Bird of Paradise

Despite it being January, Bird of Paradise flowers were blooming on Sao Miguel Island.

Outrageously large and magnificent, another amazing sub-tropical plant to marvel at.

Above the Clouds

The sun was setting behind a distant range to the west and I had to work quickly to catch the yellow and orange glow.  The other, unusual effect for me, was the cloud lower down in the valley.  I was only up 1500 or 1700m, but the cloud cover over Lake Geneva had spread up towards Gryon.

Very ephermal.

The Hidden Pools

Well up a long valley in the Swiss Alps there is a hidden stream with smooth rock basins, or pools.  It is in a cool, shady ravine not far, but well screened from the narrow road and walking track.  A place where children paddle on a hot summer day, with low water, or maybe a quick skinny dip later in the evening.

My visit was on a fall day with it's weakening sun and long shadows.  It had snowed a couple of days before and the glacier blue-grey water was full and between it's turbulence and temperature did not tempt me to even wade.

The forest has a palpable spirit here, with trees growing out of cleft rocks and twisted trunks looking like wise, bearded faces.  If there are fairies or wood nymphs, surely they dwell here in under the canopy of the trees and music of the stream.

I don't believe in any of that, but did leave some of my lunch for the fairies...just in case.

Walking in the Swiss Alps

I haven't been doing much sketching this fall.  However, there is nothing like a trip to interest me in breaking out the sketch kit.  Last week I was in Switzerland and enjoyed glorious clear weather most days while walking in the mountains.  This is the view south to the Dente du Midi from near Sololex (Gryon).

DRAWN ALONG THE WAY

"The drawings are executed with an architect’s eye, balanced with a love of freshness and spontaneity."
Marc Taro Holmes

Last night I uploaded my book about walking and sketching my way across northern Spain to the print on demand publisher, Blurb.

I didn't have a book in mind when I did the sketches.  Oh yah, the idea had gone through my mind, but it seemed overwhelming.  However, along the way, people would look over my shoulder as I was sketching and ask if I was going to "do something with them".  I thought I might look back on the journals, but  I really draw and paint because I like doing it, not because I believe anyone would buy them.  And anyway, I couldn't cut the pages out of my little sketchbooks to show them on a wall.  Not to mention they are really small, and I love big pieces.

When I got home I started writing - almost compulsively.  It helped me to process the trip.  It was still sort of a dream to do a book.   A slender little thing, at 96 pages and only using about half of the 120 sketches I did in the four weeks.  But its funny how these things work on you and while it took a lot of investigation and a few false starts, but here it is.

It has been a great experience and I learned a lot.  Now, I have several ideas for other projects like this. Not because I think it will be a living, so much as because it's intrinsically satisfying.  But... it would be nice to break even.

It can be ordered from Blurb - and even if you aren't interested in buying one, check out Blurb - you may want to do something yourself!

Marc Taro Homes, one of my Urban Sketcher pals and mentors posted a nice review of the book on the Urban Sketchers site.

http://www.urbansketchers.org/2014/05/pilgrim-sketches-500-mile-walk.html

Cupolas

Another sketch from tea time in France...this one with water not tea.   Not that it improved the accuracy of my draughtsmanship.

This was done in a tiny 3" x  5" sketchbook that begs to be opened and used as double pages. I prefer the landscape format but shouldn't quibble as Laloran was generous enough to provide these to the Urban Sketcher participants in Barcelona last summer and more to the point, I love the paper they use.

Painting in the Rain

Last week in Last week in Clarmont-Ferrand, I did manage a couple of sketches outdoors even though it was spitting a few drops of rain.  The trick was to find an overhang to at least avoid the direct drops.

As always working while standing forces me to be fast and loose.  Not qualities one would normally aspire to, or use as a self description.  I was quite taken by the roofscapes with overlapping forms of tiled roofs and large chimneys with many pots and could have done dozens of sketches of those skylines.

No Need to be Bored

The annoying thing about travel is always the interminable waiting.  Drawing steps up the natural activity of people watching to a productive activity.  I filled several pages of my little pocket sized notebook last week while waiting for my flight home.

Basilica Notre Dame du Port

While attending the Carnet de Voyage book fair in Clement-Ferrand, France I attended mass an 800 year old Basilica.  It was a very serene building and was absolutely full.  One of the interesting things, from my Canadian perspective was the number of children who sat quietly through the whole service, rather than going off to Sunday School.  But then again, this is something I have noticed repeatedly in Europe, the strength of family life and mixing of generations which seems at times, to have fallen apart here in North America.

A major theme in the travel journals I saw at the book fair was the mix of annotations with the drawings and so, I was working at incorporating that into the pages I filled while there.  Luckily, no seemed to notice my eccentric behaviour of painting through the service as I was a little nervous it might be seen as disrespectful.

Drawn Along The Way

Earlier this month, I put together a draft book of my collection of sketches from my pilgrimage in Spain last spring.  This was the Camino de Santiago which involved a month long walk across northern Spain culminating in the city of Santiago de Compostella.  This is also know as the Way of Saint James, as the remains of the Apostle are believed to be enshrined in the Cathedral there. Hence the Title - DRAWN ALONG THE WAY, My Camino sketchbook.

