Home made in Spain
We have always been a bit of a
Mr. and Mrs. Homemade but the door of opportunity has recently
opened wider. We have started growing vegetables on a larger
scale this year. Liz’s insistence on using fresh vegetables and
herbs in her cooking has prompted us to become more ambitious so
we have increased production fourfold and so has the size of the
vegetables. Liz has been making curtains and cushions and I have
been welding gates and pergolas. There is so much excess fruit
going spare here that I have tried making cherry wine and a wine
from the local nisperos. Both seem to have been a great success
so watch out next year! I have bought the dustbins ready for the
next fermentations. Liz’s homemade jam and preserves especially
her crema de limón have raised her to guru status amongst the
ladies of Tárbena and she is also supplying the local
bar/restaurant with preserves for their special breakfasts.
Slipping into the Spanish
way of life
and the Casa Abadia exhibition in Tarbena
This
summer has been continuously sunny and with long hot days in
abundance. When alone I seem to spend my day working in
underpants and flip flops. I feel the need to explain that
the underpants are from M&S and are in good condition but the
flip flops are not. They are nearly as old as me and they have
developed an extra flop to become flip flop flops. You can tell
we have slid into the Spanish way of life because we tend to
avoid the sun and have adopted so many habits that are necessary
to cope with such a hot climate, ice in the wine and sleeping at
midday. The studio is the coolest place in the house and during
the hot weather the dogs and I choose to spend most of our time
working, thinking or taking a siesta in there. We have
definitely been taken into the fold of a great group of Spanish
friends in Tárbena and as a result are experiencing fiestas and
happenings which are totally Spanish. It is such a privilege and
a warm feeling to be accepted. We have even been invited to a
spanish wedding and we are presently in a panic because I look
ridiculous in my old suit and I threw away all my ties on moving
out here.
This
summer I had an exhibition of my paintings in the local
village Tárbena. It was only for the two days during an artisans
fair in the village. It was held in a lovely old falling down
house called the Casa Abadia which was the house of the local
pastor years ago and is still owned by the church. With three
nudes in the collection I was expecting to maybe get struck by
lightning but apart from the occasional visit from some of the
old ladies in the village who speeded up somewhat when they
reached the unclothed section there were no negative reactions.
The exhibition was a success. I was in the gallery for two long
days and there was a constant stream of visitors and it was a
great opportunity to meet local people and talk about the work.
It was also a good if not slightly scary opportunity to practice
my Spanish.
I had two gallons of red wine from the bodega ready to oil the
wheels with the visitors but on the Saturday morning Juan the
plumber came in. Plumbers are called ‘fontaneros’ here which I
think is a great name. Many people in the village make their own
wine and Juan makes some of the best. He was quick to say
“You’re not drinking that stuff are you?” He returned 20 minutes
later with a box of 12 bottles of his own best red wine for me
to try. It was a lovely wine. On Sunday Fernando my neighbour
came in and asked who had made the wine in the box. I said “Juan
the fontanaro.” “You’re not drinking that are you?” Not to be
outdone he brought a gallon of his own and we decided to do a
wine tasting session for Sunday breakfast. I had not got to my
bed until 5am in the morning from the previous nights fiesta so
I was struggling a bit. After Fernando had gone Juan came back
in about 11 o’clock. He said “You look a bit rough…. I have got
just the thing for you!” He returned 10 minutes later with a
bottle with just two inches left in the bottom of an intense
yellowy green liquid. That either means it is so precious it is
only offered in small quantities or it is so evil people are
scared to drink it. The latter was true. “Orujo!” he announced.
Juan being a fontanero had supposedly made himself some special
equipment and this orujo was his own distilled wine but it was
way over 40% proof and it also contained an herb. I had to guess
the herb and was way off the mark with rosemary. The orujo is
allegedly matured in a bucket full of marijuana leaves! It
certainly did not make me feel any better; it took a bacon and
omelette baguette and a paella later that day before that
happened.
I had lots of enquiries about painting babies
which I politely sidestepped. I got a very serious enquiry about
the black female nude painting above the fireplace. A farmer
Miguel who is in his seventies, a small and thick set man but
stronger than most blokes in their forties was very keen to buy.
He is sure he knew her as a singer and dancer on Cuban TV. He
was not interested in my explanation when I said she is called
Sue and she is from Uttoxeter. When I told him the price he
asked what was the equivalent price in wine and rabbits. I still
haven't worked it out yet.
It was a great experience and has prepared
me a little more for a larger
exhibition in the nearby town of Callosa d’en Sarriá.
Tom painting in Spain at
last…
As
I get more and more time to spend on my own painting at last I
have the time to strike a balance between painting and thinking.
I understand that in the past with full time teaching
commitments my paintings have been on safe ground with only
limited development. Now is the time to leap into the void and
take some chances! As
Tracey Emin said “I am standing on the edge of a precipice but
it is a wonderful view...”
I have a two pronged attack. I have always
had a liking for complex surfaces and the complicated multi
layered techniques offered by oil painting. I also want to
respond to the ‘Spanish ness’ that is all around me. My first
line of thought is to paint the people in fiesta mode in the
spectacular costumes of the Moros and Cristianos fiestas. I am
working on three paintings on this theme based on last year’s
fiestas. The largest and most ambitious painting is of a Moro
prince on horseback. It is something of a penance with many
hours to be spent on detail and the challenge of rendering the
many different types of material. However Callosa is an
important town for these fiestas and it is a display piece that
will hopefully attract commissions from the exhibition in
December. By taking on such a technically ambitious project I am
also using it as a warming up exercise to improve the fluency in
my painting.
My second line of thought is still based on
people and requires much more thinking and is really where I
want to go as a painter. I have taught young people all my life
and now I have seven grandchildren, young people and their
future are of concern to me. I had a discussion recently with a
friend of mine Astrid. She is a psychologist and has great
affinity with the creative process. She said that the true
artist must reflect the pain in the world, it is their
responsibility. This helped me crystallize my thoughts because
my feelings are of a more optimistic nature. One thing that has
stayed with me after years of teaching is that young people
always enter the world with fresh optimism. Like all previous
generations they believe they can make a difference and want to
improve on what was there before. This next generation of young
people has perhaps the greatest challenge yet. Without their
optimism and our support we will change nothing. Other artists
and the TV news can deal with the pain. Some of the best people
I have known have been 17 and 18 years old and I want to deal
positively with the future, their future.
I find it is possible in everybody’s face to
detect conflicting emotions which occur at the same time;
determination with anxiety or arrogance paralleled with
insecurity. I think this phenomenon is even more transparent in
the faces of young people. They have a determination to deal
with the future yet this is combined with a certain lack of
confidence clearly because this is the first time for them. More
than any other artist, I think Rembrandt has been able to
capture this ambiguity with such success that he almost touches
the very soul of his subject. This is where I want to go.
I
am working on a painting at the moment called ‘a conversation
with Goya’. I have a young Spanish face which shows the pride
and attitude which is so Spanish. She is both strong and yet
uncertain. I am no longer concerned with becoming a slave to
achieving a likeness. I am concerned more with searching for the
qualities which express the emotions I am trying capture. I
start with a face that interests me and then take the rest of
the journey in my imagination. The context and the story develop
along the way. It is a wonderful feeling of liberation with open
ended possibilities. However I do think I have liberated myself
from the frying pan only to find it a little hotter in the fire.
In this particular painting there are also references to Goya
whose work I am drawn to more and more as part of my journey to
get to know Spain.
To friends old and new, if you have any enquiries or news
do not
hesitate to ring Tom and Liz on 0034 96588 4309
or contact us by e
mail
