Hospitality: Masía with Three Cypress Trees

Hospitalitat; Masía amb Tres Xiprers
acrylic on canvas, 75 cm x 105 cm, 2012

Another variation on the theme of an ancient stone masía farm house with cypress trees, all in the context of my current meditation on the impermanence of human constructs.

Sabina, my 84 year-old, deeply Catalan mother in law, reminds me that three cypress trees (xiprers in Catalan) means one is offered hospitality.  One means visitors are welcomed to visit.  Two means they are also welcomed to eat, three that they are invited to stay for the night.  Isabel was quick to point out that grave yards typically have many, which just goes to show you the famous quotation "fish and guests stink in three days" sentiment of Mark Twain is rather universal, here given a rather nice Catalan ironic twist, from the gentile to the ominous.   In any case, Sabina suggests the title for this painting includes the word hospitality (hospitalitat), hereby entered and recorded, without a hint other than this note about the ultimate hospitality one might be afforded.  On a sweeter note, she also noticed what appears to be many bridges and arches (true enough) signifying the nature of hospitalitat.

Have been working on some little watercolors on the side.  Here is one mounted in a beautiful leather bound journal that Rosa and Ramón gave me.

Watercolor Journal started in August 2012.
Hand bound leather cover journal of cotton archival paper.