Signs, Signs, everywhere signs

As much as I am missing the countryside and wide open uncrowded spaces, there is something to be said about city life too. There is excellent public transportation, entertainment, food, and art. 

You do not have to go to a gallery to see inspirational art take to the streets and keep your eyes open.

How often do we forget that advertising can be inspirational too? That street art has a raw power?

All of these signs were viewed with a time span of a 15 minute walk.

This just grabs you.

This is the logo of a nearby restaurant that specializes in beef. I LOVE this sign.

Can you make out that there are herb painted on tiles on almost
every inch of this store front?

I am not sure what these characters are doing but the sign reads "high  bar",
 it is not surprisingly a bar.

                                                    Check out that "A" it really grabs your attention even if the rest of the sign
blends together

Often I forget how ornigized with their pictures other people can be, check out these great flickr groups for more inspiration: Graffiti, Graffiti/street art, Great signs, Sign city, and funny signs

Should we start our own Flickr group? What should we call it?

Signs

So a friend of mine put out the call to take sign photos. She wanted to be inspired by text for a art project she is part of, but I took it to the next level and took pictures of all cool signs me or DH saw. It turns out it was very inspiring journey for me too and I have some thing to share about some of the images. For those of you that would like to see more I have set up a flickr set for just signs, and I will be adding to it.

 This first image is always shocking to me - and I have seen it quite a bit. The "not recommended for pregnant woman" symbol. I suppose what shocks me is that I am used to being from a country where all of the warnings are just text. Here in the EU where a product is distributed to many countries with many languages a picture warnings make sense. (This would make a great embroidery project...just saying.)

 This next sign is the logo for a Catalonian restaurant chain here in Madrid. It is of a man in historical Cataloian dress drinking out of a "Porro" a Catolonian drinking vessel. (It obviously takes some practice to drink like this, and no I have never tried it...red wine stains badly.) Anyway the first thing I thought of when I saw this was "needle-point canvas". It is painted on a grid already.

 I apparently LOVE  Gothic font signs, I took a lot of photos of them. I have a feeling that bars in the center of Madrid like the font too as all of these Gothic font photos were either on a bar or on a Belgian beer bottle. I took all of the photos in and around Calle Mayor yesterday.

 I just love how so many places have signs here made of interlocking tiles.

 A lot of the street signs in this area are made of tiles with descriptive images. This sign reads "Street of Embroiders".

 I think that you have to look hard to make it out, but the "graffiti" on this store is the name of the store too. Note the graffiti scissors - too cool.

 This Gothic loveliness was painted directly on the window with cool Gothic images, reminding of old monastery texts. This is apparently the Museum of Galicia - maybe a trip for another day.

 Another shot of the street signs - yes my American friends this is the only indication of the streets names, no sign posts here. The first one seems to my DH to mean "Street of the Lined (animals)" and the second one is the "Street of the Farriers".

 I like the simple lines here, I also love how one tine of one of the forks is missing.

 " Attention! The price of the menu is up to you! ps Don't be shy to ask"

 A beer demi-God and his Maiden.

A fancy version of the symbol of Madrid inlaid in the sidewalk.

I hope I have passed on an inspiration to create!

Progress!

I think it is possible to be on a Spanish high!
Oh yeah, who went to knitting group last night knowing that there were no native English speakers attending? That is right 3.5 hours of Spanish in a loud Starbucks with multiple people speaking at once...you know what? I did not do so bad.

I DO have to make the disclaimer that everyone in the group were all making and effort to speak slowly and loudly for me - still progress!

One fellow knitter was genuinely surprised that I had only lived here two months, because I knew so much Spanish already.Wow what a confidence booster! I feel like I can go out into the world and get things done...like talk to the people at the pluming store about our constantly running toilet. Maybe I will even understand them if they tell I had better go and catch it. ;)

This picture is of Cat Bordhi's new Tomato heel which I am very excited about. It looks like it will fit better, it is super easy, AND you can make a sock that it almost sure to fit JUST from the foot length and widest stitch count (this one is 72 because it is for a guy).

