The Artists of Barcelona

Today was an awesome day!

I walked all the way into the MACBA (Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art) to meet my friend, Jessie, who is a thriving Artist herself.  Many museums and galleries are free on the first Sunday of each month, so we thought we'd take advantage of it.  It took me over an hour to walk there, and when I finally arrived we were told that they don't host those freebies any longer, so we said "hmph!" and proceeded through the Barri Gotico to the area known as La Ribera, to the Picasso Museum.  That was free today and you could tell by the loooong line-up we had to wait in to get in.  Don't fret!  Two Aquarian pixies waiting in a line-up for an art gallery can find A LOT to talk about.  :)

I learned a lot about Picasso today.  No, he's not just some weird guy who was made famous by his paintings of distorted figures with dislocated facial parts and features.  NO!  He was so much more than that and I had no idea until today!  I am so glad I went, because I have a new found respect for Picasso.  Myself, I am more interested in realism art (so Jessie tells me), and was never much into Picasso's movement for cubism.  Personally, I thought his paintings were ugly.  But after today I have a whole other take on his work - for instance, did you know that Picasso created 58 works of art influenced solely by Diego Valazquez's "Las Meninas"?  After seeing how he re-created this painting, I realized the guy was a bloody genius!  And you know what they say: genius and insanity are one in the same.  Before I thought Picasso was probably insane.  Now I know he was a genius. Check out:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Meninas.  Then take a look at this picture below.  See?

Jessie and I were enjoying our afternoon together, but time slipped away and she had to run home for a pre-arranged Skype date with her sister.  It was about 3:00 in the afternoon and the sun was shining full bore, and as I started heading north along Calle de Lleido, I thought "Forget it, I'm not going home yet!", and I turned on my heels southward towards Port Vell and La Barceloneta.  Port Vell/La Barceloneta is an area which I had walked through once a couple of years ago, but couldn't really remember too much of.  I'm glad I went.  The sun was shining, I sat and ate my lunch in the sunshine against a marble wall, with views of the harbour on one side of me, and the old town on the other side of me.

I watched the tourists come and go.  Everyone seemed so happy and alive, and thrilled to be in Barcelona, but I personally think the sun puts everyone in a good mood no matter where in the world you are!  In my Lonely Planet "Barcelona City Guide" that I carry with me, there is a walking tour of Port Vell/La Barceloneta, and I decided that this afternoon must surely be as good a time as any to do it.  So I started in good faith, but I didn't get very far before I saw a number of artists in an outdoor exhibition in front of the Maremagnum and Aquarium.  One artist's work in particular caught my eye.  I loved his use of bright, bold colours, and his perspective of the Catalan countryside. 

The artist himself was busy working away at a new creation, using a tiny spatula to apply big gobs of glorious colours onto his canvas, using swiping motions of his wrist, wiping his spatula off on a cloth after every stroke, and then adding just the perfect amount of paint to his spatula again to lightly add depth and texture with even deeper colours.  He'd push his long hair out of his eyes and haunch over in his chair, focussed, seemingly unaware that anyone was watching him at all, and that anyone who was watching him was absolutely captivated by his creations.  Being the Canadian I am, I felt I might be disturbing him if I stopped to commend him on his work.  So I started to walk away.  But then something stopped me.  I don't know what it was, but I just could not bring myself to move away from that area, from those paintings, from the bubble of energy he was creating there.  It was just that little whisper you know?  That little nudge, that presence that told me that it wasn't right to leave just yet.  So I turned around again and this time I bent down to take a closer look at the paintings, kneeling in front of them to admire his work, trying to get a sense of his angle, his vision.  There was one painting in particular that I just could not keep my eyes off of.   It was a painting of the tree covered Las Ramblas, with vibrant flowers and figurines walking down the road, seemingly fully enjoying their lives here in Barcelona.  All of a sudden I was inside the painting, walking down Las Ramblas with those faceless figurines, feeling the sun on my back and hearing both Catalan and Spanish, laughing... and it was at that moment that I fell in love with that painting, right then and there.  Oh, but then I became AFRAID!  Afraid to ask how much this beautiful painting must be worth!  I figured it would be way too much for this student, and felt apprehensive about even suggesting that I was interested.  But they say you are supposed to do one thing that frightens you each day.  And if thats as scary as it gets, then certainly I can tackle that, right?  So I approached this seemingly happy artist and popped the question.  And when I did, his reaction was very positive!  Oh, he was extremely happy to tell me all about his work and his life and his joy of painting, and that the very picture I was interested in was only 230 euros!  I thought he was joking, or that I'd heard wrong, so I asked him to repeat himself.  He gladly repeated himself... yep, I heard right.  E230 for an original painting that I'd absolutely fallen in love with, and here I was, talking to the artist himself!  GET OUTTA TOWN!  That's it??  I said:

I'LL BUY IT!!

