Hot Like Madrid in the Summer


It’s hot, here in Bloomington. For the past few days I have been contending with the heat by staying in the studio all day, working on the computer and on the paintings. When it finally cools off a bit, at around 8:00, I have headed out for a nice bicycle ride on the trail. Catching the last rays of sunlight on the Clear Creek Trail, while getting some exercise, is a very nice thing about being in Bloomington.

In his travel guides Rick Steves talks about the paseo, the traditional evening stroll in warmer countries in Europe. If it is hot all day, it makes sense to stay in and try to keep cool, then come out when it is less hot and try to feel like you are in touch with the rest of the world. It was a part of being in Madrid that I loved.

People just walk around the wonderful city, through the old streets and neighborhoods, though Madrid is relatively young for a European city. Some stop at bars and restaurants and celebrate with friends, but some just enjoy the leisurely stroll. I saw families, with young girls in what I assume to be traditional costumes, and the parents, nicely and soberly dressed. I didn’t feel that people were expected to necessarily talk with each other. People see each other, maybe a little smile or acknowledgement, maybe not. The communication was the simple group enjoyment of being together at a nice time of day in a nice place.

It seems like a good way to live.

When I first got to Madrid, in May 2016, I wondered what I was doing there. After a long flight, walking in a disoriented, jet-lagged state through the airport, then figuring out the metro, finding my Airbnb… it’s nice here, but why have I spent so much money, and gone to so much trouble, to be here?

Then I saw online that the Prado was still open! It’s open until 20:00 (8:00 p.m.)! So I walked there, following a recommended route down the beautiful Calle de las Huertas. That street reached the wide, tree lined Paseo del Prado. I crossed, and there was the gray stone building with the statue of Velazquez. I had a bit of the sense: this is why I am here. I bought my yearly pass, showing a photocopy of my passport. I think it was less than 50 euros, a much better deal than individual admissions, and an absolute bargain considering the time, energy, and attention  I would be investing in my experience there over the next two weeks.

On my first day there I don’t think I made it to the Velazquez paintings. There wasn’t that much time at that point. I stopped at a painting, and it was getting, surprisingly, more and more interesting the longer I looked at it. There was a lot going on, many figures doing many things, but it had a depth and feeling I found unusual for such a busy scene. It was The Forge of Vulcan, by Jacopo Bassano:

https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/vulcans-forge/ad0e619f-6fe5-4566-b9bc-95a11b63bde2

 I started to draw from one of the figures, then came back the next day and did some more. For my first three or four days at the Prado it was my ‘check-in’ painting, the one I went to first, to start my day of drawing in the museum. Here is my first group of drawings from the painting.



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