There’s a small grocery store in Madrid, New Mexico, in a building with the name “Old Boarding House Mercantile.” If you haven’t been to Madrid, New Mexico, it’s a tiny town (population 248) that was once a coal mining town, and is now primarily an artists’ community with galleries, shops and restaurants on both sides … Read more
I have a long weekend trip to Ithaca planned in the near future, and while I went there about 9 years ago, I am ready to go visit again, with a fresh look at the Finger Lakes area. I’m trying to do a little trip planning, as far as sights to see and towns to … Read more
On one of my days in Barcelona last fall, I was walking down Passeig de Gràcia, and decided to step into an antiques mall called “Bulevard Dels Antiquaris,” just to take a look around. While the mall area (hallways between stores) was open, the actual individual antiques dealers and their various shops were all closed, … Read more
When I travel, I tend to take a lot of photographs, not just of the tourist spots or the main sights that everyone goes to see, but rather photographs of things I notice that provide artistic inspiration. Sometimes it’s pictures of patterns or colors that I know could give me ideas for paintings, or elements … Read more
Unfortunately, I cannot say that I ever had a chance to try any gelato at Eccolo Gelato in Madrid, as they were always closed when I walked by, but they certainly had great street art on their pull-down metal shutter gates. I think I am often like this boy, above; daydreaming about a good scoop … Read more
Puerta del Sol, which means “Gate of the Sun,” is a central public square in Madrid. This bear sculpture is located in Puerta del Sol, and the bear is reaching up to what is described as a strawberry tree, but what is the significance of this imagery in relation to Spain? It’s not just seen … Read more
One day when I was walking around Madrid, I saw this bullfighter’s vest in the front window of a store north of the Royal Palace of Madrid. I loved the style and details on it, but wondered: is there any significance to the designs or elements of a bullfighter’s vest? I learned that the bullfighter’s … Read more
I was visiting my Mom in Minnesota, sitting out on a deck overlooking a pond behind her apartment complex, when we noticed this bird off in the distance. Neither one of us knew right off the top of our head what it was, but a quick image search told us it was an egret, which … Read more
On my trip to Spain in October, 2024, my first two days were in Madrid, but then on day 3, I took a day trip to Toledo for a change of scenery. The distance from Madrid to Toledo is approximately 45 miles, but the high-speed train got me there in 35 minutes, so it left … Read more
In addition to the Indian Peepal leaf paintings that I mentioned seeing at the yard sale in Kingston, I also saw this framed Indian art, which caught my eye. I took a close look, and to be honest, I couldn’t tell whether it was an original painting or some type of print. It had the … Read more