Category: Karen Hilliard Art Blog

Casa Batllo

Casa Batllo, Casa Mila and Casa Vicens are three houses that Antoni Gaudi envisioned and created. Joanna and I were lucky to visit Casa Batllo. It was amazing. The wavy wonder of Gaudi brought to life in architecture was unbelievable. We loved going up to the roof and seeing the sculptures placed at the top. They looked like chess pieces getting ready to play a game. I took a few photos and actually made some pieces out of clay in resemblance to them when I returned home. Barcelona was invigorating and really sparked my imagination for creativity. Some of the sculptures were smooth and one piece of stone while the others had mosaic tiling atop them. Both were fascinating. Being in one of the Gaudi houses felt like traveling inside someone’s sketchbook come to life. Watching two dimensional drawings turn into three dimensional wonders right in front of my eyes. It was amazing to see his vision, touch it, and just wonder what was going through his mind when he created it.

Looking back at my own sketches and notes if the experience has been quite enjoyable. I wrote my blog based on memories and then found my travel sketchbook to compare what I tempered to what I wrote down. I am pleased to say the two are identical. Here are some sketches and photographs from our actual trip. I mention in my notes that I tried to paint with water by spilling coffee on the paper and it did not bode well. Hence, the next sketchbooks from there on out, for every trip, have been watercolor sketchbooks. This trip solidified that point in my life and the transition to watercolor as my primary medium. This information was interesting for me to find because I had forgotten that key element in my life. I also used to teach at an elementary school and would always tell my students to write down as many ideas as possible. They would always try and erase so we would have long conversations to just put a line through what they did not want anymore. I would say, you never know when you may need that word or sentence someday. Well, today was one of those days for me. I am glad I took my own advice and wrote down minute details from our trip.

Thank you all for reading and following along on this Spanish adventure. My blogs have been a bit sporadic on the time schedule for consistency due to vacations. Now, we are back in the swing of things and I am planning to be back on track next week. This is the hope anyway! Have a wonderful weekend!

-Karen Hilliard

Also, if you would like to show support, I recently joined “buy me a coffee” which is a way for anyone to contribute to the creative process behind the paintings. Fuel the artist so to speak. Here is the link if you are interested and I truly appreciate the support and the fact that you are liking these blogs, as well as my art posts. I am working hard to bring you all fresh content! Here is the link to my Instagram where I try to post daily. You can also find me on Facebook at my art page Karen Hilliard Art.
Thank you again for all of your support!

Sagrada Familia

The largest unfinished church in the world was worked on for 43 years by its architect Antoni Gaudi. His remains are in the crypt of his famous Sagrada Famila in Barcelona. He died at 73 years old by being hit by a tram while crossing the street to go to confession. It has been reported that he was dressed in simple cloth and his appearance resembled that of a beggar and no one knew the man lying in the street was the most famous architect in Spain. The local taxi drivers refused to take him to the hospital due to his appearance. He had broken ribs, a bruise on his right leg, and internal bleeding that was severe yet no one knew. He was taken to a hospital for the poor because he had no identification and it took his friends three days to find him. He unfortunately died on the third day due to his injuries. This post was going to be all about the church yet I found this information fascinating how we still treat others with sustain today based on appearances. His life may have been saved if the circumstances were different, simply, if he was dressed in fine clothing as the most famous architect could have been. His death is tragic and sad and was in 1926. Please treat others with kindness, always. Back to his life’s work…

The facade of the church had three sides. One was beautiful, colorful, and inviting. One was dark, mysterious, and seemed cold. The last one I am not sure if I recognized at the time of our trip. His three visions were the birth of Christ, the life of Christ, and the death of Christ. More information about the facades can be found here. The beautiful exterior of the church that we saw invited us in and what a wonder we got to behold. I just stood in awe of the sculpted walls, stained glass, and height of the interior. Looking up and touching the columns was a surreal experience. Imagining how early craftsmen worked with scaffolding and ladders amazed me. Wondering what thoughts went through the architect’s mind drove me deep into my own psyche. He truly represented the life and death of Christ. I hope that when he went, on that third day, he felt proud of his accomplishments instead of sad it was unfinished. The inside was ransacked during the Spanish Civil War and later worked on by others to express Gaudi’s vision. It was an amazing site to see.

