During the last week of April I had the opportunity to go out of Madrid for the first time to paint since the pandemic locked us up. Nothing better than Burgos to start over. More specifically, I traveled to the small town of Agés, a village at the east of Burgos through which the Camino de Santiago runs.
At another time, more than 200 pilgrims would pass by there every day, but currently only one or two are seen each day.

Estela and Regue (Starter Proyectos Culturales) offered me the possibility of painting on the façade of one of the town's hostels. A red façade, with exposed wooden beams and a lot of personality. It is a house located on the main avenue of the town and my work had to absolutely respect the environment, this was key in the project.

I used, as I have been doing for a long time, a migratory bird like the Gray Heron to talk about movement and pause during our travels. This was the result:

Sometimes we march by choice and sometimes by obligation. Sometimes knowing the destination and sometimes not. Gray herons, flying in groups, cross Europe from south to north with the rise in temperatures, looking for less hostile places for life. Burgos and the Castilian lands thus become an area of ​​passage and pause, to regain strength and then continue. A place shared between those who are and those who pass, between inhabitants and pilgrims, between architecture and painting.

I also made this limited series of sheets, printed in ink on 300g watercolor paper.

Thank you Starter Proyectos Culturales and the people of Agés. They were very special days. I hope that their pilgrims' shelters will soon be filled and they will be able to share, step and pause.