Can Serrat, Spain

I arrived in Barcelona on Saturday October 31 for a one month artist residency at Can Serrat.  As we drove toward the town of El Bruc, an enormous rainbow arched over the highway  and stayed there for the entire drive to Can Serrat-definitely a good omen.

 The residency is located in a little valley at the base of Monserrat-the serrated mountain, or Magic Mountain as it´s  called here.  The famous pilgrimage site, the Monastery of Montserrat, home of a Black Madonna is located on the other side of these mountains.

I´m here for a month, along with five other artists: one other Canadian, a sculptor from New Brunswick; a film-maker from England; a performance artist from Barcelona via the US, who is here with her partner from  Honduras who a mixed media artist; and an artist from Australia.  Another American artist, a painter, just left today.  Two other artists are coming within the next two weeks.

I went with a couple of the other artists yesterday to visit the monastery at Montserrat. It was a spectacular day....25 degrees in El Bruc, where Can Serrat is located. It was cooler high up in the mountains where the monastery is located.

The other side of the mountain on the way to the Monastery, looking toward the snow-covered Pyrenees in the distance.

  The photo above  of the Monastery was taken on the winding trail down to the Cave.

Below is the Cave, perched on the edge of the cliff, where the Black Madonna was found.

This image of the Black Madonna, a bronze copy, is in the cave where the original was found.  Legend has it that a light came from this cave at night about 800 years ago.  Some men climbed up to see what the source of the light was and they discovered the Black Madonna sculpture.  They tried to take her from the mountain, but could not move her very far before she became too heavy to carry.  They felt this was a sign, and built the Monastery around her. 

 I stood in line at the Monastery to touch the hand of the Black Madonna.  One million pilgrims per year visit this sacred Madonna to touch her hand and pray for blessings.