in Madrid: on the street...

Painted a little quick one this morning as a warm up.Clearly not my strongest effort, but not my weakest either. I got out the door at 620 am and walked around for 2 hours, and felt intimidated by the architecture. (The sun doesn't actually rise over the horizon until 8:30 so tomorrow I'll sleep in. Got up at 5:30, I was so jacked...) As I walked around, I kept running into last nights revelers stumbling their way home. Most of them were singing loudly in the alleyways, leaning on shoulders and walls.

Yes, this place intimidates me. But like John Cage advises, "Start anywhere..."













"Anywhere" turned out to be right outside my door, around the corner. 8 x 12 inches. This is not a great copy shot to share – just a quick snap of it lying on the floor in my rental, but I promised to post as much as possible on this trip. I think I can clean it up at home and make something out of it. The buildings around here in Latina are awesome. Many date back centuries.

While at the museum I met a man and his wife from Mexico City. (Via time in Chicago.) We were both speechless at the paintings in Sorolla's home and instantly bonded from the experience. Unbelievable paintings in Sorolla's house. So few of his paintings in the US yet so many painting on the walls, but not in print. I'll do a post on them after I get back. The entire second floor was devoted to paintings of his wife Clothilde. They met when they were both quite young. You can actually see her aging as he painted her over the years. What a beauty. What a gift.




Lunch was Paella in a street cafe. Siesta? Eh, what siesta? Tonight is more Tapas and Tempranillo, but this time in the upscale part of the city west of the Plaza Mayor. Tomorrow, either the Museo de Thyssen Bornemisza or the Sofia, and then a little more painting in la Jardin out front. Another warm up. Monday, we are off to Granada. By car. We are going to see southern Spain...

Buenos tardes all!

Thomas


- Posted on the road from my iPad