Winter

Brrrr it's cold. I was hiking in the Collserola Mountains yesterday and it was biting cold. Even though I was moving up hills and across forests the cold air was still getting into my bones. My friend, David, and I were out in the gorgeous landscape for 3 hours at least. When we came back to Baixador de Valvidrella to catch the train back to Barcelona I could barely move my arms - they were frozen. It wasn't until we got a hot chocolate in Placa Catalunya that my hands finally started to have some life back in them. Perhaps it was more the nature of the hot chocolate than it's status as a hot drink. Spanish hot chocolate is traditionally much more dank than what American's are used to but this one went to new heights. It was literally like 4 or 5 melted chocolate bars in a cup - I couldn't even finish it! However I did feel much better after holding the cup and downing half of it :)



I spent this past weekend in Madrid. It was a four day holiday to celebrate the Spanish National Freedom from French invasion. Though it was a chilly and rainy several days it was really nice to be in an authentically Spanish city for a change (not Catalunya) and to see some more art in the HUGE museums there. I was particularly taken with the impressionist paintings in the Thyssen museum. Though I've looked at impressionist work before something was different this time. I was seeing how the overlapping puzzle pieces represented how I see the world: a lot of different ideas and images that blend into each other and make a lot of sense if you stand back and look at it with a broad perspective. When you are closer to the piece you see the inricacies of layers and color blending and the detail of each section is very important. As a whole the artwork is a cohesive piece that speaks symbolically. I think that if I can approach my work form this angle that I might be happier with the results. I tend to try and force myself into creating more literal and realistic interpretations instead of the symbolic. Anyway, this was my Madrid epiphany - hopefully I can do something wonderful with it.

This is the last and busiest week of the fall term - everybody's buzzing about trying to get everything done....including me.

I hope you all have happy and healthy holidays.