Author: Kate Wilson

Picasso now

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

This week we are ‘doing’ Picasso in the summer school. It neatly fits in with the circus activities as Picasso often painted clowns and travelling circus people in his early work.
Before I write about the art work I just want to say what fun it was to do an introductory clown class. We had to imagine our eyes on the ends of our noses and walk around the room, looking with our noses. It makes a huge difference to how you walk!
Then we walked one by one across the room, as normally as you can when a group of children are watching you.  After deciding what stood out most about our way of walking, we then copied and exaggerated it. This class only lasted about 10 minutes as the group was suffering from an attack of Attention Deficit Syndrome but I could have done it all day.

We tried out doing Picasso portraits of each other.  If you fancy playing around with this I also found a great web site where you can make Picasso Heads.

A Hard Days Night

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

Last minute change of plan.  I was ready to set off for Barcelona for tango and time with friends when a summer malaise crept up on me. I decided an evening at home was needed rather than a hot sweaty walk to the train, followed by a stuffy night in the city.  And tonight there was an open air showing of A Hard’s Day Night in the Plaça de Can Sínia, just five minutes down the road.
There is always something special about watching a film outside, in short sleeves and sandals, with warm air brushing your skin.
I remember seeing this first time round. Sitting in the cinema with my mother and turning to her midway through asking ” shall I scream now?”

It would be nice if John Lennon was still around, no?
Next week they will be showing MASH!

Que dolç és Rupit!

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

A weekend with nothing special planned. I woke on Saturday morning with the idea ‘ let’s pack the tent and go off somewhere for the night!’
Somewhere not too far away, but in the hills……
So we took the road to Vic and then went a little bit further on, in the area called Osona, famous for its sausages.
Once you are away from the frenzy of Barcelona/Granollers, the roads get quieter and you pass through wide open plains and then climb up round spectacular curvy bends.  There are huge rocks and hills with flat tops and vertical markings.  It’s not so far to go but suddenly you are in a different world.
Saturday was hot. We waited till late afternoon to walk but it was still steamy. Looking for a place to swim we ended up climbing down to the Gorges of Bartomeu. In some places you needed a rope to descend

Luckily the trees gave shade and the sound of water far below beckoned us on. Duna went wild with delight when we finally arrived at the bottom.
I decided to sit and snooze on the rocks and so missed finding the best part – a large pool  with deep clear water for swimming, brushed by swallows wings as they dipped down for a drink.  It was a bit of a clamber to get there and when the two adventurers went off to explore I was left in a totally quiet and peaceful place, only slightly spoilt by my anxiety when I realised that man and dog were well out of earshot and calling distance.

There is nothing quite like that silence which echos back to you when you call…and call….and there is no reply!
We camped near Rupit.  The site was OK but a bit expensive….and they didn’t speak Catalan……but peaceful and close to the magical town

    Rupit by night
It’s a medieval town built on a hill surrounded by water.

 There’s a hanging bridge which wiggles when you walk across.

 The sign tells you not to wiggle too much and that only ten people can cross at once.  But if you walk with legs splayed you get a good swing as you go!
In spite of being a bit touristy it is lovely

The church is dedicated to Sant Miquel so perhaps the St Michael energy line crosses here – there certainly is a good feeling and the people were very friendly

It had one of those little shops that sells lots of strange and interesting things.
Cowbells. Trumpets. Honey
In the window are Pets de Monja

Translation – Pet is the Catalan word for fart, a Monja is a nun!
 Sunday was hot again

We passed by the large reservoir that holds the water destined for Barcelona – El Pantà de Sau.
In the 1960’s a small medieval village was flooded and now lies under the lake. On our visit only the top of the church steeple was visible.
Here is a BBC video showing what it looked like when there was a drought in 2008.
On Sunday there were people swimming and sunbathing and fishing in the reservoir but the huge quantities of rubbish that lay around the edges put me off diving in. The water itself seemed clean but I collected a large bag full of plastic and glass, tampax applicators and fishing line and it made no dent in the horror of the scene.
So we went uphill and bought tickets to swim in a hotel pool.
We had it all to ourselves!

After Work

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

Summer school is from 10 – 2.  Then it is lunch time and we went to the Toy Restaurant which is just around the corner and is cheap and cheerful. If you are vegetarian it is impossible to manage with the Menu (the set meal which is the cheapest way to eat lunch here) but luckily I was in a fishy mood so had white beans with tuna followed by boquerones fritos with chips. I didn’t realise these are actually anchovies until a few moments ago. So I was wrong when I told my friends this evening that I don’t like anchovies!
The part of the day after lunch before the dark evening is called La Tarda. It sort of means the afternoon but somehow isn’t quite exactly the same as it stretches until well past 7pm in the summer.
I walked into the centre of town around 4pm.
If I had walked straight down from my house I would have walked here

 but I decided to cross the road and walk here with everyone else!

It was 30 degrees according to the clock/thermometre outside the pharmacy.
After doing a little shopping in the July Sales….I met some friends and Here we are sitting near the Porxada in Granollers having a few beers and enjoying the evening sunshine. Tiffany took the photo so she isn’t in it! What a shame.



The Miro Show

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

This weeks work on Miro culminated with a show of paintings, costumes, dance, songs and theatre.

It was beautiful!
We had looked at Miros paintings and picked out some of the themes – his use of earthy colours and strong reds, blacks, and yellows. The basic recurring images  of suns, birds, stars, the moon, and abstract lines and points which remind you of dreams and night time imaginings.
The day of the show was exciting. Somehow it all came together.

One of the boys wanted to paint a spider – he made it a huge one with big furry legs and we cut it out of cardboard and painted it black and red. He wore a black cape and had his face painted with a web design. His part in the show is to enter Miro’s dream and crawl around the floor, scaring the audience, tickling the feet of the sleeping artist and then finally enter the picture that is created at the end when they all stood together making a picture of their own.
Another girl, often a little shy, chose to paint eyes. The One who Looks. She came on stage so proud and confident that I almost cried. She danced with her cardboard eyes attached to her head and hands, looking at all the other images.
The smallest one – aged 5 – had chosen to paint the sun so she wore orange and red, face painted with hot colours and carrying a beautiful sun. In rehearsal she was a little overwhelmed but at the show she stumbled on entering the stage and almost fell. This made her laugh and she carried on with her dance in such a funny smiling giggly way that everyone relaxed and she really was the Sun giving warmth.
I love seeing the faces light up with excitement, watching how those who were nervous find confidence, seeing them do things they at first said ‘No Puc!’ (I can’t)

Me too – I did things I thought ‘No Puc’ and hopefully my face too brightened when it went alright.