Marbella | The Daily Norm

Mar 11

Marbella Norms for Mothering Sunday

It’s Mothering Sunday in the United Kingdom… or at least the last few hours of it. But there’s still time for people everywhere to appreciate their respective Mummies. And for my maternal homage, I was able to show love for my dear Mother with the help of the Norms, and a dose of her favourite of all places – our house in Marbella, Spain.

Continuing my rather personal collection illustrating family homes past and present, I presented my Mummy with the ultimate of all Norm gifts this Mother’s Day: A Normified depiction of our family holidaying in our beloved Casa Valentino. There, standing proudly at the door to our little old town house, Mummy Norm takes a break from cooking in her flamenco apron, while Daddy Norm waters the burgeoning Bougainvillea. Upstairs on the first floor, there’s me – paintbrushes in hand (of course), while up on the terrace, engaged in his favourite of pastimes – the siesta – Dominik snoozes away, a book lately put down as he gives way to the summer heat. Naturally, our charismatic neighbours make their way into the sketch too, not to mention Jenny, who has cleaned our house so faithfully for years.

Giving this sketch represented not only a gift of thanks to my Mummy, but a chance to reflect on the home where we have all spent some of our happiest times. Happy Mothering Sunday to all Mothers, and to all Norm Mummies too!

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2011-2018. Unauthorised 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.

Feb 28

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Musing on the Seashore

I found myself on Monday morning sitting by the lapping shore of the Mediterranean, which was softly sweeping golden currents of calm, watery loveliness onto the freshly wet sand. The sun was warm despite the winter, and across the vertical column of light reflected over the water, small sardine fishing boats glided slowly into harbour to unload their night’s catch. I was lucky. A quick weekend at my family home in Marbella coincided with a few bursts of sunshine, while back in London, Monday’s regular commuter stream was being battered by arctic winds and snow showers in some 20 degrees less than I enjoyed back on that seashore.

As the water licked the beach’s edge, giving temporary glimmer to all the stones and shells it passed over, those who like me value the early light of daybreak took a similar stroll along the sand, an excitable dog invariably at their side (at least when it was not jumping in the waters, who teased with their swift withdrawal from shore line back towards the mass of sea). One such passer-by approached me, laughing apologetically for her dog who, nuzzling my side with his freshly wet face, seemed to sense that I was, at that moment, all at one with the sea which so delighted him.

I not only took time to contemplate my luck at enjoying this transformative moment of winter sunshine; I also reflected upon the very accessible humanity which you can find amongst those who live in the sun, and in alignment with nature. In Spain especially, where the golden warmth of sun graces the country on most days of the year, there is an intrinsic approachability and outwards civility to everyone you meet. Strangers greet you like members of their family. Passers-by exchange not merely a glance but a comment on the beauty of the day. My time living in Mallorca open my soul to the kind of embrace of humanity I found in the Spanish. Now back in London, when I’m on the tube, and in the angry streets of the city, I feel the need to hide away that recharged humanity, in a place where smiles are too often met by scowls and courtesy left for others to administer.

Circumstances are so often the source of our mood and our civility. But as that moment in the sun reminded me, we should all take time out to smile, give and share with others, even when the demands of the daily grind render this difficult.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2011-2018. Unauthorised 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.

Oct 9

Marseille to Marbella, Part VIII: Home Sweet Home

No matter how riveting the travel or how dazzling the sights, there is nothing quite like coming home, especially when that home happens to be combined with a holiday. For I am lucky to call Marbella, as well as London, my home, and every year I look forward to heading down to Andalucia, to the jasmine-perfumed, sun-baked land of my youth, and the ever present inspiration of my adult years. So, much perfumed, sun kissed, and infused with something of a je ne sais quoi spirit, we left Marseille and the lavender filled hills of Provence, and flew down to the earthy, olive-honeyed lands of Southern Spain. We had finally made it from Marseille to Marbella.

Marbella has featured countless times on The Daily Norm, as is only appropriate for my second home, and each time I feel the need to justify the town’s place as one of Andalucia’s true gem. The fault is the ravages of tourism and crass hedonism, although this species of club-land savagery is luckily limited to the outskirts of Marbella’s coastal sprawl and has left the charm of the casco antiguo – where our home is to be found – quite mercifully untouched. Marbella for me is no club land. It is, instead, a place of true calm. Where bird song fills the air, the smells of garlic and seafood, barbecued sardines and sweet evening jasmine waft in perfumed waves, and the sound of the sea resonates across the town.

Like the face of a favourite grandmother, Marbella is a town whose sun-baked walls are cracked with age, and its streets warped from the passage of time, but it is a place whose history has been preserved in every layer of its thickly white-washed walls, and which unites with its locals and countless bars, restaurants and little boutiques to make it one of the most welcoming and quaint towns on Andalucia’s magical Mediterranean coastline. And above all things it is my home. How lucky I am to say it.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2017. Unauthorised 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.

Dec 31

2015: My year in photos (Part 2 – Beyond Paradise)

Living in Mallorca, there can be no doubt that we are utterly spoilt, for all around us, from the city of Palma to the beaches and mountains beyond, we cannot help but discover unhampered beauty wherever we go. And yet while we could quite easily have indulged ourselves for a year’s worth of admiration of the island, the travel obligations of work, a long planned weekend to Paris, and the most life changing of events – our wedding – took us further afield, to enjoy the incredible beauty of the world beyond Mallorca.

