Sevilliana – sketching fast and loose
They don’t really do our coffee in Spain. You seem to have to choose between cafe con leche (nothing like a latte – a bit yuck actually), cappucino (a small cafe con leche with a big dollop of cream) and a cortado (a short black with a small shot of milk) – probably the best choice!
So, in the morning one checks the weather from the balcony:
and heads out for the first cortado of the day:
before heading into one of the local ancient attractions:
One can have too much of Moorish tiles, so after a while one can wander into the gardens, where the fountains bear strange decorations:
All that clearly calls for another cortado – and all that walking and the scent of the orange trees has thrown one off balance (or is the fountain really like that?):
The scent of these oranges is everywhere in the old city – but they are quite inedible, the raw taste being extraordinarily bitter. But they are apparently excellent for use in marmalade.
But back indo0rs – the old hospital for the care of the sick elderly, now houses a great little Velasquez collection, and a marvelously decorated church. We caught it just as the organist was doing some practice for Holy Week:
After which, of course, another cortado:
Evening – so flamenco. Not allowed to photograph during performances, which are often on tiny stages. This is a really small one:
And after the performance – a cortado!
A bit bustly in the evenings! So at last one creeps home through the courtyard gate:
Err.. hmm.. but who can resist a last cortado? Caffeine? Who sleeps here anyway?
Thanks, Mary, Pat and Glennis. We were on a joint Oz-Brit family get together, and my sister and I engaged in a lot of sitting and doodling. These are sketches and not drawings – fast and impressionistic with gaps and clumsinesses, some coloured at the time and some later. I don’t see them developing into either finished drawings or tapestries. I am wary of woven pictures – unless highly stylised or very simple. Apparently simple, that is. Joy Smith’s work is deceptively simple,and I like it a lot, but it’s not going to be my style. I think my weaving will be more geometric and abstract – but who can say how things will develop.
Again, I’m glad you all liked them.
April 21, 2014 at 5:12 PM
Love the drawings Misha. Iwonder if they will be translated into tapestry.
April 21, 2014 at 12:59 PM
Great sketches Misha. Enjoy your trip!
April 20, 2014 at 11:51 AM
Poor you, suffering in Spain! I remember ordering a hot chocolate there and getting a drink that seemed to be clotted cream – definitely a bit yukky. Hope you are having a fabulous time – as it appears that you are.
April 19, 2014 at 9:20 PM