Ciao! Hola! Hello!

It has been a minute and I am excited to share with you another chapter of Art + Travel! This time to Barcelona, Spain!

In January, my girlfriends got on our group chat itching to travel and after much back and forth we decided to hop on a plane to Barcelona. A couple of weeks later we did just that!

Barcelona is a city of art. It is almost a shrine to the architect Gaudi. We visited many of his works including Casa Bellono, Park Guell, and Sagarda Familia. Gaudi was inspired by nature and you can see this in each of his creations. My favorites were the mosaics at Park Guell and the incredible rainbow stained glass windows at Sagrada Familia. I love all of the colors, and shapes, and light. I think our forever home will have to have stained glass windows.

We also visited the MOCO and the Picasso Museum. At the MOCO we enjoyed works by Damien Hirst, Banksy, Kehinde Wiley, and more. After the MOCO we went to the Picasso museum which was right next door. Picasso lived in Barcelona for a time and he donated hundreds of works to the city. One of the things that always amazes me about Picasso is his transition from classically trained painting techniques to the cubism he is known for.

On our last day we visited Llopart winery and Montserrat Abbey. It was nice to get out of the city and see more of the surrounding area.

At Llopart we went on a tour of the winery, learning about the history of the area, and tasting delicious cava. Cava means cave in Spanish and it is named for the underground caves where the wine is bottled and aged. Cava was formerly known as Spanish Champagne and is similar to Italian Prosecco.

After Llopart Winery we ate a delicious lunch and visited the Montserrat Abbey. Entering the Basilica here was a total contrast to the Sagrada Familia. Where the Sagarda Familia is light and airy and open, the Montserrat Abbey is dark and cave like. Both beautiful buildings but totally different styles. The Abbey is known for the “Black Madonna” which is a sculpture made out of black stone of Madonna and Child.

After absorbing all of the art, I was overflowing with inspiration and creative energy. We did not have a lot of down time while we were exploring the city so I didn’t have an opportunity to paint on location. What I did have was a 2 hour plane flight back to Italy. Plane air anyone?

During taxi and take off I found the photo I wanted to reference (one I took at Llopart winery looking towards Montserrat Mountains), and I began sketching the basic shapes. When we reached 10,000 feet I took out my paints and water and began laying down washes of the base colors. Watercolor is all about slowing building up shapes and colors. When I had to take dry breaks I would set a 5 minute timer and read my book for a bit. Our flight had a good tail wind and we arrived back in Italy 30 minutes early. For the first time ever, I was not excited about landing early. I was having too much fun painting.

Barcelona is an amazing beautiful culturally rich city. It is in my top 5 favorite cities, up there with Kyoto and London. I would love to visit again and explore more of what Barcelona has to offer.

Have you ever been to Barcelona? Do you have a favorite city?