Tired of catherdrals? (I hope not.)

View from the top of the tower.

This has been an unusually wet winter, keeping us inside most days off.
The first break in the downpour, John and I went to Seville. There is so much to see, but we (of course) began with the Cathedral.

It claims to be the largest Gothic church in Europe and in the the top 6 of all Christian churches. After wandering through the church, then climbing the 30 or so stories of the bell tower, we were exhausted. We braved the cold and had lunch outside, then headed home.

I wonder if they have their own hunchback to ring the bells.

Everyroom was more gorgeous than the last.

Supposedly, this is one of the places that Christopher Columbus's remains is laid to rest. Sevilla is not the only place to claim they have his remains. I have read that DNA tests are being performed. I have not heard of an outcome yet.

Isn't she beautiful?

John Van Gough

John's Playdough Art:

I will start the bidding at 25,000 euro!

Malaga Trip: Part 4: Picasso Museum

Who was born in Malaga, you ask?

Well, I happen to have the answer:

Pablo Picasso, artist
Antonio Banderas, actor
José Puyet, artist
Amparo Muñoz, Miss Universe 1974
Juan García Postigo, Mister World 2007
Jesus Pedro Diaz-Sarabia Cramazou, Malaga's ambassador all around the world
Miguel Ángel Jiménez, professional golfer

Although Antonio Banderas is enough reason to visit a place (was I drooling?), Pablo Picasso makes for an interesting dude as well! ;0)

1st Malaga has the house he was born in. It can be visited, but I was not all that interested, considering the time we had.

Then , there is the Pablo Picasso Museum!!! This place is well worth the small line out front. There are several salons featuring works from Picasso at MANY different stages and eras. Most are donated from his daughter-in-law, some on loan from his grandson.

Entrance

The paintings are beautiful, of course.

But the small hand sketches will make you stare in amazement. You can see every small important stroke. You can think of later, famous paintings that these sketches helped him build. A couple pieces left me dumbstruck.

ALSO, did you know Picasso did sculpture? Well, you are better than I! I had no idea!

Some looked like ancient goddess worship dolls, but it was the vases that I loved. They were playful and taunting and fun.

I read reviews of the museum that were not particularly flattering, but I would recommend it to any art lover.

It is intimate and fun.

AND...

Underneath the museum are ruins from Phoenician, Moorish, and Renaissance times. Surprise surprise!

There is cafe, but it was empty and a bookshop which had books in many different languages.

Unfortunately but predictably, we were not allowed pictures in the museum.

Following are pictures of postcards of actual pieces that we saw in the museum. I imagine this is not all that legal, but I must tell you that this is only a smidgen (my favorites), and you MUST visit the museum to see for yourself!

Picasso Museum Site

(click on English)

Pictures of entire Malaga Trip

His Son

His wife. And yes, that IS a tablecloth on her head.

His mistress, or one of them anyway.

I asked John if we could have this awesome vase, and he said Mago would just break it. :0(

I don't know who this is, but it looks like Napoleon to me. Sorta mixed with Davey Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean. No?

Kitty Beds!

Have you shopped Etsy? It is all handmade items. Great for the person who has everything. There is some beautiful artwork there too.

I am especially happy to say that fellow blogger, Laura, has her own store there! She makes adorable kitty and doggie beds! They are very cute, and she assures me she is looking for Harry Potter fabric (YES!).

So far, the one at top is my favorite. It's called That 70's Bed!

So check out her store HERE and think about buying one. She does have six cats to feed ;0)

Good Luck Laura!!

Sunday Seven

I have stayed up all night. It is now 5 AM. Why do I do this to myself?
Anyway,
I started making Harry Potter Graphics on Photobucket.
From HERE
you can get the image, html code, or direct link! Easy, no?
(Granted, this is for the true HP nerds. The page will grow, I am sure, as these are so fun to make.)


Sunday Seven Best of My HP Graphics



















PLUS 2 more, because I cannot help myself!

History of Flamenco

(The following info is from this site)

Flamenco is a genuine Spanish art, and to be more exact an genuine Southern Spanish art. It exists in three forms: Cante, the song, Baile, the dance, and Guitarra, guitar playing. Gypsies are very often named as its fathers, and at least it can be taken for certain that they played an important part in its creation. But also the popular songs and dances of Andalucia have influenced early Flamenco considerably.Certainly there were other influences, too, as it will not surprise in a country that has been dominated by most diverse cultures and civilizations during its different historical epochs.