The book is not a guide, rather a reflection of the experience and includes about 70 of the 110 sketches I did while on the trail.  My good friend, Anne-Louise Mahoney, who is a professional editor did a very helpful edit and I will be launching the book and offering it for sale in the next few weeks.  It has been a very satisfying project in part because writing it helped me process the incredible experience of this ancient pilgrimage and share the drawings in the form of a book.

Carnet de Voyage

Last week I journeyed to France to attend the Carnet de Voyage.  This is a book fair that focuses on illustrated travel journals.  This genre is very popular in France, and there is nothing close to it here in North America.  I went primarily to learn and investigate what  is being done as well as in the hopes of finding a publisher for my book about the Camino de Santiago.

The show was much larger than I had anticipated.  There were easily 100 artists with booths profiling their work, as well as books for sale.  These books were both by some large publishing houses as well as a table of self-publications by the participating artists, offered for sale by volunteers helping with the fair.  Only the juried artists were able to meet with publishers, but I did manage to talk to a couple of them and left copies of my draft book as well as many conversations with the participating artists.  I learned something and built enthusiasm with each conversation.  Several of my Urban Sketcher mentors and friends, that I met last July in Barcelona were participating, so I had the fun of visiting with them also.

On reflection, as much as it was a long way to go, it was extremely worthwhile.  I brought home some great examples of books and had several signed by the artists and while it's a long way away, I'm thinking I should submit to participate next year by way of a goal and deadline to work towards.

In addition, the overriding impression was the wide variety of styles, the rigour and volume of work each artist had produced and above all,  people following their dream to go out and explore the world and document it through their own eyes.

Actors and Stage Workshop

This sketch was one from my workshop with Lius Ruiz.  I have followed his blog and studied his work for the last two years.  On top of his proficiency, he's a delightful guy and he gave me some very practical tools to help my composition. He had us start our drawings at the focal point and move out.   As in draw from the back and move forward.   He also taught us to simplify buildings by implying the rhythm of the windows.  We did several thumbnails to practise this as well as place overlapping figures in the foreground (the actors) to add some dynamism and draw the eye to the focal point.

The one question I continue to have is "when to stop".  His lesson plan didn't directly address that, but I think it gave me some tools to help me with that decision.

Betty Ford - Barcelona

I chanced into a little pub conveniently located between the conference and my hotel called Betty Ford. Dave, the proprietor, is an Aussie and the staff were wonderfully friendly and welcoming.  Good music, good vibes. I had a great hamburger there on two different evenings.  5 thumbs up on the JW travel scale.

Barcelona Sights

I was in Barcelona last week attending the Urban Sketchers Symposium.  I went a couple of days early to catch up with the time change and loosen up my hand before the event started.

The upper sketch is the Sagrada Familia, the cathedral that Antonio Gaudi designed and which has been under construction for a century.  It is a stunning building and was well worth touring.

Below is a typical small plaza, complete with outdoor cafe and water fountain.

Walking Through a Green World

Moving through the green and cultural landscape along the Camino at a walking pace is a tonic. Coming from the “new world” where our idea of a heritage building is often less than 100 years, the tangible connection with the past is striking.  In fact as a painter, it was tortuous to keep moving, when my instincts were screaming for me to stop and sketch. 

My Camino was in May and this year the weather was unseasonably cool through most of the month.  This cool weather delayed or extended the bloom of many plants and kept the landscape green and verdant. Green is a calming colour.  Prisons and so called green rooms in theatres and television studios are painted green for its psychologically calming effect.  It was a soothing experience to walk through those lush fields and forests. At times I felt I was drinking in the greens through my eyes and was constantly thinking about how I would mix paint to reflect the subtle range from blue to yellow hues of green as I walked. 

There were a few overcast days on the Meseta especially on the long stretches between villages, where I started to take the landscape for granted.  However form day to day and certainly over the weeks I passed though many different and often dramatic landscapes, usually accompanied by birdsong and drifts of wildflowers.  How could that daily proximity to the natural worlds not be restorative to the spirit? 

Anticipation - The Night Before Camino

Eric Viotte in an uncharacteristic still position

Julian, one of the many volunteers I would meet in coming weeks

It had rained all day, but by late afternoon it was letting up when I arrived in St. Jean Pied de Port.  I was full of anticipation about the journey and my first stop was to pick up my Pilgrim’s Credential, which is the document required to stay in Albergues and when stamped by each accommodation along the route, is the proof required to secure the Compestella certificate in Santiago de Compestella.

The albergues were filing up but I did find a bed at the Gite le Chemin vers Etoile, which means “Cottage on the way to the Stars”.  A beautiful name referring to the start of the journey to Santiago de Compostella, which is named for the discovery, by sheppards, of St. James (Santiago), the apostle and brother of Christ who been led to the relics by the stars (compostella).  Here I met the delightful and energetic owner, Eric Viotte, who was setting the stage for the Pilgrimage to each guest as he signed them in and showed them to their bunks.  I’d been itching to draw and say down to sketch Julian, from Belgium.  He had completed the Camino last year and was volunteering his help to Eric for a couple of weeks.  I met many of these volunteers over the coming weeks.

