We went to Spain in May and I want to share it with you before the year is up. It was a two-country trip, along with Holland, with travelers from the Laguna College of Art and Design. I blogged the Holland part in August. As you’ll see, it’s hard to pare down all the great images of the place. For our own use I made a book, actually two, one for Holland and one for Spain. The following are about half the spreads from the Spain book. Click on each one for a larger view.

The cover, simple, a door opening to another world.

The changing of the guard in Madrid. Anne and me somewhere, and a distinctive street cover in Cordoba.

We were in the cities of Granada, Seville, Cordoba and Madrid. Above was a brief bus stop in La Mancha.

It’s hard not to photograph every distinctive door one comes across, and they’re almost all distinctive.

The houses are not to be seen, only a wall with a great door, often opening onto a patio.

Being an art trip we were in museums virtually every day, often two, sometimes big an famous, sometimes small an intimate.

And in the museums we’d muse long at the art, or photograph it, or draw it.

This is a collection from various museums, all self-portraits by some known painter from the past.

Cordoba was a favored city by us and, right, a store where Anne found a number of wearables. Waiting, I photographed the cracks in the street.

And here they are, the street shots, great fodder for abstracts in paint to stretch across some hotel wall.

Our lodgings were just adjacent to this, the bullfight museum. The icon of the bull often to be found.

We’d been here before some years back. The Muslim-built Mezquita was constructed atop an early Christian worship center, later over taken by Catholic dominance. Fortunately they left a good bit of this stunning architecture.

The light helps the grandeur; in earlier days it would have been by firelight, flickering and with many dark corners, wouldn’t you think?

We found our way to this Flamenco Museum (Cordoba), a relic of a building. The early photo on the right is the same place, lived in, many years ago.

Now and then there would be a street artist selling his craft. I found this three-wheeled, folding box table quite ingenious. (Maybe I should make one and hit the streets.)

Encountered this lovely lass with her steed, letting all know there would be a show that night. We told her she was beautiful and bought tickets.

The Andalusian is the pure Spanish horse, here highly trained to perform. The beasts were great, the equestrians also, with the dancer adding a bit of sass.

This was our second visit to Granada and the Alhambra, another majestic monument to early Islamic presence in Spain.

It was the Corps Cristi holiday in Granada with wonderful surprises day and night. I made a breakfast-time sketch of that roofline at right (see book produced from the trip). There’s me with hat down one more cathedral street.

With the holiday comes elegant and festive and period dress, always with flowers in the hair.

More symmetry, geometric design and peaceful order at the Alhambra.

Somebody said all this says, “God is great,” over and over again. I don’t know. (Except that of course He is.)

That’s me taking a break during a long tour, (middle) another beautifully tiled floor and (right) an artist making and selling in an earlier time. Things haven’t changed much. (Click it.)

Speaking of art in an earlier time, churches like this, adorned like this, seem to be at every few blocks in Seville.

Also in Seville (though could have been anywhere), a flamenco guitar and dancer. You might remember the picture of her and the painting I made from an earlier blog.

Having friends in Madrid, I left a city tour for an afternoon at the bull fights. Got many great photos, but I’ll spare you and just offer these poses of pageantry and posture. (Would be great as paintings.)

My almost ring-side seat offered this great closeup of a picador riding by. (Right), there’s Anne after a rain, happy being alive. (Click it.)

A couple photos of us. I have this exact pose in front of this exact painting (a Motherwell at the Madrid Prado) from four years earlier.

Pigeons, children, parents, and gypsies.  All part of life in the streets.

Last day, members of our group moving on. By the way, there’s a show up this month of paintings produced by participants on that trip. It’s at the LCAD Gallery, 374 Ocean Avenue in Laguna Beach. Just for your interest, click here the piece I have in the show.

Thanks for looking. It’s been a lot I know, though only half of what it could have been. Though this book was singular and unavailable (unless someone wants to send me the $150 it cost to make), the sketchbook from the trip is quite affordable, and highly interesting as well (if I do say so). It’s on the website with the others, here.

Advent greetings to you. Looking forward to more art, more travels, and more joy of life in the new year.