Travel | The Daily Norm

Mar 4

Interpretation No. 13 – Ibiza Town

Busy times are upon us in the Spring-awakened island of Mallorca, and with the high season just around the corner, all of the businesses across the Balearics are preparing for the onslaught of tourists in their thousands. For The Daily Norm that means something of a quieter pace of life, as my creativity is diverted and energies exhausted on the multiple requirements of work. Nonetheless, I have happily retained the odd hour for a little personal engagement in private creations, and next off the easel is the 13th gouache in my collection of “interpretations” – landscapes reinterpreted with a simpler finish and flattened matt colours.

I started this little landscape as soon as I came home from the island of Ibiza. My first time on the island left me much enamoured, despite the fact that in low season it was worse than deserted, not least in the historical old town from which this view originates.

Interpretation No. 13 – Ibiza Town (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache 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. 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

Feb 25

Discovering Palma: Bellver and the Bosque

Palma de Mallorca is a city as diverse as the entire island of Mallorca itself. From stunningly unspoilt medieval and modernista old town to sprawling industrial port and modern suburbs, Mallorca is a city with many faces. But asides from its iconic cathedral, its second most distinctive landmark is surely its castle, the Castell de Bellver, sat majestically upon the most westerly of hills overlooking the city. I never fail to enjoy casting my eyes in a westerly direction on any random afternoon, for always silhouetted against the sinking sun in this most satisfyingly shaped of castles: one of the best remaining examples of a rounded gothic castle left in Europe, and featured in my most recent (and first) of Palma paintings.

Taking time, as we do, to explore this magnificent new city we now call home, my partner and I recently headed to the castle of Bellver, attracted not only by its rich historical heritage, but also by the lush forest or bosque which surrounds it. Extending for acres around the castle and covering the hill like drizzled icing atop a moist victoria sponge, the bosque is by far the greenest expanse available for Palma locals to enjoy, and with its dense vegetation and rocky untouched landscape, it is a bucolic paradise in the midst of a sprawling metropolis.

The bosque

Having walked through the forest, enjoying dappled sunshine and all number of naturally occurring mediterranean plants, we reached the castle which looked even more stunning close up, with an unbeatable blue sky its harmonious backdrop. Asides from admiring the castle’s unique rounded architecture and the uniquely slim arched bridge which joins its main turret with the main structure of the building, the best aspect of this visit had to be the views afforded from the castle. Bellver indeed – for these are beautiful views of Palma which simply cannot be equalled from down at sea level.

Bellver Castle: inside and out

Views to write home about

Collections of Roman sculpture inside Bellver castle

Nonetheless, down from the hill we eventually trekked, only to find Palma’s old centre every bit as beautiful from up close as it had been from up on that hill. The cathedral’s ocre structure glowed peach like in the dying sun, and before it the blue sea sparkled as it transformed into a steady golden mass. Beautiful Palma – I could carry on admiring you forever. And I hope to do just that.

A city to be admired, from up close, far away and especially at sunset

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.

Feb 23

Interpretation No. 12 – Capuchin Monks, Amalfi

The heady days of Amalfi coast indulgence are now too many days behind me to count – it must be at least 250 rather forlorn days since I sampled the paradise of Amalfi, Capri and Positano during a blissful week on the Italian coast last summer. And it has been almost as long since I last thought to paint the place, even though it was on my hotel balcony on the Amalfi Coast that my collection of interpretations began. It was therefore something of a blast from the past when, opening up sketch book the other day in order to start a new gouache project, I discovered a half finished gouache painting based on the Amalfi Coast, left sadly uncompleted.

My feeling with paintings is that each painting has its time, and even when a project goes unworked for some time, it should always be left until the time is again right to continue it. A painting should never be destined for the bin. So when I reopened this hitherto unfinished work, I so enjoyed the breath of fresh Italian air that gushed open my opening it that I decided that the time was right to finish it off, even if it meant completing the Amalfi scene here in my new home of Mallorca.

