'A Solaina', Pilono , Galicia , Spain
XIII International Workshop of the Plastic Arts
9 - 15 July 2006
A wonderful experience! Sixteen artists from Spain , Mexico , France , Wales, Germany and Bulgaria , worked alongside each other making a piece of artwork each to be donated to 'A Solaina's' collection. An exhibition of this work will be held at Museo 'Ramon Aller' in Lalin in November 2006.
Each day the group had lunch and dinner together in local restaurants, giving us time to talk and share our experiences as artists, our cultures and our ideas. It was a good opportunity to make contacts for possible collaborations, and also to enjoy each others company. Most of the conversation was in Spanish, but with the help of Carmen and a couple of the artists we were able to communicate. The spirit of the group was positive and inclusive. Our hosts Paco and Carmen Lareo, and Paio made us all feel very welcome and were most generous.
Each day we worked between 10.00 - 14.00 and 17.30 - 21.30. My studio space was in a grassy garden with vines and an apple tree providing shade. There were four other painters working nearby, the atmosphere was usually quiet and concentrated.
I chose to work with the theme of 'artist as pilgrim', and made a series of paintings which related my local morning walks with the pilgrim routes to nearby Santiago de Compestela. I walked with Marged Pendrell, the second artist from Wales and a good friend and colleague. The landscape was varied and fertile. Pine, eucalyptus and oak trees in one direction, and fertile farmland growing maize, potatoes, vegetables, fruit and vines with grazing for cattle in a different direction. The scale of farming was small, with little lanes connecting small farms each with a small store-house called 'horreo'. These small stone and wooden buildings on stilts looked like shrines as they each had a cross, and became an important motif in my paintings.
A view of 'A Solaina', Pilono , Galicia , Spain Noelle Griffiths - July 2006
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Sunday 9 July
Reception for artists
Visit to Fundacion Neira Vilas
Ceremony celebrating the creative life of Isaac Diaz Pardo, a Galego poet, artist and ceramicist.
Monday 10 July - Studio time
Tuesday 11 July - Studio time
Evening reception with the Mayor of Vila de Cruces
Wednesday 12 July - Studio time
Afternoon/evening visit to Santiago de Compestela: Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea and the city and cathedral of Santiago .
Thursday 13 July - Studio time
Friday 14 July - Studio time
Evening private view of an exhibition at Museo 'Ramon Aller' in Lalin.
Saturday 15 July
Conclusion and event which included the public viewing completed artwork and one of the residency artists painting a dress.
Noelle Griffith - July 2006
