Built in Renaissance and Baroque styles on what was previously the site of a mosque, this Cathedral looms proud over the city of Malaga.  However its affectionate name of ‘La Manquita’ or the one armed lady tells another story.  Originally planned with two towers, money ran out and the elegant Cathedral raises only one arm into the sky.

In Malaga for just a few days I was desperate to paint this Cathedral but with many buildings surrounding it, obtaining a good vantage point became the challenge.  I scrambled in, out and up the surrounding office buildings and hotel attempting to get a view until bingo, a rooftop bar with waiters kind enough to let me squidge myself into a corner.  And this is a lesson, sometimes not having what you think is the ideal view results in a far more interesting composition and painting.  That along with generous waiters, their very delicious mojitos, some pumping bar tunes and the rich golden light as the sun went down.

My paintings always seem to reflect the mood and setting I’m in.   Free flowing, colourful, thick impasto painting and a little squiffy was the outcome this time, and everytime I look at it I am taken back to that rooftop bar and the sense of exhilaration and total contentedness I had while painting it.  So whether or this painting sells, it was a total gift to me, and I suppose it’s for those moments we really paint.

And below is a painting done of one of the cathedral entrances while I tried to manoeuver myself around the light.  The pink of the wall is roughly the colour my arms became. Always remember that suncream!