Just sitting in the church and feeling its warmth and solace was a wonderful experience. Hearing the music play and the watching man at the organ get in touch with the movement was breathtaking. We sat for what felt like hours in silence. I drew a bit and then we explored the church. We saw where the great architect is buried and the beauty of the crypt. I am still in awe of the stained glass and the reflection of color around the interior. I added some photographs for you all here. If you would like to read more information on his death, you can click here. If you would like to see the Sagrada Familia in person, I highly recommend it! Park Guell is visited more often than the church yet Gaudi put his soul into the creation of the Sagrada. What are you passionate about? What sets your soul on fire?

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful weekend!

-Karen Hilliard

Tags Barcelona Spain, New Blog

A Walk in the Woods, Spain

Joanna and I were so excited to go adventuring in the forest of Barcelona and try to find some boulders to climb. We were lucky to come across some sweet rock formations, boulders, and beautiful trees, but that was not all that was in store for us! We ended up walking through the woods on paths carved by nature and came across a man made trail we thought led back to the city. Upon walking up this hilly trail we ran into a large dog that was aggressively barking at us. I kept walking and just stayed calm saying “you are a good dog, what a good dog,” and then we heard someone speaking to us in Catalan. We ended up walking up someone’s driveway to their house in the middle of the woods and it turned out to be one of the sweetest ladies we met on our trip. She invited us into her house, introduced us to her grandson, and later showed us her beautiful horses. She spoke only Catalan, so how do we know all this you wonder, her son, who spoke English as well, showed up.

The father of her grandson walked in and saw two strangers with his son and spoke to his mother in Catalan. After much discussion, he came and spoke with us. He was worried of course about who was around his child. A very good father. After he explained everything and we explained who we were, what we were doing in the woods, and how we found the house, he was very excited to tell us the history of the house. He also told us about the land and the three beautiful white horses that came up to say hello to us. We drank a coke each and talked for hours, then left to be on our way. As we headed back on the correct trail, we found some lovely trees and a shrine to the Madonna, Mary. It was beautiful and people had brought her offerings. Joanna and I kept exploring and found a tree to sit and ponder on. We love how nature keeps frowning around man-made structures. Nature never ceases to amaze us.

We ended up finding one boulder to climb and it was very slippery with sloping holds. Open handed holds that took a lot of body positioning and repositioning to climb successfully. We both made it to the top and laid on our backs to rest. Our view looking up through the trees was beautiful and we fell asleep for a little while. We woke up in the woods and made it back safely before it got dark. I love that anywhere in the world there is exploration to do off the beaten path. Always remember to be safe and ask locals for advice on where to go. Also, be careful who you ask and give information of where you are going to. My next blog will venture back into the city and I will walk you through the Sagrada Familia. Until then, take care and thank you for reading!

-Karen Hilliard

Tags New Blog

So Many People!

The sounds of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” came booming from the DJ’s speakers. Cyndi’s image was being projected on the wall in all her glory from the original video production circa 1983. My cousin was dancing, feeling the music, and enjoying the night life. She had mentioned earlier during the day that she wanted to find a club, or discotheque while we were in Spain, and go dancing. After walking many hours through the night, we found a discotheque, or so we thought. People were dancing and music was playing, a classic, yes, but we had no idea we would be hearing a song from the 80’s when traveling half way around the world to go to a Spanish disco. It was an interesting scene and state of events that transpired to say the least. We ended up meeting an awesome person and dancing with her for the rest of the time the club was open. She invited us to stay at her flat for the night because it was really late, however, we declined. She was very concerned about us since it was so late.

We all ended up leaving the scene at the same time so Joanna and I walked with her for a while. She went her own way and we headed to the square in the main part of the city. It was 3 am and no transportation vehicles were heading back to the campsite so we decided to sit in the center of the square. After three men came up to us trying to sell us beer, we decided to leave the area. Since it was so early, or late, depending on your version of time, we chose to try and find Patk Güell and be there when it opened. So there we were, on foot, walking hopelessly around a city, trying to find a map. We were wearing those Merrel Barefoot shoes that we both had just purchased right before the trip for running. We learned this night and day that these were not the best shoes to have worn on a 36 hour walking excursion. We found a bench outside of a restaurant and Joanna closed her eyes the moment she sat down. I stayed awake as a lookout just to be safe. About an hour went by and we started walking again.

