Being back in Spain has proved busy. In an effort to make more room for our creative pursuits, Jeff and I have been out and about exploring. Jeff has repeatedly been frustrated with the availability of supplies related to the things he likes to do. Whether it’s sea kayaks or technical fabrics. Not to mention the space to spread out to sew and paint. We needed to have a rethink and get creative on the space.
Part of that was using our time in Ireland. Since we couldn’t get the technical fabrics here, when we were in Dublin we visited an amazing fabric store in an old Georgian house in walking distance from our original hotel. It’s kind of this secret door type of thing. Like Grimmald Place in Harry Potter, if you didn’t know it was there you’d never find it. Finally I range the bell after we’d walked around the block twice. They were wonderful and have floors and bolts of every kind of fabric you can imagine up to the ceiling. And now that they know us and we have a relationship, they’re happy to ship to us in Valencia when ever we need. I wasn’t the only reason we had to buy another suitcase. Check and check!
When we got home we found a Bauhaus store that right on our tram line and doesn’t require us to go out to Shopping City on the IKEA bus or via taxi. It’s at Heron City and they also have a movie theatre with movies in English on Tuesdays and all the restaurants we love. Win Win. So we’ve spent the last two days going back and forth, buying tables to reconfigure Jeff’s office so he has space to spread out. Now he’s got computers and plenty of room to cut and sew fabric.
And then there is me. I have been painting at our dining room table. The light isn’t the best. This morning I went into the third bedroom as the sun came up, and discovered the light in there is amazing for a couple of hours every morning. We never go in there and have been using it for storage. So after some reorganization and the purchase of a new table and some other supplies, I have a new space to paint every morning.
It’s funny, I find my painting is helping with my writing. No matter how amateurish my results have been. But painting, like writing and like life, is about trying and failing. Learning and growing. So without judgment, I’m adding four pictures to this post. The first one is my first painting in Valencia. It’s all about a bright sail on a stormy sea. Not sure, but I dreamed about and painted it.
The second are three blue vases I have on a table in the house. I didn’t do them justice but I love looking at them every day.
The third is looking up while laying on a blanket in the Turia. The sky is so blue here and on a cloudless day there is nothing bluer.
The forth one is some splatter painting. I created a box to try out the technique and this one I’d call ‘Tiffany’s’ because the blue of the background reminds me of Tiffany blue boxes – but I know I didn’t get the color quite right.
If you had asked me a few days ago if we had the room for these spaces I would have told you there was no way. But I think El Compartemiento flexed a bit for us. He feels a little bigger and more usable that he did before. I need to get down to the process of editing, amongst the other mundane day to day things on the near horizon. But we’ve both made space to step out of the administrivia and to let our creative flags fly. And that feels good.
Viva Espana 