Interpretation No. 12: Capuchin Monks, Amalfi (2014-15 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

The painting, which will be the 12th in my collection of gouache interpretative landscapes, was actually based on an old engraving we picked up in Amalfi just before catching a boat back home to Positano. Being a city renowned for its ancient homemade papers, we could not resist buying a print on Amalfi’s finest, and as soon as we found this image, I was captivated. There was something about the alluring tranquil activity of the Capuchin monks depicted, one tying back a vine and the other reading before a view of Amalfi, that made me want to recreate this idyllic scene of the joie de vivre for modern times.

The original engraving we purchased in Amalfi (c. 1880, artist unknown)

A gouache interpretation was born and now, thanks to my rediscovery of the image, it is completed. I am pleased with the relative simplification I have achieved by repainting the scene in broad flat gouache colours, and I have to say that the colour has certainly brought this 19th century engraving back to life. It could almost be modern day except that, sadly (or not for those rich enough to stay there), the Capuchin Monastery of Amalfi is today the swish Gran Hotel Convento di Amalfi, a place from which this view can still be very much enjoyed, albeit sadly without the monks.

© 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

Feb 18

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February in Paris – Part 2: Valentine’s in the City of Love

Paris is truly the City of Love. For even if you are not lucky enough to be strolling around the streets of the central arrondissements in the arms of a loved one, there is surely sufficient beauty in those Haussmann-conceived boulevards and palatial streets to fall in love with. And while I have been lucky enough to spend the last 5 years of visits to Paris in the company of my beloved, I also look back fondly upon my first experiences of the city: when young and very much single, I saw the historically rich and artistically abundant streets for the first time and fell head over heels in love – a personal relationship with Paris which has continued to this day.

So spending this year’s Valentine’s Day in Paris certainly seemed appropriate. Yes, the city was wise enough to cash in on its reputation, such that every restaurant was reserved to the hilt with set menus costing triple the normal price, but putting this rather crass commercialisation aside, I could not think of no better place to spend the year’s most dedicated day of love. The city is one so perfectly attuned with its environment and its picture perfect urban planning that is as though the city is in love with itself, with the nature all around it and vice versa. At every street corner there is a new panorama to be admired and a new direct vista to some stunning iconic building, and with such harmonious town planning evident wherever you walk in Paris, you cannot help but feel satisfied, balanced and free to love.

The photos which accompany this love song to Paris are something of a miscellaneous homage, taken over the Valentine’s weekend as we strolled and admired the city. From bridges to cafe’s, bull dogs to palaces, they are the archetypal vision of a picture perfect city which will seduce every visitor, and make even the most stalwart singleton feel love for the first time.

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.

Feb 17

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February in Paris – Part 1: Sunset in the Tuileries

I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles – so sang Ella Fitzgerald in a song with which many a Paris-lover can identify. For Paris is truly a city for every season, even in the wintery rain. And it was precisely because our weekend in Paris was destined to be a wet one (according to some forecasts at any rate) that upon our sunny but late arrival there at the end of last week, we thought we had better rush out and take what photos we could while the city remained dry. With a mere hour to go until sundown, this meant photographing what we came upon first, and for us in a lucky location staying alongside the Palais Royal, our pre-sundown photographs were taken in perhaps one of the most beautiful of Paris sites – the Tuileries and around the Louvre.

In the yellowing light of a dying day, the carefully manicured hedges of the Tuileries melt into the distance behind the subtly glinting statues which stand all around the gardens. Behind it all, the imposing palatial magnitude of the Louvre complex dazzles with its sheer magnificence and complexity, a scale which is seconded only by the equally majestic buildings which extend the full length of the Tuileries running alongside the glamorous Rue de Rivoli.

