Barcelona 1

My first interview is with ‘Artesania Catalana’, I was told at the beginning of my trip that Catalunia is the most advanced province in terms of helping crafts gain recognition.

This office was set up specifically to promote traditional and contemporary crafts. They have a gallery space, publish a monthly magazine called “”, and they organize different projects. Significantly Barcelona has some of the best schools in ceramics, graphics and design. It also has more Museums than other provinces and the Decorative Arts museum is better than the one in Madrid!

Since 2007 they have started putting modern designers together with traditional craftsmen to produce new products using the traditional methods. They have had some success, although when I asked where could I see this collection of objects I was told that the objects belonged to the designers so there was no link between them, they where trying to produce a website with all the objects on them.

The offices where situated in the old part of the city and it was interesting to see that here you do find antique shops selling Spanish antiques other than religious artifacts. I also saw workshops for upholsterers and furniture restorers. I arrived early for the interview so that I could have a quick peak at the famous “Bour” Market.


On the Wednesday I had a busy day first seeing Oscar Abba, an Italian jeweler living in Barcelona for a very long time.

He studied Philosophy at University in Rome and then came to Barcelona to do jewelry at the famous Massana School.

He admits to being a bit of an odd ball and prefers to work in projects where his client asks him to produce something relating to a piece of art or building. He has had commissions from the Porche Foundation and the V&A.


We talked more about philosophy over a cup of coffee.

I then went to see Leo.

He and his partner set up a gallery (klimt@klimt02.net) specializing in contemporary jewelry and a website that offers a very comprehensive view of the “advent guard” jewelry scene. I was surprised that no one had asked them their opinions on how to market/improve Spanish jewelry, neither the government, or the schools.




In the afternoon I went to see the ONLY wallpaper producers in Spain. I was quite excited about this because as some of you know I am a Trustee of the Wallpaper History Society, so this meeting was a must!


Dani is the third generation in the family working in the firm and the and his brothers have revolutionized the business by getting famous designers to produce designs for them and improving distribution so that the can deliver anywhere in Spain within 24 hours. The get all their papers printed in Valencia and use rollers, no digital printing yet. This year is the first year they are also producing some fabrics. www.trestintas.com

You can see their product in Chelsea Harbour!

My final picture was taken inside the famous design shop Vincom, full of fab gadgets we can probably live without, but a really well designed shop with very tasteful things, well worth a visit.

They had an exhibition on the Barbie phenomenon, which I had to resist.

On my way to Barcelona

From the mountains I drive to Cardona and fail to see the salt rock sculptor!

Move on to Vic-Sau on Friday, feel very pleased with myself for choosing such a beautiful spot for my birthday!

Meet up with Joan who shows me some of the projects he and his partner have done.




They are currently working with a famous Catalan architect to make a pavilion in the Shanghai Expo in 2010.

Their first client has a special events venue situated in a parkland full of pieces of sculpture and artwork and Juan’s work.


Really interesting, and then we also see the owners latest project turning his family's farmhouse into a rental property for artists. All the rooms have a different theme designed by different artists – very entertaining.


On Saturday I went to see my Godmother Manuela in her home town of Terrassa... and she took me out to her coutry club for lunch. The Club used to be in the country, but is now very much in the suburbs of Terrassa. In the last 40 years Spain's towns and cities have mushroomed in size and and offten with very bad planning.


On Sunday I finally drove to Barcelona and said good buy to the car. I can't quite belive the road trip is over.






I have family here and am staying with my aunt and unkle. On my second day there they took me to the famous Gaudi park 'el Parque de Guell' - a treat for the photographer.



I also went to see one of his houses and the Palau de Musica which is a very fine example of Spanish Art Nouveau.

Well, I don't really have to point out the cultural highlights of Barcelona, there is an awful lot to see and do and if ou haven't been you should spend a week end here. Perhaps not in July or August, too hot.

