sculpture in an cemetary

Went off recently to a cemetery in Arenys de Mar.  There were several reasons for this apparently strange desire, but here they are.  We went, over Christmas, to an exhibit at the CCCB in Barcelona (a museum) about a Catalan author and poet Salvador Espriu who came from Arenys and who is buried there.  The kernel of the idea is born.

Also, the cemetery is supposed to have some decent architecture in the modernist style, what you have to understand is that the same people who had the fantastic buildings put up all over this area, also built astonishing tombs.  Barcelona cemetery is well worth a visit.  Arenys is supposed to be that way too.

Well, not so much, there were a few sculptures by Josep Llimona (meh, all rather long and lugubrious, but whatever) and a couple of overblown tombs....

but the best was a temporary exhibit in the cemetery by a local artist.  There are some amazing local artists by the way.  My photos are not so great as the friend I was with wasn't very interested in the sculptures and so I was going pretty fast, but I'm still likely to post more of them than you're interested in.  Interestingly the exhibition, or more accurately the series of sculptures are all related to the poetry of Espriu and this last year was the something or other anniversary of his birth/death, not sure.  Clever of the artist to produce this in such a timely way, no?

I really liked the work.  Really a lot, as in, I may go back on the weekend.  That said, the work seemed fairly obviously derivative.  That may not be fair, but it sings strongly of Picasso, Miró and Tàpies, but strongly.  She does have her own look and feel, I am not saying that, but the influence of these three is really strong.  Not so sure about that.

So, without more ado, the sculptures!  Also a video about the artist, with subtitles in English, and her webpage in English

I love this one, Achillies' worst tattoo idea!!!!

They were mostly between mid-thigh and waist high on me....mixed media, but mostly clay.....really neat.

How you really make toast

When I went walking the other day, we stayed overnight in a casa rural, and they had a SPECTACULAR fireplace, and they'd gotten the fire going before we arrived, it was marvelous.  One of the women with us is an expert at real toast.

It's a little hard to see in the photo, but the trick is a branch or a bar along the front, you spike the toast onto the fork and a really flat angle, with the curve of the fork forming a convex arc away from the bread, then you prop the fork at the junction of the inside curve and the break against the branch or bar....leave a while, then flip.

Seriously yummy toast.

Went walking last Monday

This took a while to post, cause just after I came back, the computer died....  sigh, though it has since been repaired, so here I am posting!

ANYWAY, it was great, we went off one afternoon and came back the next evening, staying in a gorgeous casa rural.

See?

It had snowed at the higher end of the walk, and in some places, it was gorgeous, sparkling off all the branches...

We had laughingly said that these mountains are furry at this time of year, they look it, no?  A fur coating of trees?

Lots of views of mountains in the distance.

Sun was starting to go down here and made a spectacular effect in the valley.

Though it doesn't look it, we went down this crazy spectacular descent in the dark.  Great fun.

Walked by this church on the way to our place for the evening

Check this joint out!

This is where I slept....good deal, no?  And if we were invaded, I had the windows to shoot them through...though no bow or arrows.

Inevitable...cows.

The second day we went up and up and up beside a stream with plenty of lovely places to swim....must do that again when it's hot enough that you want to!

Abandoned farm house right up at the top of one of the mountains.  This was a barn, clearly.

Gingerbread houses

Here's what youngest did with hers:

Eldest, however, never got around to hers, so it became mine by default, so, gradually, eating the candies, then the Man finishing them off, I just melted the white chocolate for snow, smeared it on the pieces and called it done.

Post-modern style.

Walking in the new year!

Normally I go walking with a group of people from the village, and (almost) always, we go to the mountains, that's what the group is in fact called, the group of the mountains.  Sounds better in Catalan.


This year though, to start off the year, we went to the sea!

Nice day, no?

Look who came in

and looked kind of unhappy.  He normally lives in the back pati, but somehow found himself just INSIDE the door, instead of just outside it where we see him sometimes.

Put him back, after a quick photo shoot!

Taking photos

I am no great photographer, as anyone who as read this for any length of time knows, but I do like snapping a photo from time to time. 

Sometimes I see people taking TONS of photos, and it feels like they aren't experiencing what they are doing, being so wrapped up in photographing it, and I do believe that that can happen, but for me, taking a photo when I am out and about tends to work more to help me notice and remember and appreciate the beauty and wonder of where I am and what I'm doing.

Sometimes it's a photo of something stupid, but still something that makes me amazed.

What about you?

Spain

I wanted to wait to post this till most of the festivities are over.  Unlike the Spanish gov't who passed this just a day or so before Xmas so no one would be around to protest.  

Did you happen to see in the news?

The Spanish Cabinet, in Madrid, has approved anti-abortion laws, it's been sent off to the next stage in gov't, whatever the legistature is called..  We're heading back into the 50s here now. (that was under Franco, just saying)



 

Did you know that they are also trying to pass a law that would make it illegal to take a photograph of a cop at work?  Really?!?!??  Hello fascism!


IN- 
INDE - 
INDEPENDENCIA!!

Time to go, boys and girls.  How I wish I could vote.

Eldest has left the building

In fact, the country. 

We are consoling ourselves with happy movies and cocoa.

It's been lovely having her here, see her again in June.

Arts Santa Monica

Went off to Arts Santa Monica with Eldest yesterday.  It was pretty darned cool honestly.  The best for me though was Eldest's exclamation when she saw the video at the top.  There were two bits of toast flying around attached to balloons, as you can see in the video there, then, on the left you can just make it out, there floated in....

"Oh, my goodness!!!!  It's a Salami!!!"

Maybe you had to be there, but it was just so funny!

The salami was floating out fast, so I didn't get the best photo of it.

You also got the chance to impale yourself on these gigantic skinny carrots, that did look quite ominous as you walked towards them down the hallway.

They also had a funky little yellow trailer camper, with a video that was a study of the kinds of architecture - more or less - that people create related to where they go and park these little camper vans....

Neat outing.