The artist, Vincent Miro, is a very jovial, youthful, energetic, boisterous Elemental himself, and what fun we had getting to know one another!  He was very thrilled to find that I am Canadian, and proceeded to tell me that three other Canadians had also bought paintings from him, how wonderful we all were, etc etc... and I loved listening to him!  Such a life!  Such happiness pouring out of this man who is so obviously living his dream, and living in his element.  He speaks no English, but he does speak French, Catalan and of course Spanish.  I was so happy to be talking with him, and so relieved that I hadn't ended up bothering him at all!  We giggled and laughed, and I listened to his stories about how his parents didn't want him to be a painter... but he persevered and is now living his life to the fullest!  He is an excellent artist.  I'm enthralled with his work.  He even signed the back of my painting, and inscribed a personal dedication, too!  Awesome, huh?  At one point during our lively conversation he said to me (in Spanish):

VINCENT:  Ahhh, it's such a wonderful day!  So, what are you doing?  Let's go for a drink, whatdayasay?
ME: (not sure I heard him properly) uhhhh... now?
VINCENT: (flapping his arms rambunctiously) DO YOU WANT TO GO FOR A DRINK RIGHT NOW WITH ME?  YES or NO?!
ME: (gulp) uhhhh..... yes??
VINCENT: Great!  Let's go!

And with that he literally dropped everything and walked over to the nearby outdoor bar, pulled up a seat at the closest table that was in the sunshine and from where he could also watch his post, and then proceeded to order up Bombay Sapphires for each of us.  Can you imagine me, the confused Canadian, stumbling along behind him going "uh... uh, but... uh.....?"  God, Bombay Sapphire, the sunshine, a bubbily artist... I could not believe I was actually experiencing this.  He gave me the whole run-down of his life, his parents, his daughter (who is my age!), her two children, his lovers, his time at fine art school in France, his time in Madrid with the clientele who have TONS of money and just contract him to paint just about anything... and his love of life here in Catalonia.  His view is that people are way too distracted by the media, he thinks its awful how we think we have to have "things" and need to spend our money on superficial lifestyles just to be happy, when in the end no one really is happy at all!  He ensures me that his life is full and wonderful, and that no, he doesn't have a lot of money, but what does he really need?  Personally, I thought he was absolutely wonderful!  I was tickled to be sitting with him, flattered that he had even invited me to join him just out of the blue like that.  On two occassions while we were sitting there at our sunny table, "clients" of his came up to talk with him, and they'd made the treck down to Port Vell just to visit with him and see his latest works... one such couple he actually invited to sit down with us, and we all had a great time chatting and laughing, listening to Vincent's animated stories, and getting to know one another.  I think it's such a compliment that Vincent thought highly enough of me to introduce me to his clients, a beautiful couple by the names of Elena and Joseph, who in turn invited me to come out to their place one day very soon.  I'm thrilled, and extremely grateful that I've met this very fine artist, that he isn't just some guy I'm buying a painting from, and that he is so friendly and personable, and so easily spreads the joy he feels about his life and his work to everyone he meets.  And when I saw the way he interacted with clients and the public alike, I realized that he is very well liked and admired by many, infact all who meet him. 

Good thing I finally started walking home when I did.  Those Bombay Sapphires were starting to make me giggle just a liiiiiitle too much!  ha ha!  Such fun!  (I will go back on Saturday to pick up my painting, as he had literally just finished painting it {it took him only 3 hours to complete! can you friggin' believe that??}, and it was still a bit moist).  So it took me about an hour and a half of brisk walking to get home from Port Vell.  phew!  I should really be stretching.  My calves are sore!  I figure I probably walked in total about 4 hours today... now that's some exercise!

When I got home both my roommates were home and starting to prepare their dinner in the kitchen, and of course Sammy the cat was hanging around checking out the action.  I told them my story in choppy Spanish - I don't know why, but I always feel so embarrassed to speak Spanish in front of Pam and Lucas.  I'm going to have to get over that, as they do nothing but encourage me to speak Spanish, and they help correct me when I need it, too.  We were all three, for once, standing in the kitchen together preparing our own meals, and chatting about our day and sharing ourselves with one another.  And I realized that there is space here.  There is freedom.  And there is a lot to be happy about.  :)

Charleen xo