In the Pyreenes

I chose to come here for a bit of rest bite and to get a little writing done, but it was so lovely I did more resting than writing! Oops…


I spent two days in Vielha, very near the French border. This village feels a bit like an Alpine skiing village, and although the hotel had a great swimming pool and amazing views, after two days I was ready to reach Seu d’Urgel.







Seu d'Urgell is famous for its "Cathedral, a beautiful example of the Italian-influenced Romanesque style of Catalonia in the 11th and 12th centuries. Also outstanding are the Romanesque church of Sant Miquel, from the 11th century, and the Sagrada Familia, the City Hall, from the 15th century, and a Diocesan Museum, which I did go and see, it holds a valuable manuscript called the Beatus de Lièbana which was impressive.

This town felt very different to Vielha, shame they where repaving all the roads in the old town, so it was a bit disruptive, but I took a couple of pics to give you an idea.

On the second day, I found a craft shop/gallery in the old town run by a a guy called Antonio,







a wood restorer who tells me to go to the Eco Museu in Esterri d’Aneu. It’s only an hour and a half back in the direction of Vielha… but I go.

The Museum is a restored farmhouse of the 18th century and enough objects have been donated to give the place a lived in atmosphere. The village is made of stone and you can really imagine how cold and isolated the mountains could get in winter.



I meet Ignasi Ros who showed me the collection and the shop.

He is passionate about the traditional crafts of the Pyrenean area. He has documented the last important ceramicists in the area and has had reproductions made for the shop.

He admits that the younger generation of potters are very reluctant to copy old things and as for weavers he has only found one…




Seu d'Urgel is also famous for its outdoor activities and the canoeing and Kayaking championships where held here not too long ago. Despite being up here in the mountains, the heat seems to be following me and I watch the kayaking with a little bit of jealousy.


I left feeling I had not done enough in this region.

From Valencia to the Pyrenees

When I get to a place I tend to spend at least half a day walking around just soaking everything in and looking at shops and watching people.

While in Valencia I walked past a jewelry shop, which really caught my eye. The jewelry was bold, bright, contemporary but classic. It stuck in my mind so I went back to ask if the designers where Spanish.

Trinidad Gracia Bensa and her husband Jose Maldonado are the jewelry designers and Trinidad is from a third

generation of Jewelry makers. They both have degrees in fine art and Trinidad went to do a course in West Dean. She now also spends time teaching video art at the art college and she works with the art department allowing students to use her shop as a gallery.

The Shop is unusual because you can see the jewelry makers at work, I think there are three in total.

Also there is a wonderful safe room in the basement which Trinidad showed me.
My photographs are not very good, if you want to see better images of their work have a look at the website: www.trinidadgracia.es

On Saturday morning I picked up my good friend William Smalley from the airport and we headed north for the weekend. I have wanted to see a small village called Albarracin, outside Teruel for many years,

it is a bit of a tourist destination and I think I read about it in a book by Laurie Lee called: ‘As I Walked out one Mid-summers' Morning’, not sure...

Anyway we went north specifically to see it and here are a few pictures of the village

…. and Will. It is wonderfully atmospheric and the drive there is also great, you suddenly start descending from a very dry flat landscape into a gorge with a fast running river at the bottom, green and leafy, you look up to see this village climbing up the side of the cliff above you and it is exactly as it was in the 14th century, it even has the gutters running down the middle of the narrow streets. We saw a lady empty her bucket into the drain just as the villagers have always done.


If you have been hearing about the many fires Spain is suffering due to the very high temperatures, then you may want to know that although we where in the Teruel area, we did not see any smoke! The heat has been impressive and I am looking forward to going up into the mountains.

I dropped Will off the next day at the train station in Zaragoza after a very quick lunch and I headed into the Pyrenees, quite a long drive but stunning scenery.

Driving through flat barren countryside towards lush green mountains.