We traveled up a giant hill and came across a little living area inside the city filled with locals and sweet little storefronts. We bought some fruit, a map of the city, and watched some dancing, then we carried on in the hopes of finding the park designed by Antoni Gaudi. Following the route on the map led us straight to signs leading the way to the park. We still had a ways to go to get to the entrance. We were two of the first people there and other locals were walking their dogs or doing their morning workout routines along the trails. All I wanted to see was the mosaic features of the park. I wanted to find the dragon, or iguana fountain. Joanna opted to sleep when we found the sitting area at the top of the park. We took some photos and then she took a nap. I traveled on looking at all the features and did some sketches. I found the fountain and then the park came alive with people. So many people. There were tourists hustling and bustling about, musicians, and local merchants selling their wares throughout the park. I went back to find my cousin and just saw a sea of people. I closed my eyes, tried not to panic, and thought of where she would be. I turned, opened my eyes, and I saw her across the sitting area. We locked eyes and walked through the craziness toward one another. After hugging each other, she calmly looked at me and said, “Someone sat on my head! That is what woke me up!!”

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful weekend! Next week I will do my best to post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!

-Karen Hilliard

Tags Barcelona Spain, New Blog

The Picasso Museum

I was never really a fan of Picasso. I studied his work in school and did not understand the hype. The style of cubism was unique but did not really intrigue me. I loved realism and detail oriented subjects. While in Barcelona, we had the opportunity to go and tour the Picasso museum. I wasn’t really that excited about it, but I did love seeing all the great painters throughout history. Also, I wanted to see the father of cubism. When we got into his museum, we went to a room with his original drawings and sketches. We also saw some of his original paintings. His portrait work was amazing. I was shocked at how detailed and realistic he could actually paint. Then when I saw his transition into the Cubist style from realism it made way more sense in my brain. I felt truly happy that I got the experience to see Picasso through the ages.

His blue. Always fascinated me how he can use one tone one color to create so many times one hue to create so many tones. I want to try and use this in my own work in the future. Seeing his mural size paintings of conflict that was going on in Spain at the time was a true treasure to see. I am super happy that I went to see his museum while in Barcelona, and glad I did not miss out on the opportunity because of my previous feelings about his work. I learned a lot about Picasso in one day, actually, in fact, I learned more about Picasso in one day, than I did in a semester of art history. I love growing up and constantly growing forward and learning new things. I love meeting new people, having new experiences, and enjoying life to the fullest, and I hope that I learn consistently forever.

The next person I really wanted to see was someone I truly admired, Antoni Gaudi. His work and architecture is something I look forward to and dreamed about. I’m going to Park Güell and finding its location was an interesting story that I will share in my blog for Wednesday. I might actually write that log Thursday since I did this one on Tuesday. The holidays kind of got everything fuddled up with posting the blogs. I tried to have them completed prior to visiting family but I did not get them finished in time. Speaking of family and holidays, what were your holiday plans? For now I will leave you with a picture from Park Güell and dreams about the story coming Thursday. Thank you for reading and happy Tuesday! Also, Happy New Year!!

-Karen Hilliard

Tags New Blog

Sea Kayaking

I hope everyone had a Happy Christmas and Wonderful Holiday Season. Thinking about spending time with family and friends brings me back to the kayaking trip with my cousin, who is also my best friend. While in Spain we decided to rent a Sea Kayak and go exploring on the Mediterranean. We had no idea how heavy the kayak would be when we agreed to walking it down to the water ourselves. Also, fun fact, the water was a lot farther away from the campground, by foot, than we thought. So there we were…on the side of the road…carrying a kayak. Some men did stop and tried to help us cross the road which was nice; as it was a super heavy piece of athletic equipment we were struggling with. After we crossed the road we continued down a single footed beach path, in single file, together.

