Original Post by SingleMaltMonkey
So, good morning blog fans, back after a week or so in the lovely sunshine of southern Spain where the Monkey’s keeper and I have been painting the landscapes around us with Paint Andalucía. Suffice to say we had a great time and more stories will come out as the week(s) go by. Fi and I were a bit unsure. Having never been on a group holiday before we were a bit wary. You know, you don’t want to have to put up with the whiner or some clinging hanger-on for a week. It could really spoil things. Thankfully, though, not the case here. We were a group of two ladies from California, a couple from Israel, a couple of ladies from Hemel Hempstead, one from London and me and Fi. We had a great time with no drips or idiots and we just went with the flow of an amazing week.
Our tutor and guide for the week was the lovely, talented and creative artist Anna Martin (ably assisted on this occasion by Geraldine McDonald, I hope I’ve got the spelling right), whose work is rich with texture, colour and inspiration.
If you think you’re gonna come here and paint prissy landscapes guided by Anna’s hand then think again (though, if that’s what you want to do, then fine). Anna’s guidance is to get you thinking and reacting in a much more fluid and free way. But – more of painting in the next instalment. Firstly, where were we ? !
Torrox Pueblo – a lovely hillside village about 50 kilometres east of Malaga with a serenely peaceful plaza where you can while away a balmy evening, or sunlit siesta, sipping wine or cerveza from the bars. Tapas aplenty.
The village itself is about 5 kilometres inland, Torrox Costa being the beach resort, which leaves it exquisitely free of the beach ball and soccer shirt sonics of other Spanish holiday villages which hug the coast.
Saturday was “welcome and intro” day and after our settling in period we reconvened in the evening for the first of what were to be several excellent tapas dinners in the village square. Food would play a significant part in our week of paint. It was bound to – we were in the Med – and it was universally outstanding !
Sunday was first real painting day followed by a great evening dinner, again. Monday was a trip to Frigiliani for sketching and an afternoon banquet at “Maria’s” . Tuesday we visited the Alcazaba, a Moorish fortification in Malaga, to paint.
Wednesday was rest day though Fi and I spent the day painting the square in Torrox Pueblo. On Thursday we tripped out to the wonderfully evocative village of Acebuchal, the village of Ghosts, in the mountains above Malaga. What a superb village for painting. The sun burned casting the village in a bright white light and we scattered our boards and easels. There was perfect peace, silence, inspiration, and dare I say again, superb food in the afternoon !
Friday was tidy up and finish off any paintings that required some additional treatment, or perhaps you could start another one from the viewpoint of our host’s, Dave and Gill Armstead, veranda.
Then, to round things off in style for the evening, our hosts had arranged as a “special”, a trip to Torrox Costa to a tapas bar where we would see live flamenco. Fantastic. If you’ve witnessed this you’ll know how stunning it is – if you haven’t, you must. More drinks and farewells in Torrox village Plaza and we had all made some new friends, discovered some new painting skills and techniques, developed a tan, ate great food and were generally rather smug. I know it’s not always like this, but hey, when it is, go with it.
Paintings and more coming up……………
