Camino de Santiago II, watercolor

Camino de Santiago II, watercolor, 7x10 in.
Santiago de Compostela, in the NorthWest corner of Spain is a very popular town among religious and non-religious people. The walks through Europe, from Germany, from Italy, from France, from Portugal and from all corners of Spain, toward this remote corner of Spain,  in the region of Galicia, started in the Middle Ages, when some human bones were discovered in the town, and believed to be the bones of this priest/saint. So the walks to Santiago started as religious, and now people from all over the world do a few miles/kilometers or hundreds of them, according to their faith, their desire to do the walk, their stamina and previous preparation, and the time they have allowed to do "the walk to Santiago".  Along the different walks, as they converge in the town from the East and the South, you find refuges, and special bed and breakfast places, from simple to more elaborate and comfortable, for the different economic level of the walkers. They all share a very friendly attitude, a kind and generous mind. A shell ("concha " in Spanish) is the symbol, which you see painted, or engraved, on walls, sidewalks, posts, or gardens and pathways along the route. Rest stops help the wayfarers regain their strength. Most of the road is beautiful!

Lo Importante es el Camino, acrylic on canvas

Lo Importante es el Camino, acrylic on canvas, 81x81cm. Painted plein air in the town of Fromista, Spain, last summer, and exhibited in Fromista's gallery.  This is the Church of Fromista, which is in the center of town. For this painting, I included a couple of views around town, on the left, we see the Pyrenees mountains from where hundred of pilgrims come following the path "camino" of Santiago de Compostela, and under the church I placed the small river that runs nearby. A good section of the road is along that lovely river. Fromista is one of the key towns along the road to Santiago de Compostela. The interesting fact about this pilmigrage, is that it was started for religious reasons, but today people of all faiths, and people of no faith, do it as an exploration of themselves, as a trip within. The path is what's important, really, not the arrival.

Camino de Santiago

Camino de Santiago, watercolor, 12x18cm. Available: 100 Euros or $140 US. Painted on the road to Santiago de Compostela.
Lapiz lazuli provided more than blue color for artists when ground. In the 13th Century, some of the virtues attributed to it were: relief of pains in the eyes and forehead, and of ulcers in the tongue; it also encouraged chastity and offered protection against fraud, envy and terrors....yes....I've read it in a book: Color in Art, by John Gage.
Camino de Santiago, acuarela, disponible. Pintada en el camino a Santiago de Compostela.
Lapiz lazuli proveia mas que el color azul para artistas cuando se lo  molia. En el siglo XIII, algunas de las virtudes que se le atribuian eran: calmaba los dolores de ojos y frente, de ulceras de la lengua, y tambien ayudaba a mantener castidad, y ofrecia proteccion contra el fraude, la envidia y los terrores...si...lo he leido en un libro: Color en el Arte, escrito por John Gage.