2015 September | The Daily Norm

Sep 30

Norms in the Embarcadero of S’Estaca

It’s been many months since the Norms last featured on this blog, which is somewhat incongruous for a blog where these little one-armed white blobs are the protagonists. Yes everyone needs a holiday, and while for me that meant a rest from my Norm drawing board, for the Norms themselves it was a busier time… word has it they’ve been locked away in the Normaboratory engaged in top-secret scientific research about the luminosity of the outer Norm-mebrane. And although they’re keeping characteristically silent about the results of their work, they have at least come out to play. And happily for me, the Norms’ new playground is the island of Mallorca, where I found them only the other day at the incredible Embarcadero of S’Estaca.

Norms in the Embarcadero of S’Estaca (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen and ink on paper)

This stunning little setting, nestled in the rippling folds of the Tramuntana mountains as they plunge down to sea, was featured on this very blog only a few weeks back, and must have been noted by the Norms. For mere weeks later they can be found lounging in the very same place, bobbing around in the still waters amongst mysterious rock forms, preparing to dive, fish, and take the sun a little… All in the aid of scientific research of course.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Sep 28

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My Palma: 6 months, 157 buildings and 205 boats

I interrupt my weekly digital exhibition of gouaches in my Ocho Balcones collection to present, with a considerable degree of excitement, my newest oil painting: The Bay of Palma. Started back in April when I found a typical little postcard of this typical view of the sprawling bay of Palma de Mallorca, I couldn’t resist the temptation to paint this city I have so come to love on the largest scale possible. So starting work on an immense 152 x 101 cm canvas, I set about painting what must be one of the most complicated painting projects of my art career.

Just the cathedral alone took endless hours of laboured work and adjustments of proportion, let alone the city which surrounds it and then those dreaded boats. Ah the boats… how I agonised over painting these seemingly innocuous white forms, correcting shadows and trying to paint masts with a shaking hand. But once 205 of them were done, I stood back in pride and admiration at what I had a achieved: a landscape which is both a typical view of this most admired of cities, but which was nonetheless technically difficult to capture, both because of its size and its detail. But I am delighted with the result.

I am therefore proud to share this painting exclusively on The Daily Norm along with a few shots of some of the many details which fill the work. I hope you like it!

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Sep 25

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September Sunset over the roofs of Palma

They say that the beauty of Mallorca has something new to offer, whatever the time of day, and whatever the season. And even though, as the summer turns to autumn, a decisive air of melancholy fills the air, the beauty of an island in flux is everywhere to be seen. This is no more evident than in the skies of an evening, when the sun descends to leave behind a trail of such magnificent sunsets that the eyes can barely comprehend the beauty before them.

On so many occasions in the last few weeks, I have witnessed such a sunset in a fleeting moment, with only an iphone camera to capture it. However last night, I was lucky enough to catch this incredible show just as I popped up to the rarely used communal terrace on top of my old town apartment block. With its unique vantage point over the old rambling rooftops, a startling silhouette of Santa Eulalia church and the cathedral beyond, and the peaks of the Tamuntana mountains in the distance, this terrace-top view is beautiful at the best of times. But last night, as the sun sank and left a trail of firey pinks and flaming yellows amidst puffy wisps of wafer thin clouds, it was truly a sight to behold. And I am so thrilled to have had my proper camera with me, so that I could share it with you.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2015 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Sep 23

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My travel sketchbook: La Concha, Marbella

This week I’m sharing the last of my sketches completed while I was in Marbella last month. It’s funny how, with the passage of the seasons and the onset of autumn, that blissful fortnight in the middle of the summer now seems so far removed from reality. And yet when I reopen my sketchbook, the familiar smell of the cream pages wafting delicately towards my face, those balmy days of summer are never far away. And as I look at this last sketch, I remember the final rush to finish just one more drawing before our holiday came to an end.

It features La Concha, the mighty mountain which stands at 1243 metres above the town of Marbella and which has consequently become emblematic of the cityscape, and of this stretch of the Sierra Blanca mountain range in Andalucia. In all my years holidaying at my family home in Marbella, I have never stopped admiring this mighty giant, with its rippled folds and satisfying slopes. Providing the backdrop to so many of the town’s best views, Marbella would surely be half the place without it.

La Concha, Marbella (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

In this sketch I draw a mere slice, so that I could concentrate on some of those complex and fascinating undulations. It marked an appropriate end to this year’s happy reacquaintance with Marbella.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown 2000-2015. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included on this website without express and written permission from Nicholas de Lacy-Brown is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Sep 21

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Ocho Balcones (No.6): Angled Perspective

This sixth gouache in my collection, Ocho Balcones, is all about angles. Viewed from a seated position in our dining room, and with a door open to the right, the street outside another of our balconies benefits from a sloping reflection and a slightly different perspective from the rest of the collection. And since it is viewed from below, this painting is the first of the set to include the bright blue sky which so often graces the beautiful views we enjoy in our Mallorca home. Glowing with all its unmistakeable Mediterranean glory, the sky marks a striking contrast against the dark interior whose moody shadows frame this 6th balcony view.

Ocho Balcones No.6: Angled Perspective (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown 2000-2015. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included on this website without express and written permission from Nicholas de Lacy-Brown is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Sep 18

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The last greens of Summer

The official start of autumn is almost upon us, and although here in Mallorca we still enjoy days of hot humid sunshine, there is a definite sense of autumnal anticipation in the air. Although the trees are not yet brown, the leaves have already metamorphosed from the rich forest green of summer to a lighter almost translucent lime green, and on the occasional tree you can already see the edges of the leaves gradually give in to a golden manifestation.

