A Year in Spain – Finding My Rhythm

It’s been just over a year since I moved to Spain to focus fully on my art. What I imagined would be a smooth transition into long, uninterrupted days of painting turned out to be far more of a journey — full of challenges, adjustments, and, ultimately, small breakthroughs.

One of the first hurdles was simply finding materials. Ordering supplies in a foreign language proved trickier than expected, and in my small town there are no dedicated art suppliers at all. My nearest is in Girona, about 45 minutes away. After a few frustrating starts, I finally found a reliable source for paints, papers, and canvas — a small but important victory.

The second challenge has been space. My plan was to build a proper studio in our courtyard, but local planners had other ideas — the size and structure didn’t meet their approval. So, for now, my studio is everywhere and nowhere: the living room, the kitchen, and most often the terrace. The terrace is my favourite place to work — I can see the sea from there — though in the height of summer the heat makes it impossible, and in winter the wind cuts straight through.

Despite these shifts and limitations, I’ve produced a good body of work: around ten paintings in this first year. That might not sound like much, but each one has marked a step forward, both technically and emotionally. I hit a creative block early on — perhaps the hardest part of this past year — but recently I’ve felt something open up again. A new series has started to emerge, and with it, a sense of momentum.

I’ll write more about that soon. For now, this post marks the beginning — of the journal, and of a new chapter in my practice.

— Martin