Sketches from Spain

Above: "Female Mask," one of the drawings from my art journal.

Last week's journey through London and the south of Spain was deliciously rich on the art front. I loved meandering through the new Picasso Museum in Malaga and seeing some of the striking street art in Granada. Perhaps the most memorable visit, however, was to the childhood home and birthplace of my poet hero, Federico Garcia Lorca.

Above: The cover of my art journal, collaged with scraps of the Picasso Museum brochure, plane ticket stubs and a photo of Lorca.

By all accounts, Lorca was quite a special soul. Reading his biography one is treated to numerous tales of his silliness, pranks and child-like delight with life.

Above: Lorca in Uruguay, 1934.

One anecdote describes how he and a friend "coated their faces with rice powder, donned bogus nuns' habits and boarded a city tram, where they cast lascivious glances at their neighbors."

When Lorca visited New York (having convinced his parents he would study English), he didn't learn a lick of the language. Instead, he chose to spend his time visiting aquariums, playing with toys in dime stores and wandering the city streets. According to one friend, his favorite English phrase became "I DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING," which he would "shout while standing in the middle of the street, arms flailing, his face red with laughter."

I think Lorca was definitely on to something.

Above: collage from my art journal with photo of baby Lorca taken from Lorca museum brochure.

Aside from this happy pilgrimage to Lorca's home town, our trip provided many lovely moments filled with park picnics, impromptu puppetry, art-making on airplanes and sitting in the plazas watching pigeons, wedding parties, accordionists and other forms of life pass by.

Above: Picnic with family and friends in Regent's Park, London. I finally get to meet Francesca (front right), a fellow artist/writer whom I first connected with right here in the blogosphere!

Above: "Two Feet," pastel and watercolor paintings from my art journal.

Here are a few more images from the art journal I kept during our trip. If you'd like to see more photos from London and Spain, along with the rest of the sketches and paintings from my travel journal, please visit my flickr page.

Above: "Male Mask," pastel, pen and watercolor on paper.

Above: "Winged Creature," acrylic on paper.

Above: "Maskuline and Feminine," pastel and watercolor on paper.

Above: "Toro" collage using corrugated coffee cup holders, London tube tickets, magazine scraps, etc...