The Tuileries are not only beautiful in themselves, even in the winter when their leaves are much depleted, but they also provide for the perfect place in which to study the perfect vistas of Paris, whether it be the masterfully crafted symmetrical view down the across the Place de la Concorde all the way down the Champs Élysées and along to La Defence, or the ever omnipotent site of the Eiffel Tower silhouetted against the sky. For this reason there could be no better place from which to start our most recent reconnaissance with the city, nor indeed this Daily Norm photographic tribute.

: The ultimate Paris shot

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.

Feb 9

Winter in Madrid

For somewhere as relatively far south by Europe standards as Madrid, it’s a city which gets incredibly cold in the winter. And I mean incredibly cold. True, I have become acclimatised to the balmier climes of the island of Mallorca, where in a mere 3 months of being here, I have begun to believe that there is no such thing as a minus temperature. But how wrong I was on that front. For when the need arose for me to jet off to Madrid last week for work, I experienced temperatures that made me feel as though I was facing an attack of daggers from all sides.

It was my first trip to Madrid for several years, and I was therefore keen to spend the little free time I had exploring the city streets and remembering past memories of walking around the Prado, the Retiro, through the Puerta del Sol and along the Gran Via. But no sooner had I stepped out of my hotel I realised that a few blocks of walking was all I was going to manage before I had to duck inside a warm tapas bar for shelter.

Ice cold streets, a bitter wind, and temperatures which made my gloved hands feel not just cold but broken… these were the sensations I suffered in this short dip into winter in Madrid. Yet just as clear skies bring a fierce winter by night, in the day, those cold temperatures are tempered ever so slightly by the presence of sunshine, and the photographs you see on this post were taken on a brisk morning stroll as I headed from my hotel to my place of work near the beautiful neoclassical monument, the Puerta de Alcalá.

Those photos are very evidently characterised by the grandeur of the city – the beautiful roof tops of the Gran Via in the distance, the architectural details of the Puerta de Alcalá and the Plaza de Independencia, and the large palatial buildings and parks which fill the area. Everything is brightened by a pale winter sun and clear blue skies, but as you (hopefully) enjoy these photos, please remember the pain which I had to suffer to take them – they involved taking off my gloves, a sensation which brought to my hands a thousand daggers of pain. Oh what I suffer for The Daily Norm…

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.

Feb 2

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Arrival – Painting the moment when the Mallorca Move sunk in

In the time since we arrived in Mallorca a little over 2 months ago, I have been constantly creating. Such are the benefits of stepping into an intrinsically creative role as Artistic Director of an amazingly dynamic company. But the time for painting for my own personal collection has not been so profuse. Yet I knew that I was going to paint very soon after we arrived. It was in fact on the Tuesday following our arrival on a Saturday evening that a painting first appeared in sharp focus in my mind.

We had stepped out on a walk one afternoon in search of water. Living in a city next to the sea, an awareness of the ocean is continuous, and yet an immediate proximity with the water is not always so easy. Here in Palma, before you get to the sea, you need to traverse roads and parks, jogging lanes and a busy harbour. But on that afternoon, we walked our way through one section of the harbour, passing yacht clubs and huge boats being renovated for the summer, only stopping when we came to the water’s edge.

Arrival (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

There, sitting with my legs flopped over the harbour edge mere inches from the surface of the water, I gazed directly into the sinking sun before me as it plummeted behind the hillside silhouette and the outline of Bellver castle sitting atop the city. The sky was glowing more and more yellow, and as the light darkened, the water became more like silky liquid ink, and the reflections upon it were golden. It was in this moment that I allowed myself to dream, to wander from reality into a moment of a pure epiphany; a time in which it dawned on me for perhaps the first time how our lives had changed for the better, and how we had moved to a paradise of Mediterranean harbours, of white gleaming yachts, and sunshine.

And there it was. An image of that same view floated into my mind. It was always intended to be a simple image – just the water, the sun, the reflection, the sunset and the cluster of white yachts bobbling upon the water. Yet in that simplicity there is carried a weighty realisation – that we had made the big leap to a new life and a new beginning – It was the moment of our true arrival.