Unmotivated

Hello everyone!
As the title suggests I am very unmotivated today....So I thought I would blog. HAHA

It is another hot beautiful day here in Spain and it is making me lazy, and as the last post had a dark tone to it I thought I would share the rest of pictures I took back in May of the Parque de Plaza Castilla. The park is kind of set up like a gigantic quilt which if you go to Google Maps and look in satelite view (down and to the right of the roundabout) you can get a better idea of.

I only got a picture of one of the squares, but it is bright, pretty, and full of flowers and sunshine!

Wish me motivation!

Different prespective

These photos are really speaking to me today. 

I just have a point-and-shoot camera, a Canon Power Shot SD750 Digital Elph for all of you who care the type. I have learned so much with this camera! Even simple point-and-shoots have a multitude of setting choices. Maybe I will do another blog post about it if there in interest, but you can take wonderful pictures with this simple tool (as I hope I have proven over the last couple of posts).

One of the settings on my camera is a setting that only highlights green everything else shows up in grayscale.  These were taken in the Parque de Plaza Castellana during our first week here (May 2011). Spring was in the air so the greens were vibrant and fresh.

I love using this setting to give a different perspective on a familiar view. My eyes almost always trick me into looking for the color that is not there. Which is a really good metaphor for those of you that are wondering how I am doing. I find myself in the middle of Spain, in an English bubble. It is frustrating, but it is surprisingly easy to do. Here is how you do it:

1.) Get to know some English speaking friends.

2.) Watch American TV shows (the tv has a setting that allows them to be played in their original language).

3.) Do not speak to strangers on the street (actually this is not a bad rule to have in a big city).

4.) Speak to your spouse only in the language you have been communicating just fine in for the last 10 years.

5.) Consume all media in English, books, audio books, e-mail, social networking sites, podcasts....

I am doing all of those things on some level. SIGH I fight off the urge to be in the English bubble several times a day. It is hard because it is comforting and safe. I actually put in several hours of studying Spanish though out the day, I just do not have much practical application. I am getting better, speaking more in Spanish to DH, reading a book in Spanish, and starting to think of more ways to go out and find people to talk to....but to be honest....some days I am surprised that I am in Spain.

 I love using this setting to give a different perspective on a familiar view. My eyes almost always trick me into looking for the color that is not there. Spain has a Western culture similar to the US, the view is so familiar sometimes that I am always looking for the "culture/language/home" that is not there.

Encaje de Bolillos

One of the more shocking things (to me) about Madrid is that there are no spinning supplies. 

There are no husos (spindles), no lana rustica (spinning wool), and definitively no rueca de hilar (spinning wheels) to be found. In fact if you ask, you are graced with a look that suggest that you have three heads. It is shocking to me because spinning is enjoying a strong resurgence in North America, Northern Europe and the UK. Even though Spinning is one of humanities oldest crafts, the recent availability of hand dyed spinning wool, and the art yarns that some fiber artist are making, makes the craft seem new and modern. 

To the contrast encaje de bolillos or bobbin lace strikes me as very old fashioned. Even though it was thought to be created in the 16th century (way after spinning). Bobbin lace is not fading though, it seems to be popular here if you go by what the stores are selling.

In fact all of the pictures I took in the post were taken within 400 meters of each other.

Apparently bobbin lace used to be made out of fine metal threads for the gowns of royalty.

This is inspiring me with ideas. Bobbin lace out of wire, out of Habu textile's steel wool? That could be used for bracelets or necklaces? 

What about bobbin lace in modern colors? A touch of lime green lace at the top of your favorite eggplant colored camisole?

What about a bobbin lace edging done in white and then hand painted afterwards like this?

The finger

 I have been thinking a lot today about a certain sculpture of a hand here in Madrid. This hand is located in the middle of Paseo de la Casellana in front of the natural History Museum.






It is a good experience, a little interesting, you start to wonder what it means. What is the significance of this sculpture? You are crossing the street as you think this it is a big street and you usually have to wait here in the middle to cross again.


When you come back it is a different view altogether. I wonder if the artist meant it to do that?

That is my day today. Good from one angle, giving me the finger from another. I hope your day is going better.