Castle, Papa Luna (Peniscola) 

Nude Landscape : gouache wash off 

El Gordito Rules the Bell Tower 

Crossing the Rubicon #1 

Pintando!

Queridos Amigas y Amigos,
Mark and I are thrilled to be painting again!

Mark attends a figure drawing open class several times a week, which gives him a chance to make friends with other artists. His latest works combine the figure and landscape - shall we call them "Flanscapes?" (A good Spanish joke, because our favorite desert is the delicious, fresh custard called flan). He's using mostly gouache, an opaque watercolors which you can buy here in Spain, but not in the US, in jars, so it's much cheaper than in the usual small tubes.

I've been alternating between pencil drawing, watercolors, gouache and acrylic paint, playing with different techniques and themes. Now I'm working on two things: a "postcard" theme featuring birds and buildings in Valencia (fanciful art), and a series of small paintings describing the main ideas in the book "Crossing the Rubicon"(more serious), a fascinating and unsettling book about the end of the age of cheap oil, and the inhumane mindset that has brought us to this point.

We'll be heading for Italy soon, taking loads of digital pictures and sketching when possible(Linus generally prefers action over sitting, so we'll be kyaking + hiking in the Cinque Terre region, walking to explore the cities and towns, and any enjoying every other kind of adventure / exercise we can find, as well as EATING! Yummm... Gelato.......). I wonder what kind of inspiration Italy will bring to our work?

Hasta pronto, Margot + Los Chicos

Linus and Mark beside one of the shady bike / walking / skating paths. 

One of the bridges in the Rio; this one crosses through the local police station, and includes a canal carrying water to the gardens beyond. 

Riding in the Rio

Valencia has an amazing park encircling the historic center (which includes Barrio Carmen), which most folks simply call "El Rio". On our tourist map, it's called "El Antiguo Cauce del Rio Turria", or The Old Course of the River Turria. It once carried the Turria around the outskirts of the city, but after severe flooding in the last century, the course of the river was changed to the new outskirts, and the original path became a park equal in popularity and variety to New York's Central Park. Cruising through The Rio on your bike, you'll find shady forests, playgrounds, sports fields including soccer, baseball, and miniature golf, fountains, and at the far ends, a waterpark and the Ciudad de Los Artes y Ciencias (which is an entire topic of its own).

Gracias al Rio, we can ride anywhere in the city in peace, below the level of the streets so the noise and exaust remain above us. When we get to the bridge near our destination, we ride or carry our bikes back up to street level.

Or if we want to catch the Tranvia (metro train that rides at street level) down to the beach, we can take our bikes on with us!

We're setting out from our doorstep at Ruaya 54 for a ride in the Rio 

Riding Around Valencia

Searching for a seond hand bike proved difficult, so we finally broke down and bought 3 spanking new bicycles from the Spanish version of K-Mart, a french store called Carre Four. One week later, Mark's was stolen while he attended drawing class in Barrio Carmen! Undaunted, and with a little help from my mom and dad, we managed to find a replacement bike at El Rastro, the Sunday flea market. We had been told all the bikes there were stolen, but the older man we bought it from seemed honest to me; he told us he's retired and fixes bikes as a hobby.

Masa Critica cruising through the streets of Valencia 

Valencia, Ciudad de Bicis!

Every first Friday of the month, lovers of cycling are invited to take part in a "manifestacion" (protest) that begins in the Plaza de la Virgen. In the cooler hours of early evening, the riders cycle through the old, historic part of Valencia, promoting bicycle riding as opposed to driving cars and burning fossil fuels.

We had our first chance to participate in this inspiring ride in March, on the very day we bought out 3 bikes. Mark, Linus and I rode through the streets in the taxi lane, mostly, amidst the happy sounds of bicycle bells - ka-ling! ka-ling! and chants to encourage spectators to join us. Although the protest is unofficial and cars don't have to allow us through, our group had no trouble finding plenty of room to ride safely. What a great way to tour the narrow streets of our beautiful city!

The organization behind the ride is called "Massa Critica" / Critical Mass. Check out their websites at the link on this page for a manifestacion near you (you'll find links to other cities on the Spanish page).