Costa Blanca and Valencia

Noelle Vickers very kindly invited me to stay with her and her husband for the weekend. Some of you might know of Noelle as the lady who set up Cultural Bloomsbury, a networking organization that has really flourished and has over a hundred people meeting every month to share information in this part of London. She has now moved to the sunny Spanish province of Almeria, (one hour south of Valencia) and is slowly setting up an English teaching course that offers total submersion in our language: http://www.llww.eu/business-english.html

The Noelle’s live next to a village called Pedreguer. When I arrived the village was enjoying 10 days of fiesta, so we went to check it out. Bull running is better known in Pamplona, but it is practiced in other parts of Spain, so I was excited to see up close and personal. There was quite a lot of waiting around and not much happening, but the locals take this opportunity to catch up with family and friends and everyone has a really good time.

When the bulls did arrive, they ran up and down the street getting more and more annoyed, the men had a chance to show off their bravura and then the animals where led away. Getting this close to a bull makes you respect them a whole lot more!



Noelle, also found some craftsmen for me to go and see. She first took me to see the guitar maker Francisco Bros: www.guitarrasbros.com

While we talked and looked around there was a Cuban musician checking out the latest instruments and tuning them. Luis Bros produces Classical, Cuban and Flamenco guitars. He showed me the difference between the different instruments, it was great to be able to hear the different styles of music.

We also went to see a local sculptor called Toni Mari. There are very few metal sculptors in Spain. Although I have seen a bit of pubic sculpture on the motorways and would be interested to find out how they are commissioned. Toni received us in his office, which was more like a sauna, and talked about how he had been lucky in doing what he likes and earning money out of it. www.tonimari.es

He also acknowledged that most of his clients where foreigners who had settled here. He admitted that the Spanish did not appreciate sculptor as much, but commissions where coming from the council and this was increasing. He is a man that makes the most of any opportunity and believes that what you give you get back. He offers apprenticeships to anyone who asks and told me he would be delighted to help share his work with anyone interested. There was no defensiveness or cynicism, if anyone copied him, he said; he would take it as a compliment! Wish more of us where like Toni.

On Sunday it was time to go to Valencia. I had booked myself into a large hotel slightly on the outskirts, bad idea, they are really ugly and you have to get the tube to get into the old town to see the attraction of this big city. After resting for a day and doing a little retail therapy, I decided to go and look up a company Katherine Beauchamp (of ‘Cole and Son’) had recommended to me. I did not have access to the internet at this hotel so I did not know what to expect. I got a train to the outskirts, where the large country house used to be, the rich red earth in these parts, grows citrus fruit, watermelons, dates, nuts, spices and much, much more. You can see why the Arabs fought so hard to keep these lands. I pictured El Cid coming all the way from Zamora to win his battles here in the south.

Garin is a textile manufacturer and when I arrived at the factory, I did not expect to see what I saw. Inside they have 15 looms that are still in use producing the most sumptuous woven silks you can imagine.

I spent 3 hours looking around with the Marketing Director. Garin is a family owned company that was set up in the early 19th century, I met the 8th generation, Elena, in her office. They have worked with the National Trust, Hampton Court, the Bolshoi….it goes on and on, but the main clients for the hand woven silks still come from Valencia. Women buy the material to make the traditional Valencian costume.


Considering the price of these works of art starts at 6000€ per square meter, you have to have a lot of national pride to want a costume for the Ferias. www.garin1820.c0m

The other thing I did while I was here was go to the famous Ceramic museum. Valencia is famous for three things Silk textiles; it was one of the three main producers in the 17th and 18th century (together with Florence and Istanbul) until a pesticide and a flood destroyed the Mulberry trees of this region in 1860.

Ceramics; the region produced vast quantities for all of Europe, now only a few villages produce pottery. And the third craft is jewelry which had a distinctive style, borrowed from the gypsy community and in turn originating from India.

Anyway, the Ceramic museum is as famous for the house in which the pieces are exhibited, as it is for the collection itself – well worth a visit and one of the few restored vernacular buildings I have seen.

Next to the Cathedral is a small craft market, specializing in needlework, lace making, embroidery and knitting. I have not seen one like it and was pleased to hear it is being restored.

I left just as Valencia was starting to warm on me.


With this project I am struggling to separate artistic craft and functional craft – it should be both, but inevitable personal taste dictates what stands out more.