Thursday, May 26, 2011

Gaudi Mosaics...

Now that we are home and over the jet lag (that took a full week) and back into the routine of life here in Encinitas...some wonderful Barcelona visions and ideas are dancing through my head !  Mainly Gaudi and mosaic ideas...breaking tiles & plates and piecing them all back together seems so therapeutic doesn't it ?  

Antonio Gaudi

On the path to his house

Mosaic tile wall in Park Guell 


Close up of a few of the mosaic squares that make up this beautiful wall in the Park Guell, originally constructed as a planned community in the beginning of the 20th century.  This is where Gaudi's house is.

The planned community didn't take off, and it was converted into a public park in 1923 and a World Heritage site in 1969. Worth visiting !





Me loving & being inspired by the tiles


A ceiling medallion in a park pavilion

Ceiling medallion

Upper wall around one of the parks plaza's

Inside of the plaza wall is seating all the way around the plaza

After a little practice, I think I'll be ready to redo the front of my house in mosaic !


In thinking about this post on Gaudi, I checked Etsy to see if I could find any mosaic delights to share...and I did, I did !  There are many fine craftsmen who have been inspired too, so I put together an 
Etsy Treasury that lists some wonderfully creative ideas...check them out and be inspired too.

Barcelona Print

Mosaic mirror
Enamel Cuff

Handmade embossed ceramic tiles
I hope you enjoyed this little visit to a piece, albeit Gaudi is a very large piece of Barcelona.  It's a wonderfully exciting and beautiful city and I would highly recommend a visit there...or at the very least...break a few plates and create a little Barcelona and Gaudi influence in your own little piece of the world map. 

And if you do...please share your creations and comments here...we'd love to hear from you...ENJOY!



Wednesday, May 18, 2011

No place like home !

Finally home...feeling a bit toasted...a lot tired...and a little French !



Needless too say...there are piles of laundry pulled out of suitcases, sorted and ready to tend to...maps and memorabilia to file away...emails & phone calls to answer...sleep to chase and try to catch up on...not to mention getting back to business for both of us.

We saw so much and both truly delighted in the experiences we shared...though one thing is for sure...

There is no place like home Dorothy! 

Thank you for following along and for all the fun comments you sent us along the way.  After a short break from postings and pictures...and once I'm back in this time zone...I'll share a few more cool things that got my creative juices flowing.   For now, my little iPad and I  are taking a rest !


Sunday, May 15, 2011

OMG...Gaudi !

Here we are on the final few days of our European Vacation...and we are both exhausted ! We need a rest. We're so glad to have saved Barcelona for last though, it's a wonderful city and has so much to see and experience...all in two days!
So we tried to focus on one thing...Gaudi...and what an eyeful! If you've seen his work you know what I'm talking about...amazing!

Here's Jim with a photo of Gaudi...




Gaudi was a Catalonian architect and much of his work was marked by the four passions of his life: architecture, nature, religion and his love for Catalonia. He meticulously studied every detail of his creations, integrating into his architecture a series of crafts, in which he himself was skilled, such as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry. My artist and craftsman friends would love the work here. I'm happy to say I have Catalonian in my family heritage...I'm with my people!




Sagrada Família, is one of the most visited monuments in Spain. Between 1984 and 2005 seven of Gaidi's works were also declared World Heritage Sites.





Rarely did Gaudí draw detailed plans of his works, he preferred to create them as three-dimensional scale models, moulding all details as he was conceiving them in his mind. The workshops and studios are still here and still being used today to work on the completion of the church.







Sketches done by Josep Maria Subirachs, who designed the "Passion Facade" of the church...it's pretty spectacular !




And here is the finished (almost) project, you can see the scale of the Passion Facade here...truly amazing.








These photos do not do justice to the beauty that is here.




Jim steps in as a reference to how big this church is. It holds 1,000 choir members...easily...and will have 4 very large pipe organs when complete. We were lucky to hear a small part of the choir rehearsing while we were there...the sound was heavenly.




The ceiling in the main part of the church. Each circle is a beautiful ceramic tile.




Each stained glass window tells a story...and there are hundreds of them !




Simple tiles that were made by Gaudi to represent the nature and flowers that were on the site when they started building the Sagrada Familia.




When Gaudí died in 1926, the basilica was between 15 and 25 per cent complete, it's planned completion date is 2026, the centennial of Gaudi's death.



Me with one of the turtles holding up an exterior column on the Nativity Facade of the church. Tomorrow we'll check out a few Gaudi houses about town...then we'll be packing up and headed back to our own little tin house... delighted to do so!



Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Barcelona, Spain

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Logrono

Here we are on Wednesday in Logrono Spain...the Capitol of the Spanish wine country. It's yet another beautiful, though larger that Santo Domingo, Spanish city...a college town actually.





I love how Logrono has mixed old with the new...like this new wall in front of old buildings...





...or this old wall in front of new buildings.





This lovely river flows down the center of the city with beautiful parks and walkways along side it to enjoy...everything was so lush.





The old stone bridge crossing the river.





Peeking through the old stone bridge.





We're getting pretty good at our self timed photos...that explains why all our photos look the same with the same pose...I only have10 seconds to get in the frame!





We can't seem to get enough of these old European streets and the homes that line them...so charmingly inviting!





For two people who aren't particularly religious...we love seeking out and touring old churches. This double steeple was very impressive from all parts of the city.





Unfortunately it wasn't open while were there so we couldn't tour inside.





These bikers were traveling the Santiago 400 mile pilgrimage on bike...we wished them safe travels as they passed by us and the cathedral.





Another example of old and new...these 2'x2 ' dice made out of stone where in the plaza of the ancient church...very cool.





In the center of town there was a lovely formal rose garden...beautifully maintained.





The roses smelled heavenly and filled the air.






In the center...Barcelona himself !





Even the graffiti was great...very Bansky!





I saw these two mugs several times throughout the city ! ;)





A couple of kitties stopped by to visit and remind us of our little one, Paint, at home waiting for our return.





Another great day Honey...on to the next adventure...Barcelona ..





Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Spain