Art, Meaning, Green Living & Health

Recently I impulsively signed up last minute to join my friend Gretchen Lopez at her art workshop in Altea, Spain. We haven't been abroad for ten years (the long flights and travel arrangements aren't quite the same as "Beam Me Up, Scotty," my preferred future way to travel).

People have been asking for a report, so here it is!

I had a terrific time at the art workshop, held at different spots in and around Altea, Spain, a Renaissance town  on the southeast coast, just a forty minute taxi from the airport at Alicante. Our hostess picked us up, a friendly British ex-pat who ushered us into a delightful four story townhouse for little over $100 a day, overlooking the sea. Loved the terraces with their ventilating yet secure wrought iron out shutters. The stairs were a challenge for my bum knee, but that has much improved since the trip. 

I loved the street and the street life. Narrow, walkable (few were driveable) with intricate designs of black, white and grey cobblestones, cats perched behind the beautiful wrought iron guards over all windows (great combo for security and ventilation). Lots more stairs, and all this no doubt contributes to the health of the locals, who meet, along with visitors  galore (mostly UK and German) in the abundant outdoor cafes, which come alive about dusk.

The first day of class we met Gretchen at the top of the hill at the Iglesia de Altea, a marvelous blue tile topped structure rebuilt in the early 1900s.

This plaza was the heart of the town, surrounded by cafes and openings to the sea. Everyone was in a jovial mood and eager to get painting. Most worked in water soluble oils. I opted for a combo of pastels and acrylics, not wanting to contend with the drying process and extra space that requires in luggage, already heavy with art gear and a few food staples like our morning oats, instant beans, hummus: we brought them to save $ and also because we had read there weren't many veg friendly places in Altea (true).

Gretchen gave excellent demos each day (see this 25 minute video I created of her demo the last day at the Mercado). Most days we did reviews of our work and our intrepid group of 6 or 7 at various levels did amazingly well, each with their unique styles, some more tight and realistic, some loose as a goose.

 Lanie Widmar was our local contact, a watercolorist who moved there from Sedona with her husband Russ only seven months prior. They love it and seem to be in Spain for good.  She helped translate when necessary (not usually) and I also found the long-unused memories of college Spanish class surface enough to make it look like I knew something of the language (a good accent goes a long way).  

Here she is with Richard at a delightful day we spent painting by the paseo that goes along the sea. Not the best beach for a swim (rocky) but I loved the architecture, once again, and did several pieces based on it.

Time went fast, as we captured street and cafe scenes and met for several meals as a class, at the top of the Crown of India (5 star and views), a Dutch run place by the sea, and the Restaurante de Artistes for our final meal.

Our class photo, taken at the Tuesday Mercado the last day:

Gretchen, next to me, is not that short, but it's so like her humble self to come down to our level!

On Wednesday morning our hostess drove us back to the airport, where we took a short flight to Barcelona, opting not to take a long drive or train ride, a choice we are glad we made. We were glad we'd chosen a nice old hotel overlooking La Ramblas, right next to the charming Gothic Quarter. That's what we travel for, not to see another sameo sameo chain hotel or another MacDonalds, right? Fortunately the hotel had excellent sound proofing. We ran the AC and slept well despite young people partying down there all night. The next morning we walked across the way to a plaza and met Marcos, who took us on a delightful E bike tour of the city, which is utterly the best way to see a bikeable city, especially when it's small (just the 3 of us). In the evening we went on a scrumptious vegan restaurant tour, also intimate, with a Norwegian brother and sister and our charming young Spanish guide, a woman.

Old Barcelona is a fascinating place, full of walkable streets that frequently open to plazas. Many buildings still have foundation stones from Roman times, as well as medieval. Definitely a party town for young people these days in many ways, which is an improvement, I'm sure, over some of the challenges of its history... the Inquistion, the Reconquista wars, Franco, etc. Many windows displayed "Si" signs, meaning, yes, I'm for Catalonian independence. Barcelona is the center of Catalonia, with a distinct language with French influence, a true crossroad between northern/western Europe and the Moorish influence from the south.This region of Spain has also fostered some very creative artists and architects, including Picasso, Gaudi and Dali. 

On Friday we took a bus tour to the ancient medieval town of Girona, featured in many period films and complete with a Jewish museum and the Office of the Inquistion. No doubt a place full of ghosts, it was fascinating, this was clearly a better time to visit it in modern times, and once again, it was full of hills, stairs and narrow passages. Afterwards we visited Figueres, a village where Salvadori Dali created a monumental museum of his works, in itself a piece of surrealism. 

On Saturday, our last full day in Spain, we rented bikes and headed for the large city park, where we hung out, Richard reading and resting and me doing pastels sitting on the grass. Nearby were some local Spanish ladies who meet regularly to crochet together and give away their wares to passerby, in this case crocheted flowers. The park was also full of African immigrants attempting to sell colorful tablecloths from India, as well as local families gathering and socializing. One of my favorite days on the whole trip.

The next day we took the long flight home, a day that never seemed to end, but aided by tons of free movies and decent airplane food, until at last we landed in Phoenix at 7:30 pm. Wisely, we chose to spend a night at the luxurious Embassy Suites in Paradise Valley, took a swim and bought some new spinner carryons for our next trip. Who knows? This one may be much sooner than another ten years!

In fact, Lanie and I are talking about co-teaching pastel and watercolor workshop: Altea? Provence? Italy? Hmmm.

To see the works I produced on this trip, check out the collection of Recent Works.