Joanna loves the ocean and the sea. If I could describe how much my cousin feels connected to water, I would say, it calls to her. Anytime we are around any body of water her face lights up and I know it is going to be an amazing day filled with adventure. She does this sweet thing every time we got to the ocean, and that is…staring out to the horizon. It is almost as if the water and her are speaking to one another. When we got to the shoreline she took her moment to be welcomed by the sea while I looked out taking a moment to breath in the air and look forward to our new adventure. I too feel a deep connection to water and welcomed it in my own way. After our moments passed, we put the kayak in the water, pushed off the shoreline, and hopped in. Joanna had convinced me of there being no sharks, or just little reef sharks she said. Later I would feel me out the Mediterranean Sea does in fact have all types of sharks swimming in its waters. I am glad I looked up the information after the experience.

I try to do as many things as I can when traveling so I don’t ever have to look back and think “I wish I did that.” Kayaking was one of these experiences. The water was as clear as looking through a pane of glass. The water was a beautiful blue with violet hues in the bobbing waves. We paddled out to the booies and watched a seagull balancing upon one of them. Looking back over our shoulders at the shoreline gave us inspiration to turn the kayak to find the city from the sea. After many minutes of spinning we finally saw the city scape which was impressive, but I longed to look out at the vast distance of the water instead. We sat for what felt like hours just rocking in our kayak with our feet up on the edges. That day was filled with many tranquil experiences until we had to walk the kayak back to the campsite. The overall experience was quite an adventure and we marveled at our strength throughout the day. In the evening we sat and rested our sore muscles while sipping a bottle of wine we purchased earlier. Thank you all for reading and I wish you all a relaxing weekend. May you take time to enjoy all the little moments this life has to offer!

-Karen Hilliard

Tags New Blog

Local Shops

While visiting the bar in Mataró we ended up seeing a horrific hunt by lions preying on a baby giraffe. The bar had an African safari theme and the television played animal encounters from the Sarengetti. The mama giraffe fought off two lions for a long period of time and was exhausted. The rest of the pride managed to separate the baby but the mama got in there and did some damage on the predators. We stopped watching when the baby was safe because there were still lions stalking them in the distance and we could not handle any more views other than what we already saw. We finished our drink and food then left to walk around the town. The shops were lovely and filled with cheer. It is nice to see so many small non corporate businesses doing so well. Living in Las Vegas has shown me how many stores are similar corner by corner. We call them strip malls but every shop is the same. I have no idea how they do so well but there are so many people in this city who go out shopping and it must be how these businesses stay afloat. Traveling in foreign countries feels like a walk in a dream for me. One filled with hope for our future modeling past traditions and helping each other out. I love Artisan shops and mom and pop shops. I wish we had more in the United States.

After walking around the town for quite a while, we ended up hopping a train into the city. Barcelona was filled with the hustle and bustle of many people and many feet walking around. We did find McDonald’s and Starbucks, which are chains from America. I do have friends that travel abroad and frequent McDonald’s and Starbucks just to have the comforts of home, but when I travel, I like to go into the local shops and try the local cuisine. Joanna and I found little cafés and ordered our café con Leche. This was our favorite drink other than the sangrias. Then we decided to just walk around and window shop since our funds were pretty tight and we found a cute little local shop filled with eclectic things. Inside the shop, they had a ring made out of a tapas fork. In Spain, they serve tapas, which are tiny little bites or finger foods. So I bought the ring, and I still wear it to this day. I did forget that I bought a bag that day that I ended up drawing on to carry all of my art supplies, a sketchbook, and my sarong, of course. The best thing I found inside the shop was a friend. The person behind the counter was so nice and lovely and we are still friends to this day for over ten years now. She is lovely as are the people of Catalan.