Later, I managed to get Eric to sit down in the kitchen for few minutes.  Between interruptions he gave me some insight into his passion for the Camino.  He walked the Camino in 2007, starting in France and had to lay up in St. Jean Pied de Port for 10 days to recover from tendonitis. His experience was so profound that 2 years later he quit a very senior position with an international corporation in Paris and bought the albergue.

He told me that I would only be a “walker” until I completed the journey and attended the Pilgrim’s mass in Santiago de Compostella.  He passionately advised me not to expect anything, but to throw away my preconceptions and the special magic of the Camino would reveal itself.  He hinted that there are some predictable stages and emotions over the four weeks, but emphasised setting my own pace to intentionally choose (or leave) companions.

He closed my little interview with these nuggets of wisdom. 

“You will come to love yourself and stop judging others”.

“Open your heart.”

“This is life.”

Good advice.  Thank-you Eric.

Wise Trees

Santo Domingo

 I arrived from Paris in Bayonne on the second day of May in cold, pouring rain.  I had a couple of hours to have a late lunch before the train to St. Jean Pier de Port departed and did manage to find a cafe under an arcade facing the town square where I could sketch.  This public space would be delightful in the heat of summer as it was defined by pollarded Plane trees and contained a fountain.

I anticipated seeing these trees all along the Camino and was looking forward to them sprouting out and forming leafy canopies to enjoy as the month progressed.  Wrong.  It was an unusually cool May and the wise old Plane trees knew it.  They were waiting for warmer weather and just starting to sprout a full month later when I arrived in Santiago de Compestella.

Pollarding is the practise of severely pruning branches back leaving only stubby, club-like structure.  Additionally, many of the plane trees were grafted to each other, so that when the leaves and branches do sprout out for the season they form a living trellis. Pollarding also prolongs the life of these trees, which also are exceptionally tolerant of air pollution, which is another reason they are so commonly planted in urban conditions.

Bayonne

Beldorado

Barcelona Primaries

I used my little water colour field box for the majority of the sketches, but a few times I did experiment with mixing from three primary colours.  I had a couple of sunny hours on a Sunday afternoon in Pamplona and worked with just three tubes of paint.  I would have done this more often, but didn't have a cover for my little palette and didn't want to goo up my paint kit.

I got onto this through one of my on-line mentors Shari Blaukopf who is going to use this as part of her sessions for the Urbansketchers Symposium this summer in Barcelona.  Her Barcelona mix is French ultramarine (blue), Aureolin (yellow) and Rose Madder (red).  The green, orange and purples are obvious, what I didn't expect was the subtle range of beiges and greys possible by using all three pigments.  Shari introduced me to limited palettes last summer in a workshop and believes they contribute to harmonious paintings.  She has a very sophisticated understanding of colour, so I'll take her advice.

This 'Barcelona primaries"mix will be perfect for the stone buildings and crisp shadows in Barcelona, but I haven't been too pleased with the range of greens.  I learn by doing and only then investigating theory.  After two years of blundering about with watercolour, I'm now ready to do some reading as well as experiment with some other primaries to see what I can mix for greens.

Local Colour

Sinin, the propritor of Bar Torres in  deep discussion with one of his regulars

underground houses in Religious

Sinin, complete with his signature

Away from the larger cities, rural Spain can be delightfully eccentric.  Many of the towns are nearly empty, with plenty of abandoned buildings and closed up houses. Religious was a tad busier than some places, but had its own special twist.  The Torres Bar, seemed to have several names painted on it, including "The Elvis Bar". The proprietor, Sinin, is one of those lean hansom men who appear to run on caffeine and nicotine.  Graffiti covers the walls and while the music was predominately Elvis Presley, the odd jazz tune was thrown in for variety.  I don't know if smoking is allowed indoors in Spain, but this was the only place I noticed that happening.

The other curious thing we saw in a few of these small communities were underground houses.  When I first saw them I thought they might be kilns.  However looking in the the entrances, there were well kept doors, flower pots, benches and the like.  There wasn't anyone about the evening I was there so maybe they are a weekend thing.  Who knows?  Maybe its a hippy thing.  I would have loved to meet one of the owners and get a peek inside.

Roman Bridges

Next to churches (with storks) the other ubiquitous painting subject were the ancient bridges along the Camino. I would have liked to paint more of them, but alas, the pressure to get the walking done often trumped sketching. We encountered many of these Roman built structures and some sections of old Roman roads as well. Aside from the astonishing age of the structure they were always surprisingly narrow.  Less material to construct and easier to defend, I imagine.  I guess if you know what you are doing the stone is inert and will last indefinitely as long as the joints are well done and distribute the load evenly.

The upper sketch was done at the end of one of the hotter days as I soaked by swollen feet in the icy cold river.  The lower one was a quick morning break sitting on the grass beside the trail, looking back as the stream of perigrinos paused and flowed over the bridge.