And so, in this second of my two photographic reviews back over the year of 2015, I feature just a few of my favourite shots of the incredible surroundings beyond the Balearics. For 2015 was significant not just for its being our first year in Mallorca, but also for the opportunity it gave us to finally tie the knot after almost 6 years of engagement. The honeymoon which followed made for the most unique of holidays, with a stay in the famous Riviera paradise of La Colombe d’Or in St-Paul de Vence rivalled only by a short but sweet spell in bustling Barcelona, and an acquaintance with the chic seaside spots of Cannes and Antibes.

But it did not end there, for months before our wedding, a trip to the world’s primary city of love enabled us a further reconnaissance with our most adored Paris, while post-marriage and still revealing in the new blushes of marital bliss, we were able to rest on the beaches of Marbella, indulge in the new cultural hotspot of Malaga, and drop into Madrid, onto Ibiza and back home again for the most magical of Mallorcan Christmases.

It’s been a magical year. Thank goodness I can relive it all in photos. Until the next… Happy New Year!!!

: Putting out the laundry, Marbella

: Madrid rooftops

: Leger mural at La Colombe d’Or

: Three muses, Paris

: The town of Vence

: Getting ready for a Spanish Christmas

: Dusky pink, Ibiza

: Autumn in the Retiro, Madrid

: The ultimate Paris shot

: Christmas comes home

: Africa viewed from Marbella

: Summer sunset, Provence

: Fallen petals at the Colombe d’Or

: A friendly visitor, Ibiza

: Talamanca Beach, Ibiza

: Cannes

: The Puerta Alcala, Madrid

: Church detail, Madrid

: A very summery wedding cake

: Sunset over Ibiza Town

: Returning to Barcelona

: Ibiza sunset

: Jasmine in shadow

: Fresh produce, France

: The Gothic Quarter, Barcelona

: Marbella shadows

: Love and marriage

: Geometric baroque, Barcelona

: Greenery, Ibiza

: Calder’s pool

: The Tulleries

: Unique rooftop, La Colombe d’Or

: Sunset over the Riviera

: Botanic garden, Malaga

: Flying over the Riviera

: Getting married

: Calder ripples

: The glamour of the Riviera

: Sunbathing in the shadows of Alexander Calder

: Biot

: St Paul de Vence

: The best day of my life

: Ibiza ceramic

: Cibeles Palace, Madrid

: Big Wheel, Paris

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.

Oct 19

An Englishman in Andalucia

Dark, broody, flames flickering through a purple and chocolate brown backdrop…a portrait on the wall is alive. Dressed in the guise of a toreador, it is my self-portrait, part alarmed, part anxious, as I consider conflict in my life… the ever omnipresent concerns which come of big changes and repercussive decisions, a conflict which is played out in reflection in a Spanish bull ring; the steady workmanship which comes of intricately embroidering the matador’s traje de luz being the catalyst of the conflict, as blood pours from the pin which pierces at the heart of the bull.

An Englishman in Andalucia (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil and acrylic on canvas)

Set in the context of Andalucia, where I was when I painted the piece, this is the work of An Englishman in Andalucia… when my displacement in Marbella triggered a time of contemplation, when internal thoughts just poured onto the canvas. In the midsts of expressing my preoccupation of the time, I was inspired to utilise the Spanish corrida as my protagonist, having passed a bullfighting poster on my way to the beach. From that second onwards, this painting sprang into mind as I lay on the beach, and that afternoon I rushed home to start work on the piece.

It is a painting which deals with the contrasts and conflicts which are always present in my life. The fact of being English and living in Spain, the repercussions of pursuing a creative career which inevitably meant the sacrifice of another. It is a brooding contemplative piece, but for me its creation made for a satisfying process. And in so far as its motifs are therefore consequently dark, the effect of painting it was to fill my mind with clarity and light.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown 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

Oct 2

Marbella in shades of an Andalucian Autumn

It’s striking how quickly autumn has come upon us, even out here in Spain. Only a few weeks ago I posted my collection of photos with trees still clinging onto the last green leaves of the summer. A mere fortnight later, those leaves have fully caramelised and are starting to scatter to the ground. Last weekend, I took the short one hour trip from the heavenly shores of Mallorca to the equally beautiful seaside haven of Marbella to visit my parents, and to do a little work. There, the autumnal transformation was even more noticeable to me, since only 6 weeks before, I had been in the very same town basking in the heat of the summer.

In late September, Marbella was a town transformed. In the creamy golden light of autumn, shadows were slightly elongated, and the orange tone of the sunshine intensified. Trees in Marbella had themselves undergone the inevitable transformation into caramel hues, but with the sun shining through their translucent layers, they looked glorious. But perhaps the most noticeable change of all was the beach. Now a far less hospitable place, with a more bracing wind shorting the shore, but with a low afternoon sun casting a sensational silvery light over the water. Incredible shades of colour in this amazing Andalucian Autumn.

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 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 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.

Sep 3

My travel sketchbook: Parque de la Constitución

The pages of my travel sketchbook are filling up! Started in Dubrovnik back in May last year, with a somewhat questionable sketch of a church tower and an even more questionable attempt at poetry (for which, apologies), the contents have since matured into something I now carry with pride, as the very best collection of pictorial memories I could hope for. On my recent trip to Marbella, I used the happy balmy time relaxing in the summer climes to make several additions to my sketchbook, and the first is here.

The sketch shows a corner of what must be my favourite park in Marbella, the Parque de la Constitución. Filled with tropical plants, an observatory, a little shady cafe and with a Moorish-styled amphitheatre at its centre, it is a park designed with leisure in mind, and on a hot Marbella day, it is a wonderful space in which to relax. In this sketch, you can just about make out the arabesque arches of the theatre in the background, together with the observatory and a good number of the many trees boasted by the park. A fine place to sketch in the summer.

Parque de la Constitucion (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.