I think you can all see from my blogs on Alaska and my blogs now about Barcelona, that I love meeting new people. That is my favorite part of traveling… not just the experiences I have with the people I travel with, but the new people I get to meet along the way. I love the diverse culture from everywhere I go. I love seeing how other people live, trying the food that they create, being immersed in the artwork, and the history of the cities, and towns. if you like to travel, what is your favorite thing about traveling? What are some of the foods that you like to try? What are your favorite drinks? Are you a person who frequents a Starbucks or would you go into a small local shop and try something new even if it meant you could be puking all night long? And I say this because some food doesn’t agree with other people’s stomachs if they haven’t had it, not because the food is poisonous. While in Peru, our guy told us not to drink the water, not even to wash our toothbrushes in the water actually, because our stomachs weren’t used to it. He said the people of Peru grew up drinking it, so it was no big deal for them but for us even if we washed our vegetables with it, we would be sick. I thought that was very good information which I’m going to leave you with today for any of your future travels. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful Wednesday! On Friday I’ll tell you all about the sea kayaking trip. It was a great experience!
Thank you all for reading and have a happy start to your week. One week until Christmas!! I still have ornaments for sale on my website if anyone is interested. Here is the link! Ornaments are pictured below.
-Karen Hilliard

Narwhal Ornament 2023 | Karen Hilliard Art

Camping Barcelona

Joanna found an amazing campsite online before we left for Spain. Camping Barcelona sits outside the city along the Mediterranean Sea. This wonderful little place is inland a bit and the Sea is just a walk away. We had to hop a train from the airport to get to the site and we relied on the little Spanish I knew to find our way. I got nervous and thought we were going the wrong way, so we hopped off the train, and asked an attendant only to find we were on the right train to begin with. Always trust yourself! Intuition is a wonderful thing and self doubt is not, learning this little nugget over and over throughout life. Definitely a learning experience all around. Once we finally found a train going our way, it was getting late, and luckily we called the camp just in time. They had one last vehicle picking up people at the train station to bring all of us to camp. We were super grateful for their transportation service.

Upon arriving in the evening, we checked in, got our spot, and set up our tent in the dark. We were actually happy this happened because when we woke up, we saw the beauty all around us. This Campsite had animals walking around, crazy Spanish chickens, and loud screaming peacocks. I will write about the chickens in another blog and how they got the adjective “crazy” to describe them. We left our bags in the tent, had our passports with us of course, and…a sarong! We took one with us everywhere and always will because of our experience at the airport. Walking around the camp we found a cute little restaurant, had our first beer from Spain, and our first meal. Afterwards we sipped our café con leches and then walked around some more. The center where we checked in had activities you can sign up for. We chose to try sea kayaking and Joanna wanted to go scuba diving.

The sea kayak was saved for another day and a whole blog will be written about that one! The transportation service was good to take us all the way into Barcelona as well. We usually stoped in town then hopped the train into the city. The largest town, Mataró, had beautiful cobblestone streets, shops lined up and down hills, and such a warm welcome for tourists or anyone who ventured there. We found a local pub my cousin and I ended up making frequent stops at just because of the owner and his family. He and his dad would tell us stories and every time we were there he would pour us some new drink to try. They were very kind. Walking along the streets after, down steep hills, and coming across meat hanging on storefronts…being scraped off for customers…was a different experience. I love animals so this one was a challenge for me but it is their culture and lifestyle. I just closed my eyes and carried on. Until next time…

Thank you all for reading and have a happy start to your week. One week until Christmas!! I still have ornaments for sale on my website if anyone is interested. Here is the link! Ornaments are pictured below.

-Karen Hilliard

Click HERE!!

Narwhals | Ornament | Karen Hilliard Art

Baggage Claim in Spain

“Our tent is our home,” my cousin kept saying over and over as the man behind the desk told her our bags were lost. He ended up telling her to buy a new tent because we may not see our luggage again. Needless to say we were both in shock. Never seeing our rucksacks again? All the memories with them, all our clothes and food for this trip, all our gear!! He said we could just buy new stuff!! Yes, these are things and things can be replaced. We weren’t upset about that. We were so nervous because we spent most of our money on this trip and had very little funds left to eat at restaurants let alone buy a tent to sleep in. Not to mention we would need mats and a sleeping bag for when the weather dropped at night. We looked at each other and knew we were both thankful to have chosen our destination along the Mediterranean Sea instead of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa! We would have frozen at the summit!! So there we were, confused and misplaced, glad we had each other, and that we were both safe.

