Make no mistake: “Prairie” is a French word, not American! And when you want to know what it exactly means, just ask me…
A watercolour painted outside, last year in summer, in Spain, very close to where I live, between the mountains and the sea. Most of these little white Spanish houses which one can see everywhere there are abandoned. I have made many painting trips through Spain, and I have noticed something very characteristic for Spain. When the Spaniards don´t want to live any more in their houses, they just leave them how they are, go somewhere else or build a new house next to or even attached to the old one, without destroying it. So Spain is full of these little ruins, which somehow, appeal to my painter eye…
The Spaniards do the same too with their cars: they abandon them everywhere, probably exactly where they stop working, wherever it is!
The following poem, inspired by this painting, has been written by my dear friend David…
White walls cracked and peeled
away through time, forgot –
and sealed again with
younger hand
on canvas cloth.
-
Who’s laughter rang,
what battles fought?
Life restored then healed
and spirits linger not,
chased away with color
dropped –
from sable brush.
-
Songs were sang,
and peace was sought.
October 25, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Hi Miki:
What wonderfull watercolours you painted! Vibrant colours. In May 2000 I spend a month travelling trought Spain, montly Galizia and noticed this habit of building a new house just by the old one. This people seems not to like remodeling.
October 25, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Thanks Sylvia! Please to meet somebody who has been in Spain… Funny to hear that they have the same habits in the North of Spain as in the South. I wonder where it comes from. I guess it has much to do with their normal philosophy of life, called “mañana!” (which meens: what you could do today, better do it tomorrow!) . They might plan to destroy the ruins mañana, and mañana, and mañana again…I must say: a quite relaxing way of life… when you are not in a hurry!
October 25, 2007 at 10:02 pm
What does it mean – in English please.
Is that a spot of coffee just above the bright end of the building?
October 26, 2007 at 8:07 am
Very honoured to see you here, Bill.
A prairie is a field covered with grass or plants and used tor the feeding of the herds.
In that Spanish prairie the herd was wild bullfight bulls, so you can imagine which risks i´m taking painting the little house…
Well spotted the brown spot and very ingenious question!
But no, it´s not coffee , it ´s bull sh.., you know what I mean (sorry, I don´t know any other word in English for that). In fact one of the bulls started to chase after me while I was painting there, I run toward the house as if I had the devil behind me, climbed to the wall, he climbed after me, but stopped at that bright end of the wall and sh… Bulls use to to do that in Spain, a strange phenomenum, I would say, and amazing to observe…
October 26, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Yep, we are quite a bit alike. I like to paint dangerously also. Sometimes I will paint when it looks like it might rain and I don’t even have an umbrella.
October 26, 2007 at 7:18 pm
I always thought, you were a very brave man, Bill!
May 4, 2008 at 6:47 pm
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