Storks

I noticed the first stork nest on an industrial chimney on the edge of Puente de Reina and from there through to O'Ciebro it was rare to see a church steeple that did not have a nest. I developed affection for these large birds and was disappointed that I did not find a stork souvenir to bring home.

One of the things I did in my journal was list questions, and the stork question was "are storks considered to be good luck?".  It is obvious they are are not likely good for masonry and the size of the nests could easily collapse an old roof, yet they are tolerated.  Although I did see a few platforms constructed to keep them off the heritage masonry, like in the upper sketch. Perhaps it isn't good luck, so much as a superstition that destroying a nest would bring bad luck.

I did learn that what we saw were White Storks and that their population has been rebuilding after years of decline due to pesticides.  Despite that, one web site cited the number of storks in Spain at only 3,000, so we were fortunate to see the ones that we did. As for good luck, apparently storks are referred to as good luck in many Spanish proverbs, but I did not see a direct explanation as to why the nests were not pulled down.  That author also described them as charismatic, which aligns with the affinity I developed for them and their young.

Puente la Reina

Puenta de Reina was the fourth night out of St. Jean de Pier Port.  That day I felt that I had a sense of the trip's character and rhythms.  On reflection that evening was pivotal in meeting the core group of other perigrinos who more or less formed my Camino family over the remaining month.  It was while having a drink with this core group that the individual stories started to come out and I was struck by the collective wisdom shared back by the group. This was my first insight into how my companions had self-selected themselves for a reflective journey and how rich those friendships were to the experience.

Walking into Puente de Reina we saw our first storks and had opportunity to contrast the elaborate ornamentation of the Ingesia de Santiago el Mayor with the monestic simplicity of the Knights Templar chapel - Iglesia de Crucifjo.

Problacion de Campos

It was late afternoon at the Albergue Amancer with moody wet skies.  My friend Emilio suggested I attempt a more abstracted approach to the open fields behind the village, to try and capture the subtle range of green colours.  We walked through endless wheat fields for days and it felt like my eyes were drinking in the calm and subtle ranges of green colour .  I had been constantly thinking of which yellow and blue pigments would best mix to represent those hues, so it was fun to finally lay down some paint.

My Friend Emilio

Midway along the Camino I ended up in a rather strange little albergue (hostel) for the night.   It was a sort of hippy set-up complete with tee-pees and rather cold, sketchy dormitories. My companions and I had walked around 26 km and the next town was an hour away, so as it started to rain it was an easy decision.  Luckily it was not large and the dozen or so pilgrims there that night were good company.

Part of the ambiance was Emilio the donkey who stood under the open roof attached to the bar and joined us while we chatted before dinner. The stamp on the drawing is from the Albergue.  Each alberge has its own stamp, which is used to record where a perigrino has stayed in order to apply for the compestella certificate at the end of the journey in Santiago de Compestella. Many churches and restaurants also offer stamps, particularly in the last 100 km.

Santiago de Compostela

I arrived home from Spain yesterday, complete with my sketches done while walking the Camino de Santaigo. I did about 90 sketches, which I plan to do organise into a book over the next few weeks.  I'll post some of these here on the blog, starting with these from the final days of the trip.

I started on May 3rd in  St. Jean Pier de Port, France and walked into Santiago de Compostella this Monday, June 3rd. A 32 day walk.

It was an challenging but immensely rewarding journey whose only disappointment was not having more time in the vibrant city of Santaigo de Compostella.  I obtained my compostella (Pilgrim's certificate)  on Monday and attended the Pilgrim's mass at the Cathedral on Tuesday.

 The service was beautiful and done in several languages. It happened that the choir from Notre Dame University was visiting and filled the cathedral with beautiful music. The highlight was the swinging of the huge incensory which bellowed frankincense smoke to purify the gathered pilgrims. That is the large object hanging in the lower sketch.

Out for a Walk - Back in 5 Weeks

I'm leaving this afternoon for Spain.  I'm going there to walk the Camino de Santiago - The Way of St. James.  This is an ancient route, used by traders and armies long before it was declared a pilgrimage in the 800's.  I'll start in St Jean Pied de Port, 8 kilometers from the Spanish border in France, pass over the Pyrenees and spend my first night as a pilgrim in a refugio in a monastery in  Roncesvalles.  With some luck, I'll cover the 800 kilometers to Santiago de Compostella in the following 30 days.

I've decided not to blog along the way.  I'll focus my time on sketching and hope to have a good batch of images to share when I get home.

Camino Stones

One of the traditions on the Way of Saint James is to leave a stone at the base of a large iron cross just a few days away from the end of the pilgrimage in Santiago de Copostella.  This symbolizes relieving oneself of a burden.  It involves recognizing that there are things in our lives that we cannot change, but need not take responsibility or feel guilt about. The issue may not change, but we can change how we deal with it.

I asked some friends and family if they would like to send some stones with me and have a small bag to deliver at the "Cruz de Ferro".  The stones themselves are interesting  as many have been brought home from travels. It seems it is not an unusual thing to bring back interesting rocks as memories of different places.  Two of the stones were passed from hand to hand at my Church on Sunday, making me feel like an emissary carrying all those private thoughts.

I have labeled each one and anticipate that it will be a very emotional experience placing them on the huge mound of Pilgrim's stones after carrying them some 400 miles across Spain, some three weeks from now.

I'll be away 5 weeks and will be pretty much unplugged.  There will lots of places with WiFi, but I have decided not to try to blog, so tonight I'm "turning out the lights".  I should have lots to post when I return.

Sketcher's Travel Kit

So I am headed off for an adventure in Spain. I'm going there to walk the Camino and have been obsessively selecting equipment and clothing to keep my pack weight to an absolute minimum.  A large part of the trip will be sketching, but I have been very disciplined to keep that kit minimal also.

I have two small Laloran sketchbooks (approx. 5 1/2" x 8',  1 landscape, 1 portrait) which are the heavy things.  I have a brush protector with 3 brushes - No 12, 4 and a 3/4" flat.  A few pencils , 2  trusty Lamy pens and some Noodler's Bulletproof Black Ink in a plastic bottle, double sealed in zip-lock plastic bags.  A collapsible cup for water and  a nice little watercolour field box with 2 yellows, 2 reds, 2 browns , 3 blues , 2 greens and ochre.  I am also taking a few tubes to provide some different primaries  - cadmium red and cerulean blue and a what I think of as "Shari Blaukopf's Barcelona Primaries" - Cadmium Orange, Ultramarine Blue and  Rose Madder. Shari is one of my Urban Sketching mentors and that palette is what she intends to use in her workshop this summer at the Symposium in Barcelona.   I intend to to use Shari's primaries as much as possible to give my sketches continuity. I'm debating throwing another sketchbook in my pack as, the ultimate disappointment would be to run out of paper on this trip of a lifetime.

Finally Some Colour

I took some watercolour pencils with me today to experiment.  I mooshed the colour around a bit with a waterbrush on the lower sketch, but regretted it as I refer the toothiness of the pencil marks.  Spring colours are just starting to emerge at the arboretum here in Ottawa.  The yellow twigs of the willows, which are first out and last to fall, are taking on a hint of green as their leaves emerge.

The huge Bebb's Oak in the upper sketch will be some time before it leafs out.  I would hazard to guess that this is the most photographed tree in the city.  It is also probably the most climbed judging by the smooth surface of the lower, near horizontal branches.