Portugal

What’s this? What do I see here, moving along the path in front of me? Looks like a miniature train, a metre-long string of compartments of about an inch and a half each in length – except less rigid than a train in the way the segments undulate moving forward, and they’re beautifully furry. I’ve … Continue reading Portugal

Living in the mountains of southern Andalusia

The east coast of Spain, from Barcelona on down, is a built-up, condo-filled, real-estate obsessed, English/German/Dutch-speaking line-up of beach resorts. It started in the mid-‘Sixties already, when northern Europeans began to move here to avoid their chilly winters and take advantage of the much cheaper cost of living in Spain, dictator Franco or not. More … Continue reading Living in the mountains of southern Andalusia

Living in the Languedoc

The Languedoc of France: a glorious area with a complicated, layered history of populations and politics: Romans, Visigoths, Occitanians and Catalans, Cathars, local Lords, Bishops of Rome and Kings of France. It’s situated to the west of the better-known Provence: less populated, less chi-chi, now almost completely wine-oriented with its many ‘working villages’ nestled amongst … Continue reading Living in the Languedoc

With the Wodaabe nomads in southern Chad

Here’s a row of young men of proud, slender stature and dark, refined features, their faces tattooed and painted, surrounded by elaborately braided hairdos. They wear variously blue-checkered long tunics, their pant legs edged with embroidered graphics. They carry a long shephard’s stick over one shoulder, display layers of beaded necklaces and other multi-coloured decorations … Continue reading With the Wodaabe nomads in southern Chad

Teachers & Influencers in Drawing #4: Paul Hogarth

Some people emphatically state ‘I can’t draw’ and that’s mainly because, they say, they ‘couldn’t draw a straight line.’ But that’s good, I respond, straight lines are for architects! For quick sketching, they’re unnecessary and possibly boring, too; my sketched buildings would never pass the engineering test. They tend to look either rickety or keeled … Continue reading Teachers & Influencers in Drawing #4: Paul Hogarth