map-making in españa

i had the great fortune of spending my junior year of college in Spain.  unfortunately, i was, as you would assume...a junior in college.  so, experiences that i might have pursued had i been less distracted by navel-gazing tribulations barely registered on my Important Things map.  at least, that's how it seems in retrospect.

even so, a few glimmers of push-pin worthy map-making occurred for me through the art lecture course i took that year.  and, during winter travels, i was able to lay eyes on the art of Antoni Gaudí and Joan Miró in Barcelona, that unique city that is neither Spanish & certainly not French but something all its own ~ the majestic Pyrenees to the north, the seductive Mediterranean lapping its eastern edges.

i have encountered Miró exhibits twice in recent years.  the second (making the once into twice) was this weekend at the Nasher Art Museum.  (no photography allowed of his work, except the sculpture below owned by the Nasher.)  my favorite Miró paintings are the smaller, 'busy' ones with muted background colors; this exhibit had very large canvases with thick, bold strokes on primarily white backgrounds.  but i was interested to see some Miró sculptures, the most recent one in the exhibit from 1981 - two years before his death at age ninety!

we strolled through the other galleries,

and these are a few of the pieces

that caught my gaze.

not a Wyeth...in case you wondered.

loved this one ~ like a tattoo of sorts.

mostly liked for the story (below) & the benevolence.

~ i'd never heard of this saint ~

 i was taken with several works by an artist named Bruce Conner, who seems known for his mandalas.

here is one of his pieces...plus my shadow reflection.

 we went on Family Day

(it's free)

& enjoyed not being all of these parents

with little children.

young woman with red stockings.  (and a family portrait in the background.)

family portrait, part ii.

i've been going to Ninth Street for many years.

long ago, there was a shop

where you could make your own earrings.

i loved that place.

now we go for the Regulator & Chubby's Tacos.

rainy sky over Chubby's

so, maybe i shouldn't discount the map-making i did in Spain.  even if i would fold down different page corners in the guide book today.  it's easy, from a distance of decades, to point to the missed opportunities of youth....and forget the ones taken were broad & necessary coastlines for the increasingly detailed topography of one's life.