~

Its cradle most probably was where, between 1765 and 1860, the first Flamenco-schools were created: Cádiz, Jerez de la Frontera and Triana (Seville).In this epoch Flamenco dance started to have its firm position in the ballrooms. Early Flamenco seems to have been purely vocal, accompanied only by rhythmical clapping of hands, toque de palmas. It was left to dedicated composers, as Julián Arcas, to introduce guitar playing.

~

During its Golden Age (1869-1910) Flamenco was developed in the epoch's numerous music cafés (cafés cantantes) to its definitive form. Also the more serious forms expressing deep feelings (cante jondo) dates from then.Flamenco dance arrived to its climax, being the major attraction for the public of those cafés cantantes. Guitar players featuring the dancers increasingly gained a reputation.The time from 1910 to 1955 Flamenco singing is marked by the ópera flamenca, with an easier kind of music such as fandangos and cantes de ida y vuelta. The latter clearly showed South American influences.

~

Outstanding dancers and soloists soon made their way out of the small tablaos, successors to the early cafés cantantes, to the great theaters and concert houses. It was now that guitar players acquired a great protagonism, and their playing arrived to masterity.Actual Flamenco frequently shows influences of other kinds of music, as Jazz, Salsa, Bossa Nova, etc. Also Flamenco dance has changed, specially female dancers try to rather showcase their temperament than artistry. The Flamenco guitar that formerly was just featuring the dancers arrived to be a soloistical art form, great virtuoso Paco de Lucia being the pioneer of that development.

~

Mass medias have brought Flamenco to the world stage, but deeply it has always been and will remain an intimate kind of music. You have not listened authentical Flamenco if not in a juerga with a small group of friends, at midnight somewhere in the South of Spain, when there is nothing around but the voice, the guitar and the body of a dancer moving in the moonlight.

(HERE is a previous post with some video of professional dancers)

~

John and I still have not made it to an actual Flamenco show. They are pretty expensive. But at any major festival, they have informal flamenco dancing. It is fun because it is all ages that participate. And the audience is part of the show with all the clapping to keep time.

~

(HERE is a pevious post with video of dancers we saw at Feria)

Sunday Seven

Sunday Seven Reasons To Hate The Internet

~

1. I should be doing yoga right now.

2. Wikipedia information overload (worse than an icecream headache)

3. Now I think I need these handmade pottery cups that you wear on a ring made by this Ukranian trained in Japan living in Italy.

4. SPAM

5. The forwardly insane (You know who you are, Alison)

6. Medical information for the bored hypochondriac

7. WHEN IT GOES OUT!!!!

Unscramble the Movie Title:


cii nsty


Put your guess in the comments below.
Answer next week.







Last week's Twist Answer was:

Sabrina
I chose my wedding dress, because it reminded me of 2 very important gowns! THIS one and the red gown Satine wears in "Moulin Rouge" while she sings the medley with Christian in the elephant.
I think you can see the similarities:

(I think allll of you got that one!! Awesome!!!!)

Better Rota Pics and Semana Santa

Of course, my photos are fun,

but Jess found this site of ONLY Rota pics. Some of them are so gorgeous, and you can see some of the dress and festivities of the Semana Santa going on right now. Also they do things like pay attention to the horizon line ;0)

Click HERE to see the site.

They wear robes and mask/hats that look exactly like the KKK, but they are black, white, or red. They are a centuries-old religious costume. Why the KKK adopted it, I will never know.

Thanks Jess!!!!

Sunday Seven

This week's list is according to La Revista de el Mundo published Oct. 1995.

I may or may not necessarily agree, because I wish to see most of these in person before I make my own list. The ones I have studied and think are important are in purple and are links to sites that contain more info.

The Sunday Seven Top Masterpieces of Spanish Artists:

1.) Las Meninas by Valazquez housed in El Prado Museum in Madrid

2.) Guernica by Picasso housed at Reina Sofia Art Center in Madrid

3.) Los Fucilamientos del 3 de Mayo (also called The Third of May) by Goya housed in El Prado Museum in Madrid

4.) El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz by El Greco housed in the Church of Santo Tome in Toledo

5.) Les Demoiselles d'Avinon by Picasso housed in the MOMA in New York, NY

6.) La Maja Desnuda by Goya housed in El Prado Museum in Madrid

7.) El Cristo Crucificado by Zurbaran housed in El Prado Museum in Madrid

Tomarrow

Nino and I hope to visit the Holy Cross Abbey again. Weather permitting, we would love to do some sketches of the place.

Nino has also started glass etching and metal wire sculpting. Both are harder than they sound.

Anything to keep me away from the Poppy Seed (PLEASE CHECK IT OUT HERE, a new store down town. They have the cutest hippie clothes you have ever seen. You would not believe some of things I have bought! Won't John be surprised!

