Art Adventures - by Patricia Banks©
Published March 2020 in Nanaimo Magazine and Voyager Magazine
Published March 2020 in Nanaimo Magazine and Voyager Magazine
For many years the song “Granada”, full of emotion and sung by a good tenor, has always enchanted me. Thoughts of the warmth and beauty of southern Spain – would beckon me to its passion for life and artistic flare. I never imagined I would have the chance to embrace its people, culture, and history in person.
A visit to the Alhambra, a royal palace and fortress complex overlooking the city of Granada, was awe-inspiring. Originally built in 889 on Roman Ruins, it has weathered centuries of occupations and neglect, and has also been enhanced by successive rulers. It is Spain’s most significant and well known Islamic architecture, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As a landscape painter, it was mind-shifting to explore and study the buildings and formal garden designs.
Thick stone and red brick walls surround 35 acres of stunning, formally designed buildings, punctuated with a myriad of marble arches, keyhole style doors and windows, intriguing stairways, and peaceful courtyards. It is an artistic feast of geometry! Unending geometric patterns, symmetry, repetition, and precision embellish the colourful tiles, plasterwork, marble, carved wood, and stone paths of this marvelous place. Numerous fountains, reflecting pools, water courses, spectacular formal gardens, and splendid views offer relaxing sensations of visual calm.
The artist in me wrestles with how to express my emotions. How do I represent on canvas, the stimulation of all of my senses at once? How can I paint what I have witnessed and share this story so that it is music to your ears as well? Hummm… the work of an artist is hard… after all, it is called art-work! Choose your next Art Adventure by visiting my Nanaimo Studio/Gallery! Cheers, Patricia
A visit to the Alhambra, a royal palace and fortress complex overlooking the city of Granada, was awe-inspiring. Originally built in 889 on Roman Ruins, it has weathered centuries of occupations and neglect, and has also been enhanced by successive rulers. It is Spain’s most significant and well known Islamic architecture, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As a landscape painter, it was mind-shifting to explore and study the buildings and formal garden designs.
Thick stone and red brick walls surround 35 acres of stunning, formally designed buildings, punctuated with a myriad of marble arches, keyhole style doors and windows, intriguing stairways, and peaceful courtyards. It is an artistic feast of geometry! Unending geometric patterns, symmetry, repetition, and precision embellish the colourful tiles, plasterwork, marble, carved wood, and stone paths of this marvelous place. Numerous fountains, reflecting pools, water courses, spectacular formal gardens, and splendid views offer relaxing sensations of visual calm.
The artist in me wrestles with how to express my emotions. How do I represent on canvas, the stimulation of all of my senses at once? How can I paint what I have witnessed and share this story so that it is music to your ears as well? Hummm… the work of an artist is hard… after all, it is called art-work! Choose your next Art Adventure by visiting my Nanaimo Studio/Gallery! Cheers, Patricia
