25 Feb

Barns-Graham tries working on a small pencil drawing in the morning but finds herself shaky. She goes to La Geria and begins a chalk drawing of a red mountain that she had drawn the previous year. She’s unsure if she likes her chalks this year because they’re watercolor based and could be soft in the sun.

27 Feb – 2 March

Barns-Graham did some work in La Geria and El Golfo.

Images: Red rock formations above black sand beaches, BGP/1/15/108.  Volcanic mountain, BGP/1/15/125

3 March

Barns-Graham visits a market in Teguise. She begins a drawing in Guatiza, and explores the village of El Mojón.

4 March

Barns-Graham visits Haría and finds a subject. She tries to work at Punta de las Mujeres, a favourite subject of hers through the years, but the tide is too high for work. Claudine, her companion on this trip, picks her up and they go to Guatiza again. It is the

“same place as last night but short time + I did crayon sketch of fields almost abstract pattern green and blacks and pinks” (WBG/4/1/50/25)

Image: A caldera with farmland, BGP/1/15/214.  The Jardin de Cactus in Guatiza, BGP/1/28/35.

5 March

Barns-Graham visits Tinajo and starts drawing “crater mountain.” While there she works on a black conté on sand buff coloured paper (WBG/4/1/50/25). She explores Tías and makes another drawing of the red mountain, which she had also drawn in 1989.

7 March

Barns-Graham visits the Manrique Gallery exhibition of Spanish abstract work. She finds the exhibition very inspiring, and includes sketches and descriptions of some of the works in her diary.

9 March

In the morning, Barns-Graham journeys toward Punta de las Mujeres, but stops first in Guatiza where she identifies a possible subject for a drawing. She begins a pencil drawing of a church and some hills near where she made a drawing in 1989. This demonstrates Barns-Graham’s interest in returning to past subjects.

Images: (Above) El Morgau, pencil, 1991, BGT626.

(Right) Extract from Barns-Graham’s travel diary, 1991, WBG/4/1/50/28.

10 March

Barns-Graham travels to Guatiza to continue pencil drawing from the day before. She continues on to Costa Teguise with Claudine to spend time on the beach and relax because it was Mother’s Day, exemplifying her working holiday.

11 March

Barns-Graham continues her conté drawing in La Geria. She also explores Tinajo road with Claudine where she sees some

“excellent rock drawing + exciting black and red hill.” (WBG/4/1/50/30)

12-13 March

Barns-Graham goes to El Mojón to do a pencil drawing of the church. She faces some struggles with the weather; it is quite rainy and windy. She describes a “yellow sky behind lilac grey mountains.”  (WBG/4/1/50/34)

Images: (Below) La Geria Lanzarote, 1991, pencil, BGT660.

(Right) Teguise from the water, BGP/1/15/88, Lava field in front of Monta Negra, BGP/1/27/4.

15 March

Barns-Graham returns to La Geria where she takes some photographs and makes a quick pencil sketch. This is followed by a trip with Claudine to Montaña del Fuego, in the volcanic landscape of Timanfaya National Park. While there they see a group of people riding camels. Claudine takes a camel ride while Barns-Graham begins a pencil drawing on white paper. Afterwards, they go to Tinajo so Barns-Graham can take some photographs and search for subjects.

16 March

They journey on Tinajo road again toward Montaña del Fuego. Barns-Graham begins a drawing of

“the lovely black mountain with red pink abstract hues + shapes” (WBG/4/1/50/35).

While she is working, Claudine explores. Barns-Graham loses Claudine and has to enlist the help of a Swedish couple to find her, losing her sunglasses in the process.

Image: (Above) La Geria (Study Volcanic Rock), Lanzarote, pastel on paper, 1991.

(Right) Camel-riding across lava fields. BGP/1/21/31

17 March

Barns-Graham and Claudine embark on a search for the missing sunglasses. They finally find them at the black mountain:

“there they were dropped from the car, lying there like a big black butterfly!” (WBG/4/1/50/36)

18 March

She goes to La Geria to do a final pencil drawing there, but the wind is so bad that she decides to stop drawing for the day.

19 March

Everything on the island is closed because of a fiesta holiday, so Barns-Graham goes to Guatiza to finish a pencil drawing on white paper. Then she views two flats to potentially stay in on her next trip.

20 March

Barns-Graham and her travel companion Claudine Jan return home.

Images: (Above) WBG’s sunglasses in a rocky landscape, BGP/1/15/137.

(Right) Salt fields, BGP/1/16/4.