And while the onset of autumn, and the winter thereafter, is not a prospect which fills me with joy, there is a real beauty to the melancholy which fills the streets of Palma de Mallorca as the high season comes to an end. Businesses, packed all summer, start to breathe a sigh of relief for the rest which is just around the corner; plants re-emerge freshly abundant after months without rain and water; and long dappled shadows dance amongst a decidedly warmer golden sunlight, which streams through the dying leaves like a last embrace before their inexorable descent.

It is the beauty of this time which I have attempted to capture with this small set of photos, just from strolling around the streets near my home. Here in Palma, we are not quite in autumn, and the colours are not yet that characteristic autumnal auburn and gold. These are the last greens of summer.

: Autumn sunshine

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2015 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Sep 16

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My travel sketchbook: Plaza de Santo Cristo, Marbella

Of the many pages now full of pen-drawings in my sketchbook, a hefty percentage show Mediterranean city squares, usually with a fountain in the middle. Last week I featured my sketch of the Plaza de la Victoria in Marbella, and this week continues the trend with the Plaza de Santo Cristo, which can be found a mere 5 minute stroll away in the same pretty Casco Antiguo (old town) of Marbella. Why I have such an obsession with sketching these squares remains ever clear to me. In the streets you discover a quaint atmosphere, but in these little cobbled plazas, you find all that and more – the trickle of water from a central fountain, the grandeur of bigger buildings reserved for these show-piece plazas, and a panoply of plants and flowers giving shade to the locals who gather there.

All of these features can be found in the Plaza de Santo Cristo, which features one of Marbella’s most iconic little churches, a flamenco club, mountain view, and of course a fountain at its centre. But perhaps what I love most of all in the square is the relationship between the long bendy palms set against the typically Andalucian white-washed walls of the church. Magnificent.

Plaza de Santo Cristo, Marbella (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown 2000-2015. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included on this website without express and written permission from Nicholas de Lacy-Brown is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Sep 14

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Ocho Balcones (No.5): The Summer Bathroom

The fifth gouache painting of my collection Ocho Balcones is not strictly speaking a balcony. That is to say the window it features sits right next door to the fifth balcony of our apartment, located within the light bathroom we loved to use in the summer. But with its square framing, this window provides a far more interesting reflection on the same view, not least because on the windowsill sits my first and only ever completed sculpture of a female nude created some 4 years ago and delicately transported out to Mallorca from London.

I love the time of the day when the sun hits the buildings opposite at an angle and the result is a striped sun dance bouncing across the coloured facades. And now that the effect is captured in my painting, I can rest assured that even with the changing seasons, a little slice of summertime in the old town of Palma has been captured to enjoy, siempre.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown 2000-2015. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included on this website without express and written permission from Nicholas de Lacy-Brown is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Sep 11

Living off the land; moving with the seasons: The Mallorquin Huerta

I was recently lucky enough to be invited to a stunning little Huerta (kitchen garden) clinging to the terraced slopes of the Mallorquin coastline. Between the dry stone walls of terraces made long ago by arab occupiers in their magnificent process of taming the otherwise unreachable landscape, this little vegetable garden lay nestled in perfect order, with the mountains on one side and the sea on the other. From an initial sweep of green emerged vegetables the colour of which you would be hard-pressed to find in even the best quality supermarket.

Keen to show me the fruits of his labour, the farm manager went about collecting samples of his home-grown produce. As he created a pile of the best of the harvest, the collection before me grew in both voluptuous size and magnificent colour. From super green cucumbers and a richly purple aubergine, to wonderfully fragrant basil, bright yellow peppers and startlingly intense red tomatoes, this gathering of produce was worthy of a museum piece, rather than a humble feast.

And yet feast we did, sampling flavours the likes of which I have never had the pleasure to enjoy before. The tomatoes were so sweet, and so complex in their flavour contrasts, that the sweet sticky small tomatoes might have been an altogether different fruit from the large meaty giant tomatoes which I could have feasted on forever.

But behind the intensity of the flavour and the quality of the produce was the rationale which went with it. These vegetables were grown in alignment with the seasons. They tasted so good because they emerged from land grown traditionally, with no additives, at the time of the year when they are meant to be harvested. No tomato, artificially grown under a lamp light in the winter could ever have tasted this good. And what struck me most of all was the pride glowing from within the farm manager. Because he had presented the very best product from his intensely laboured land – the fruit of his work, with a little help from the perfect timing of mother nature’s seasons.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2015 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Sep 9

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My travel sketchbook: Plaza de la Victoria, Marbella

The next page of my sketchbook to have its day in the limelight is another sketch from my recent trip to Marbella, this time depicting the Plaza de la Victoria in Marbella’s Casco Antiguo. Nestled besides the famous Plaza de los Naranjos, and filled with trees and foliage, it is a real highlight of Marbella’s quaint Andalucian old town. But it is perhaps the fountain at its centre which gives the square its real character, and sitting at a little cafe serving crispy churros and coffee beside it, I was able to enjoy this perfect vantage point. You can even see the cafe’s popular churros sneaking into the sketch on the left. Ah… the halcyon days of summer.

Plaza de la Victoria, Marbella (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.