© 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

Jan 30

Winter Weekend in Ibiza | Part 4: The Birds

Watching Hitchcock’s infamous masterpiece, as I was the other night, you could really develop a complex about birds. Suddenly, the great master of suspense cinema has you thinking about these apparently innocuous creatures in an altogether more sinister light, especially when seen perched in a group as though anticipating their next attack. But as this last post of my little weekend trip to Ibiza must surely demonstrate, Hitchcock has really done birds a great injustice – for they’re perfectly photogenic and very, very cute.

The photos which follow were all taken in the sun-drenched surrounds of a very quiet Ibiza, at a time when nature had regained prominence on an island whose summer months are given over to all night discos and neon lights. Happily in these transformed tranquil surroundings, little sparrows hopped around cafes, eagerly awaiting the odd crumb from the few island visitors, and in the weak but warming winter sun, pigeons slept gracefully atop folded down cafe umbrellas. They may as well make the most of it. Party season is only weeks away.

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.

Jan 28

Winter Weekend in Ibiza | Part 3: The beach at Talamanca

While to all intents and purposes, a winter weekend in Ibiza may not have found the island at its best (it was after all almost completely deserted with only around 10% of businesses open and even fewer people left remaining) there was one part of the island which lacked nothing despite the time of the year. Just minutes from our hotel at the Marina Botafoch lay a sensation in waiting – the beach at Talamanca.

With a wide white sandy beach and sumptuously crystal clear waters, this was the kind of beach that seduces millions with promises of the summer in travel brochures every year. Yet here we were on a January afternoon, with an exquisite long beach before us, the sun shining in the sky, and barely a soul around to interfere with our utmost enjoyment of it.

What struck me most of all was how serenely calm the waters were, almost as though the sea itself had taken advantage of the low season and gone to sleep for a while. The waters were so still, that they managed almost a near mirror-like reflection of the low lying coastal houses alongside them – the kind of image you expect to see in a still mountain lake rather than the Mediterranean sea. I was also delighted by the abundance of natural scenery located so close to Ibiza’s capital. For just past the hotels and holiday houses lay vast rocky outcrops calling out to be explored. It was there that, up on a cliff top, we stopped to read and relax with the most incredible view back on Ibiza Town and the vertiginous plunge down to the azure waters below.

So once again the Balearics showed that the melancholy of winter would not defy their beauty. Here on Talamanca beach, we had truly found a reason for all the fuss that surrounds Ibiza every year.

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.

Jan 27

Winter Weekend in Ibiza | Part 2: Sunrise and Sunset

You can’t beat a good view, and whenever I go away anywhere, whether it be for a week or just a day, I make a point of finding one, not least from my hotel room. For some, a room in a hotel is just somewhere to shut their eyes and recuperate before exploring the outside. For me, it is an instrumental part of the travelling process, where I can rest and contemplate the sights I have seen around me, where I can write and sketch, and where I can soak in bubbles or take a long shower. Best of all, it is where I can enjoy a good view for long periods at a time, without the self-consciousness that I may be lingering too long in a restaurant or stealing the view from someone else.

Sunrise

On my weekend in Ibiza, the Hotel Ocean Drive did not disappoint, placing me and my partner on the third floor from where a beautiful view across the Marina Botafoch and over to the stunning hill-top Dalt Vila (old town) could be enjoyed. This combination of rocky outline coupled with the hilly topography which surrounds the city, together with the great watery expanse of the port and the various small marinas located within it meant for a stunning show at all times of the day, but no more so than at sunrise and sunset, when the colours turned from blue to a ripening pink, and utter calm descended across the landscape.

Sunset

This post is devoted to those moments, when shades of raspberry and peach and soft primrose yellow filled my camera lens, and added clarity to the dark outline of the city against a pastel-coloured sky. As I am unable to choose which of sunset or sunrise was my favourite, I have included both. For they were both manifestations of the most perfect of views; a vista which made my first experience of Ibiza unforgettable.

A room with a view

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.