At that moment, we made a mutual decision to camp out in the airport and not leave until our bags were returned to us. We were told multiple times to leave!!! The workers at the airport were not happy and the cops talked to us more than once. We asked what would happen if we left and went to our camping destination, Camp Barcelona, and the airport attendants said they would notify us when, and if our bags arrived. We asked how long that would be and they kept hinting that our bags were lost forever. In their minds, they wanted us to get over it and just go, leave, get out of their airport! No!! We refused every time. Luckily we had our sarongs with us because we ended up using them as blankets to lay in and take naps. Joanna was on the hard floor and I chose the wood bench. Neither were comfortable but our bodies were so tired we both ended up sleeping. Then, we were awakened by the wax floor cleaning machine and a very grumpy person guiding the device along. Again, we were asked to leave and almost were forced out.

Telling the cops we would be sitting over in another area was not a good time. We told them where they could find us when our bags arrived. Hours went by and no one came so we went and sat at the baggage department. Twenty minutes later, our bags were found and returned to us. I wonder if any of those workers still tell stories of the two crazy Americans who would not leave the airport that day. We were starting to feel like Tom Hanks in that movie Terminal when he is not allowed to leave the airport because his passport is not recognized anymore while his country was in turmoil. Using this analogy for the part about not being able to leave the airport, and the staff in this case wanting us to exit the facility. We were so thankful we stayed, brought our sarongs in our carry-ons, and learned a lot that day. I said, “I will always carry a sarong in my carry-on,” and from that day on, I did! You can probably imagine what Monday’s post will be about already! Until then, have a wonderful weekend and thank you for reading!

-Karen Hilliard

The link to my Christmas Ornaments is here and below. 11 more days until Christmas!!

Tags lost bags, New Blog, Spain

My Bag’s Perspective

Where are we? I don’t know. It is cold, and dark, and everything smells funny. I am so thankful to have my best friend here with me because I would be completely lost without them. The only thing missing is my person and all I keep thinking is, “where is she?” I have traveled to so many wonderful places with her and I hope after all this time she has not discarded me. The last thing I heard her say was that she was putting me on a belt and sending me to the baggage part of the plane she was boarding. I am so grateful my best friend was out on the same belt and loaded into the same plane. I thought we were going to Barcelona but just found out we did not make it. I wonder where our people are and if they are looking for us as we sit here, cold and confused. I just heard someone on the radio say we are in Madrid!! Oh no, is she in Madrid or did she go to Barcelona?! Are we lost???

All of a sudden I was picked up and thrown into the air thankfully landing on a cart with wheels. Wait, what about my friend, I thought as a huge object landed on me. Ah, it is okay…it is just my friend and fellow backpack mate. See these two cousins went on this trip to Barcelona together so I guess me and my best friend are cousins too? We travel together all the time but this is the first time we have been misplaced, discarded, terrified of admitting we may just be lost! I hope they are looking for us. Oh no! What if they don’t find us and we never see them again. What if we end up in a landfill? Okay, we cannot start the “What if” thoughts. That never makes anyone feel better. Time to calm the anxiety and just hope for the best. I wonder where this wheeled mobile and driver are taking us. Like I said, have to hope for the best.

It is getting colder and the sounds are getting louder. I hear the people scurrying and planes rolling out on runways like before. Ahh, I am flying through the air again. What is happening?! Ouch!!! I landed on something sharp and ouch, again, my best friend just hit me in my front pouch pocket! Well, at least we are together. I wonder if we will ever see our people ever again. I hope we will. I hear the door closing so we must be on the plane now. Yes, there is the sound of the engine. There are the stewards talking. Okay, here we go into the unknown hoping for the best. At least we are on a plane so this may work out. Always hoping for everything to work out just like our people would in any situation. We have been flying a long time but I guess it was shorter and my anxiety made it feel longer because the landing gear just got released. Few, nice landing and safe. Here we go, rolling out in the tarmack, wind on our canvas, heading into another loud airport. Where are we? Something is being said in another language, I think it is Spanish but it sounds different. Oh no! Where are we?? Suddenly we hear it, “Thank you, Gracias, thank you so much! Our bags!!” Oh our people!!!! Reunited and it feels so nice.

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful Wednesday!

-Karen Hilliard

The link to my Christmas Ornaments is here and below. 12 more days until Christmas!!

Tags Airports, Barcelona, Flights, New Blog