Duende

"Duende is a quintessentially Spanish, supposedly untranslatable, concept originally referring to a supernatural fairy or spirit and still widely used in this sence in Latin America. In Spain, the term has come to signify a moment of cathartic ecsatcy in art, particulary flamenco and bullfighting (bullfighting is concidered art, not sport in Spain), when the artist or performer, and by extension the audience, is consumed with the raw, volitle energy of pure creation in the face of death."

~25 Ultimate Experiences Spain

How's that for some Spanish passion?

See some Spanish modern art HERE or in some of the Spain links to the right.

Pueblo Art Center

Nino went to the Sangre del Cristo Art Center in Pueblo. We looked at some great pastel art, then we went to the children's museum and played dress up and made masks. It was really fun, and most kids were in school, so we had the place to ourselves.

It is freezing here. Actually below freezing, and tonight it will get below 0 degrees!

Waste Your Wednesday

OK. If you are gonna waste your time. THIS IS what you should be doing!

How to make an Origami jumping frog!!

If you are one of the few who remember this from 5th grade, then I do not know you!

Otherwise, get wise and click HERE!

Done? Hopped? Bored? Make a rose!

Click here.

Think you are one skilled cookie?

Make a crane!!

Click here, sucker!

And send me a pic of your accomplishments!!

Denver Art Museum

We had another wonderful time in Denver today. Nino and I took Grandma back to the Art Museum. She loved the peices on loan from the Louvre the most. I was Very Excited to see the show, Color as a Field, which was not going on last week when Nino and I were there. They are extremely abstract paintings (Rothko and such), so Grandma was much less interested in them.

Click HERE to read more info on that show.

Click HERE to see more pictures of our trip.

Later, when I can get the pics off my camera, there will be some of last week's visit there. The 2 shows on loan (Louvre and Color Field) did not allow photography.

Waste Your Wednesday

This one is sooo fun.

Waste this silly little Wednesday with ART!!

Click here to paint like Jackson Pollock. (Click the mouse to change color.)

Sunday Seven

Cole was under the weather yesterday, so Nessa could not go to Denver. Nino came with me instead. It was his first hockey game. I was just excited to see some of the players that I have not seen in Anaheim, although it felt wierd cheering for another team! We stayed the night in Denver and went to the Denver Art Museum the next day. All our fun inspired this next Sunday Seven. Sorry it's late!

At the Hockey Game

Sunday Seven List of Reasons to Visit Denver

1. It is relatively clean and safe- especially compared to DC or LA.

2. Traffic and parking were not a problem, and it was not hard to get around. We never really got lost, although we had some trouble finding the Pepsi Center. Really. How hard is it to see a Stadium!

3. The leaves change and fall off, and it snows! Seasons! Cities look gorgeous changing in the seasons. I think that was DC's only saving grace.

4. The Avalanche are a good team, and the fans are even better. The stadium was fuller and louder than most of the Ducks games I have been to. And the Avs lost!

The Avalanche from our seats

5. The Denver Art Museum is the best museum I have been to so far. Smaller than LACMA, it is two buildings with gardens and large sculptures in the courtyards. It was pretty easy to find what we wanted and they had a ton of interactive games and things to do. Also, it is located downtown right next to the state capital buildings and park, which made for a pretty walk.

Nino playing dress up at the Museum

6. You are only two hours away from the fantastic city of Pueblo West (where my family is)!

7. I had a wonderful time and I want to go back to do some of the things that we did not have time for this trip. I really want to go back to the Museum as well. They are having a show of paintings, drawings, furniture, and treasures on loan from The Louvre that were once housed in Versailles. That is all right up my alley. There is also a big amusement park right next to the stadium, but it was closed for the winter.

Flamenco Dancing

FALMENCO is both a style of dance and a style of music. There are 2 major types. One is more or less faster and the other is more or less slower. It sort of reminds me of bellydancing (especially the hand work) mixed with tapdancing. I am sure I simplifying this to the n'th degree, but I am still learning about it.

Looking for some examples, these were the best I could find. The film is a bit grainy, but the dancing is very fun.

This is a guy dancing Flamenco. You can really see the passion in his dance.

This is a woman dancer. You won't believe what all she can do in a dress with such a long train!!

Like I said, these were the best I could find. If you see something better, let me know, and I will post it.

Pictures Of Andalucia

You would not believe how hard it has been for me to find some pictures of the area we are going to. These are photos taken in the region we will be living in. (Click next at the top of the photo to see more.) They are beautiful and various.

Click HERE to see.

And for a quick video of pictures and small slice of history, watch this video:

Tell me what you think. Comment below.