This sketch was done at La Lonja, a castle from the 15th century that housed the silk merchant trade in Valencia, Spain. The design is definitely organic, and carved from stone. It appears on the side of an 8-sided star shaped fountain, pictured below.
This pencil sketch was done in Valencia, Spain, while I was visiting my son there in March, 2008. This particular museum houses mostly religious art taken from cathedrals and churches in the area.
This sketch also done in Valencia as we spent a day at the Oceanarium of Valencia, Spain, a world-class facility. Included here are some of the building shapes, as well as the dolphin show, and a fountain that looks like a boat located on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea.
Here are some additional sketches I did while in Spain last month. The first is a window detail on the side of the place of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain.
This next one is a sketch of one of the older parts of the Alhambra… the castle or fortress section used to defend the original old city.
And this sketch done in Granada is of a new hotel built on the side of a mountain that mimics the style of some of the Alhambra Palace which is further up the mountain.
Another sketch is of the cathedral or chapel built on the Alhambra after the Europeans took Granada back from the Moors. The site was originally a mosque.
Sorry for the recent silence. I took a trip to Spain, and was almost completely off-line and unplugged from most technology and the Internet! I spent 1-hour online between March 20, and 31st. It’s amazing what happens when you do this. Life slows down. You can actually think about things and reflect. I read two and a half books: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (this must be about my 6th or 7th read of that), The End of Christendom by Malcolm Muggeridge, and Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxas. I have a few more chapters to go in Amazing Grace on the life of William Wilberforce. All are good and highly recommended.
We left Chicago on March 20th and traveled to Barcelona via London. There we met our college age son who is studying in Valencia this semester. We spent about three days in the Barcelona area, visiting many historic sites, staying with our fabulous guides, a missionary couple who are friends of ours and have lived in Spain for 25 years. We then traveled to Valencia and spent about three days in that area with our son as guide. Finally we all traveled by overnight sleeper train to Granada, exploring that ancient town that dates back to the Roman empire.
Finally, we said our “good byes” and split apart, us traveling to Madrid to return home via London, and our son traveling back to Valencia to finish his semester.
We must have walked a hundred miles over that 10 days… my legs are so tired! But it was worth it. Also took hundreds of digital photos, and even had time to do some sketching along the way. Pictured above is one I did in Granada while visiting the historic Alhambra palace site.
I love the Spanish coffee! They make a “café con leche” that is one half espresso, and one half steamed hot milk, and I add sugar. Muy Bueno!
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Holy Discontent: Fueling the Fire That Ignites Personal Vision By Bill Hybels / Zondervan |
One thing I am learning the older I become, is that life is full of changes. There is no getting around it. There is no such thing as “security” or “settling down” or a “bowl of cherries.” The real question is… how will I handle the inevitable changes that will come, usually when I don’t expect them, and with details that are really irritating and inconvenient? Will I allow these “curve balls of life” to get me down with discouragement and disappointment, or will I accept them as new opportunities for growth and maturity?
I recently read a book by Bill Hybels that was initially sparked in his life by the question, “Why do people do what they do?” In the book he talks about the idea of a “Popeye moment.” This idea comes from the old cartoon character, “Popeye the Sailor Man”… who I am old enough to actually remember watching on Saturday mornings at my Grandpa & Grandma’s house! You may be interested to know that my family did not have a TV until I was in Junior High – by choice!
In each episode of Popeye, some “curve ball” would arise in his life, and you would watch the inner tension rising, his pulse racing, and the adrenaline get pumping. At some boiling point he would blurt out… “That’s all I can stands, and I can’t stands it no more!” At that point, he would rip open a can of spinach, wolf it down in one gulp, and become a super-charged sailor man of overwhelming power for good. He would always save the day, bringing life back to a more “normal” state. He’d end the program singing “I’m strong to the finich, ’cause I eats my spinich, I’m Popeye the sailor man.”
Hybels proposes that we ask ourselves the “Popeye Question… What is it that you can’t stand?” He asks what is the “one thing” or the “pesky preoccupation” of our minds… “the things that keeps us up at night, and that ignites your heart and imagination.” It is the force bringing sorrowful tears, or the kicking and screaming inside of you… this he says, is the foundation of your “Holy Discontent,” the title of his book.
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The Call By Os Guinness / Thomas Nelson |
I am now reading another book by Os Guiness, entitled “The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life.” What does Os mean by “the call?” He states on page 4 that “calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.”
Recently there have been some “curve balls” in my life and I am in the process of understanding my “Popeye moment” and figuring out my “calling.” In my case it revolves around my work, career, business and skills and talents. I desire to use the gifts and abilities God has given me for the greatest impact for good and in service of others, as possible. I am not sure where this journey will lead, but I am definitely on a ride I did not expect even a year ago.
In the words of singer-songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman, “I’m diving in, I’m going deep in over my head, I want to be caught in the rush, lost in the flow, in over my head, I want to go, the river’s deep, the river’s wide, the river’s water is alive, so sink or swim, I’m diving in.”