A Year In Spain (1965-1966)

This collection of  sketches is from a small notebook of pen and ink drawings I created while in Spain. In 1965-66 I had the tremendous opportunity to travel abroad and to live in Madrid. (This was a time when there were few foreign visitors and almost no Americans in Spain because of  Franco’s Fascist Regime.)  My mentor Suzie became very ill on my arrival in Spain and was in the hospital for numerous months.  I was on my own and found a pension and then had to learn Spanish very quickly from my roommate Isaura. We took trips each weekend throughout Spain and I attempted to capture the many places and people we saw in my notebook. 

In the fall I studied Spanish Art History at the University of Madrid.  In mid-year I left my pension in order to take a traditional  Spanish studio painting course. (The teaching was classical and I created my first serious oil painting that winter.) In order to afford my studio class, I earned my room and board by teaching English to Señora Quintana who lived close to the Prado Museum.  I visited the Prado almost daily and was fasciated by Goya’s, Velazquez and El Greco’s works. This immersion in works of the Spanish Masters, was an inspiration for me to major in painting and etching when I returned to Washington DC.

These sketches of my wanderings in Spain are some of my earliest pen and ink drawings. You may notice that my sketches become more rapid, simpler and insightful as the year progresses. This notebook remains a wonderful way to remember my Spanish adventures!  Enjoy!