Notes from Andalusia
A diary from my residency in Spain...
As I packed for my Residency in Spain, I had an hour to spare until I locked up and left for October. I did the obligatory double checks; keys, wallet, passport, tickets and finally… my forever trusted digital camera - my most important creative tool for this trip. I was planning on cataloguing reference photos for future paintings.
I double checked that the memory card still had plenty of storage only to realise that the camera had a technical fault - rendering it unusable. There was no time or funds to spare. I rushed to studio to search for my spare older model - but that wasn’t working either! I’d have to make do with what I had - my camera phone, which is far from adequate.
I know I could be sitting in a courtyard with a wide brimmed hat painting plein air Andalusian mountain tops, but that’s not how I work - I paint people, and I need to do this in my studio where all variables are right.
I was also very fortunate in that my partner and daughter were kindly invited by David, who runs the residency, to join me. It really wouldn’t have been possible for me to attend otherwise. However, this also meant it would be tricky to lose myself for hours in painting — Marlowe wants to live and experience every waking moment, and why not — she’s only two.
The residency would be much needed dedicated time for gathering inspiration for new work while soaking in a new culture.
The whole camera scenario caused no end of anxiety, and as I got to Spain I was hoping to fix it, but I only made matters worse. I tried using my phone as a substitute but although it’s adequate for holiday snaps, it’s not high quality enough for paintings unless I get up close and personal.
We went on a day trip to Estepona on a hunt for a new camera as it had a basic electrical shop, one of the only two places that sold cameras potentially in the region. With the advent of phone technology, the camera is now in as much demand as a medieval scribe.
Arriving early, we had a coffee and watched a long and spectacular sunrise behind a backdrop of multicoloured fishing boats and palm trees. A magical moment!
To my surprise, the electronics shop had a queue of people streaming in and out getting passport photos and suchlike. My partner, who generally has a more calm demeanour when speaking basic Spanish, offered to go in while I watched a restless Marlowe.
After what seemed like forever, she appeared out of the tiny tomb-like premise holding the treasure we needed, a small basic digital camera which would hopefully be enough to get me by. But treasure it was not! I spent a wonderful sunny afternoon walking and eating in the square and taking photos but when I got home and inserted the card into my laptop with anticipation, the photos were as clear as every snapshot of Bigfoot.
This amount of bad luck on such a wonderful experience made me think the Universe was sending me a signal…But what?!
I had to change tact - I needed to dialogue with the people I wanted to paint - learn the basics of the language and be brave - the phone works well for portraits but only if I communicate what I want and take photos close up and personal.
So with all that in mind, the next day I did that. I decided to approach a homeless man who was reading by a shop. He was a gracious man with kind eyes and told us he was a man of the arts too. I took some pics and had a chat and we left with a hug. I then braved it and walked into a barber shop full of people and managed to take some fantastic images as two men — one young and one senior — tended to the grooming needs of their clients. I communicated how I was documenting my travels and they were very happy to be part of my project. I took photos of a busker playing an accordion in a town square, and on leaving Marlowe handed him some coins, which were received with a “Thank you, my little princess”.
A few others locals were not so keen to have their photos taken but very gracious in their decisions not to.
I decided from there on that my goal was to have the source images for a series of portraits of local Andalusian residents and to paint them when home in my studio.
Later in our trip, we decided to stay the night at a house boat hotel at La Linea, which borders Gibraltar, and take some images of these two places and their people. On arriving early we spend a good few hours in La Linea; a rustic, very Spanish town. It was my favourite trip. The town had an almost Cuban feel with multi coloured high rise buildings and the bustle of real Spanish working class people. I stopped and took some pictures of some very cheerful police men on the beat and then met a glamorous senior couple coming our of a beaded-curtained deli entrance in the heart of the town.
This was another magical moment conversing in the heat of the sun about all things Spain, art and St Andrews — which they knew well and is close to where I live in Scotland. A connection was made — as if we were destined to be there at a moment in time. We left with a very Spanish kiss, a shake of the hand, and of course some beautiful photos of the couple in their matching flamboyant get ups (paintings to follow!).
We stayed at the house boat later that evening, our habitation was a blue barge numbered 5, nestled in a multicoloured line of other vessels - tailed with a bar/restaurant. We sat on the little Mediterranean dock overlooking Gibraltar rock with a glorious sunset and ate pizza and drank beer while the two very different worlds of Spanish La Linea and British Gibraltar merged at the border.
The next day we decided to cast off Gibraltar to revisit La Linea and we struck upon a museum dedicated to the portrait painter José Cruz Herrera (1890 - 1972). What a rare find! His paintings were displayed alongside a visiting exhibition of vintage designer clothes (which had my partner in raptures), and a large collection of zoological specimens of mainly crustations and spiders — Marlowe’s current obsession. A treat for all! I will not go on about his life and work but share a painting that speaks for itself…
The penultimate day we decided to stay by the closest town of Guadiaro and have some rustic café food by the river- we had shrimp fritters and calamari washed down with a cold beer, then as I walked home, I managed to get some great close up photos of the market sellers and the late afternoon bar dwellers as they finished work.
David and his family visited on our final day where he treated us to some amazing local cuisine. His family were warm and gracious even though we could not speak Spanish - something I have decided to try and remedy.
Later after a wonderful lunch, the little girl next door made an appearance - a friend Marlowe had made during our trip. Not a forced friendship, but one that grew organically over the small wall adjoining the two villas - firstly a look, a hello, a toy swap and finally a full-on daily need to spend time with each other. My partner and I also enjoyed making a genuine connection with the girl’s parents . So that evening the 6 of us chatted in the sun while the children played together. Friendships were made and our trip was completed by this lovely moment to remember.
So, in conclusion, the reason for the camera malfunction was a test. I mentioned in a previous newsletter that I needed to get out of my introverted malaise….and forge forward with my recent projects of meeting and painting interesting folks. Well this certainly has made that come to fruition. I could have been a bystander; a ghost in an alien world but instead became immersed and connected with the region and its people.
Courage is needed in the pursuit of artistic endeavours and the loss of my camera gave me that. Now I cant wait to paint these portraits! And I will be forever thankful for this experience.
You can find out more about the residency here.