (with old-fashioned Spanish-style live whitewash, which not only gleams white but also sanitizes and imparts a squeaky-clean aroma to the place.)
The grapes on the arbor over the Gallinero terrace are ripening, so guests staying there can just reach out through the louvered doors and pick their breakfast. It’s a delightful experience, especially if you don’t have grapevines over your breakfast table at home.
Looking forward to seeing you and making some prints together!
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"El Gallinero"--An Artists' & Writers' Refuge in Granada 