“Arrieta – as last year”
22 February
Barns-Graham arrives in Lanzarote.
23 – 26 February
Barns-Graham explores the island, visiting many towns and villages including Arrieta, Teguise, Haría, Órzola, Gemia, and Guatiza and is inspired by what she sees.
Images: Guatiza village near Jardin de Cactus, BGP/1/15/150, Agricultural landscape, BGP/1/15/12.
27-28 February
Barns-Graham begins working in Órzola, Guatiza, and Gemia. She makes several chalk drawings in these places, some on black paper.
Images: (Above) La Geria (Volcanic Hill near Guatiza), 1990, pencil, BGT670.
(Right) On the road to Haría village, BGP/1/15/26, Teguise from the water, BGP/1/15/88.
1 March
Barns-Graham revisits a subject, Máguez, from the year before and still finds it inspiring.
2 March
Barns-Graham returns to La Geria, a favourite location of hers. In her diary, she mentions that she finds the place “magnificent” and that she has found “plenty of subjects + v. difficult.” She was excited by the difficulty this location would bring to her work. (WBG/4/1/50/7)
Image: (Above) Black Silence II – Máguez, 1990, BGT927.
(Right) The fields of La Geria, BGP/1/15/132, La Geria farmland, BGP/1/15/142.
4 March
Visits La Caleta de Famara for the first time, she is captivated and fascinated by the village. Barns-Graham begins a white chalk drawing on black paper while there:
“Went west to La Caleta, a fascinating small town by sea very wide streets all of sand + some very interesting white houses green, blue, brown doors.” (WBG/4/1/50/8)
5 – 6 March
She returns to La Geria and La Caleta to continue drawings.
7 March
Barns-Graham returns to Órzola and begins another Salinas Viejas drawing.
Images: (Above) Órzola Slipway, Lanzarote, pastel, 1990, BGT1173.
(Right) Photograph of a village, BGP/1/15/209.
8-9 March
Barns-Graham makes further visits to La Geria and Punta de las Mujeres to continue sketches and chalk drawings from previous days.
10-14 March
Barns-Graham and her travel companion Fay rest at the villa. Barns-Graham takes the opportunity to work on several mussel studies, as well as sketching from photographs she’d taken.
Images: (Above) Mussel Studies (Lanzarote), acrylic on paper, 1990, BGT642.
(Right) Woman holding caught fish, BGP/1/19/5. Woman walking over beach, carrying bucket, BGP/1/15/295.
15-17 March
Barns-Graham ventures out to Temisa.
16-17 March
She attempts to work in La Geria but the weather is too hot.
17- 18 March
Barns-Graham works in Órzola on a new chalk drawing
Images: (Above) Órzola Salinas Viejas No.1, 1990, pastel, BGT1172.
(Right) Salt flats, BGP/1/15/207.
19-20 March
Barns-Graham attempts to work in La Geria and La Caleta but the weather is too windy to work outdoors. On the 20th she visits an abstract solo exhibition by a Spanish painter.
21 March
Barns-Graham has a magical moment in Máguez. Upon arrival she finds the atmosphere and light to be fascinating:
“The light + atmosphere became very strange, as if everything had stopped breathing!! All went black except for a yellow (yellow rose) coloured sky and high up a brilliant circle of sun blinding yellow! Creepy + awesome!!” (WBG/4/1/50/16 and WBG/4/1/50/17)
Image: Black Silence I, Máguez (Yellow), gouache on paper, 1990, BGT935.
22 March
Barns-Graham and her travel companion Fay return to Scotland.
“Thus ends my work-holiday – full of challenges and compromises but I have worked hard even if I haven’t done what I had intended to, due to unforeseen circumstances. 18 works – 1 or praps [sic] 2 unfinished but sufficiently informative.“
(WBG/4/1/50/17)
(Below) Double page from Barns-Graham’s 1990 travel diary to Lanzarote. It includes a summary of “periods of work”. WBG/4/1/50/9.
